Analysis Of Horizontal Location Specifications In Camel Xiangzi Under The Instruction Of Spatial Frames Of Reference

Space study is one of the most basic issues in cognitive science. One cognitive approach towards space is through the employment of frames of reference, which are the linguistic frames of reference when they are represented in language. Levinson has distinguished three frames of reference on the horizontal level—the intrinsic, the relative and the absolute frame of reference. He has argued that all languages use these three frames of reference with some predominantly using one only, some using two, and some others using all the three. Through an exhaustive study of cases of frames of reference marked by locative words on horizontal level in Camel Xiangzi, the writer tends to test whether Levinson's theory of frames of reference are applicable to Chinese and if there are any characteristics of space specifications in north China. It has been revealed that the three frames of reference are used widely in spatial specification in Camel Xiangzi, with the intrinsic frame of reference being used most frequently, followed closely by the use of absolute frame of reference, and with the relative frame of reference being employed the least rarely. As a matter of fact, the navigation habits of Beijing residents utilizing frames of reference are prevalent in north China. The research findings have been explained as follows: first, the intrinsic frame of reference is logically simple with only two arguments and is easier to master compared with the relative one with three arguments. It is near linguistic bedrock and is near universal. Second, various cases of absolute frame of reference have been identified because the old Beijing has been built quite neat and tidy with"回"appearance on the whole, which provides better conditions for its residents to recognize locations, in addition to the logical elegance of the absolute one. Third, the least frequently applied relative frame of reference with three arguments has quite complex logical structure. Therefore, only eighteen cases of its application have been identified.