A Contrastive Study On Nominal Possessive Constructions In Chinese And English: A Cognitive Perspective

Based on the Cognitive Reference-Point Model (CRPM) of cognitive linguistics, the present thesis is to probe into the similarities and differences between the nominal possessive constructions in English and Chinese and reveal the underlying cognitive mechanism. Cognitive linguistics, the product of both cognition and language, has emerged as a new area in linguistic development. The combination of linguistic expressions with cognitive psychology has presented a completely new perspective of language comprehension.By collecting examples and adopting the CRPM as a theoretical framework, we have constructed the concrete models on the basis of the three elements, namely possessor, possessive marker and possessed with an aim to compare the cognitive similarities and differences between nominal possessive constructions in both languages.It is found that the overt and covert de is a result of combining factors: conventional classification standard, alienable and inalienable possession and prominence principle. In most cases, one factor plays the decisive role.'s and of may overlap and are often omitted. More often than not, only one form is acceptable. The schema and the prototype shared by nominal possessive constructions as well as the ambiguity and irreversibility are examined. Besides, the possessive markers profile the reference-point relationship. Despite the similarities proposed in this thesis, they display their differences: the order of the possessor and the possessed in the special of-construction and the ellipsis of some elements. Additionally, the homogeneity and heterogeneity embodied in the nominal possessive constructions reflect the universality of the human cognition and the different cognitive psychology and mode of thinking in some aspects. English usually taken as a hypotactic language largely depends on the change of morphology rather than its meaning. Therefore,the allowance of both natural order and inverted one in English may provide the cognitive motivation for the existence of the reverse order of"possessed first, possessor second"in of-construction. In contrast, Chinese is a kind of paratactic language with little change of morphology. Generally speaking, the nominal possessive constructions of Chinese follow the order of"possessor first, possessed second"according to the time sequence. Grounded on the discussion and analysis above, the commonalities and individualities have been revealed as well as the hidden cognitive mechanism discovered in the present study. Hopefully, the research may be of some help for the contrastive study and translation between English and Chinese.