A Cognitive Approach To Conversion

This thesis, based on cognitive capacities conceptual metonymy, conceptual metaphor, construal and the notions profile, base and domain, focuses on the analysis of the process of conversion at the theoretical level, explores the mechanisms of conversion, and then it further analyzes conversion in the experiential view and in the view of prominence. Methodologically, the qualitative analysis is followed in the research. The major findings of the present research are briefly summarized as follows: 1) The mechanisms of conversion are: profiling, metonymic mapping and metaphorical mapping. Conversion involves profiling the prominent facets of our global knowledge of an entity evoked by an event or a situation. Meanwhile, both metonymic mapping and metaphorical mapping are involved in the process of characterizing conversion. Conceptual Metonymy in conversion serves as a reference phenomenon, in which the source domain affords metal process to the target domain within a whole cognitive domain. Conceptual Metaphor in conversion affords access for the interpretation of a domain in terms of another, e.g. the apprehension of an abstract domain in terms of a concrete one. 2) The selection of lexical categories and types of conversion rests on mainly two factors: the degree of prominence of the entity profiled by lexical categories, and the perspective adopted on the situation. The selection of different types of conversion is related to the degree of prominence of an entity which is profiled by a linguistic configuration. Meanwhile, the vantage point from which a situation is apprehended, and the orientation from which a situation or an event is characterized, affects the selection of lexical categories and types of conversion. By analyzing conversion from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, this research broadens the application of theories in Cognitive Linguistics in analyzing linguistic phenomena. Meanwhile, this research makes clear the mechanisms of conversion, and helps to understand how the process of characterizing conversion operates.