A Cognitive Study On Multiple Meanings Of English Alphabets And Monograms

As is known to all, alphabet, monogram and lexicon are the foundation of English, and current English system forms on this basis. It is not exaggerated to say that without them, there is no English. When one symbol is coined, it is usually monosemantic. However, language is changing through time, so the meaning of language is changing too. During this process, one symbol gains more than one meaning in order to make our language convenient and easy to be remembered. This phenomenon is called polysemous phenomenon, which is in conformity with the principle of least effort and the principle of effect. Polysemous phenomenon is the result of language change, so although this is a synchronic phenomenon, it is a diachronic process.The focus of semantics is the study of meaning, thus polysemous phenomenon certainly belongs to the field of semantics. However, some well-known semantic theories'explanation about polysemous phenomenon, such as semantic componential analysis and semantic field theory, is not satisfying. Some cognitive linguists have studied the issue of polysemy, but few have done researches on the meanings of alphabets and monograms from the perspective of cognition. In fact, cognitive linguistics provides us with a new angle to explain polysemous phenomenon, which is more convincing, acceptable and effective.Theoretically, the author gives a brief definition of monogram and defines what a lexical symbol means to in this thesis, and introduces some important theories in cognitive linguistics which will be adopted, respectively metaphor, metonymy and prototypical category based on family resemblance. This thesis is going to discuss polysemous phenomena of alphabets and monograms and tries to explore the reasons behind it from a cognitive linguistic perspective. How different meanings of one lexical symbol appear? Do they appear together or one by one? What is the relationship among them? This thesis has the following aims: first, investigate how different meanings come into being. Second, observe how cognitive linguistics exerts its effect on this process.The researches show that every symbol has the core meaning and other meanings. They are not arbitrary, but related to a certain extent. There are two fundamental processes leading the development of meanings from monosemous to polysemous: radiation and concatenation. Multiple meanings of one symbol consist of meaning chains, which belong to one category. The core meaning is the prototypical meaning, which can be be maximized, minimized, ameliorated, or pejorated, and other meanings are called the peripheral meanings. The prototype is the source of the peripheral meanings. Metaphor and metonymy, which are no longer just two kinds of rhetoric, but are two fundamental cognitive devices, one is based on the association, comparison and similarity, and the other is based on contiguity. Sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish which device is used in meaning extension, because it may be the result of their mutual effect. With the help of metaphor and metonymy mainly, the derived meanings ascend to the core meanings during next process of meaning development. The direct source to establish prototypical categorization is family resemblance. Through this thesis, the author tries to make a conclusion that polysemous phenomenon is the mutual result of diachrony and human being's cognitive ability. The possible relations among the senses of a polysemous symbol, such as alphabet or monogram, are established through the cognitive tools, such as metaphor and metonymy.Although there is still a long way to go in meaning research, based on authentic evidence and some cognitive theories, this study is reliable and worthwhile. This thesis fills in a gap of research in the field of theoretic study on multiple meanings of alphabets and monograms, and extends the content of semantic construction from polysemy to alphabet and monogram. The research also uncovers a fact that language is much more non-arbitrary than people generally think. The study of alphabets and monograms'meanings can predict the general developmental direction of meaning, provide us a little clue to the study of polysemy, let us see one aspect of human's thinking development process. In practice, this study will help language learners to understand the interrelationship among multiple meanings of a lexical symbol, then they can more deeply understand the lexical symbol. Consequently, one the one hand, learners can better understand the evolution and development of the English language. On the other hand, with the help of cognition, they learn some lexical skills, thus their competence of remembering symbols and vocabulary is improved. This thesis can also enlighten teachers in the future teaching or researching work.