A Study Of Cognitive Metaphor And Metonymy In Chinese-based Netspeak

With the development of the Internet as well as the increasing number of netizens, Netspeak has made great progress, and many scholars pay their attention to it. Most of the study focuses on its properties and lexical features. Although some people study Netspeak from the aspect of metaphor or metonymy, systematic and comprehensive explanations of Netspeak from the classifications of cognitive metaphor and metonymy are far from reached. Therefore, according to the classifications of cognitive metaphor and metonymy, this thesis analyzes various types of cognitive metaphor and metonymy existing in Netspeak so as to help people understand the cognitive basis of Netspeak better, which is also the originality of the study. In the author’s opinion, explaining Netspeak from cognitive metaphor and metonymy, their classifications in particular, can not only help netizens understand Netspeak better, especially its deep and logic cognitive basis, but also promote further development of Netspeak.This thesis is composed of six chapters. The first chapter is a general introduction to the study, including the background of the study, purpose of the study, data collection, method and the organization of the thesis. The data in this thesis only concentrates on the Chinese-Based Netspeak applied in the chat room or BBS (Bulletin Board System). In order to collect the data, the author enters the chat room and BBS regularly. In addition, the thesis employs the method of resolving the problem on the basis of the theory of cognitive linguistics. In chapter two, previous studies on metaphor, metonymy and Netspeak at home and abroad are given first. Then, studies on Netspeak from the perspective of metaphor and metonymy are unfolded. Chapter three is the theoretical foundation of the study. Chapter four and chapter five are the main body of the thesis. According to the classifications of cognitive metaphor and metonymy listed in chapter three, Netspeak are explained to illuminate the state that there are various types of cognitive metaphor and metonymy in Netspeak, and functions and features of cognitive metaphor and metonymy in Netspeak are also unveiled. Chapter six mainly deals with the main findings of the thesis, limitations and suggestions for future study. Main findings include four parts. First, there exist various types of cognitive metaphor in Netspeak. Second, there exist various types of cognitive metonymy in Netspeak. Third, cognitive metaphor and metonymy play important roles in Netspeak. Concretely speaking, cognitive metaphor can provide the basis for concepts in Netspeak; the thinking model of cognitive metonymy can save the time of communication on the Internet; both cognitive metaphor and metonymy can generate new meanings. Fourth, as for the features of cognitive metaphor and metonymy in Netspeak, we can see that the vehicle of cognitive metaphor and metonymy usually comes from our daily behavior or state as well as animals in our daily life.Because of the speedy development of Netspeak, some certain materials cannot be collected. In addition, there are various classifications of metaphor and metonymy studied and classified by many scholars. In this thesis, the author just chooses one of their classifications. Therefore, the author hopes that much more data of Netspeak can be collected and Netspeak should be analyzed on the basis of some other classifications of cognitive metaphor and metonymy, which leaves some room for the future study.