A Cognitive Approach To The Coherence Mechanism Of CPS

Chinese paratactic sentence (CPS) as a typical kind of complex sentence isfrequently observed in both oral and written Chinese. Lacking obvious connectivesand dominant cohesive devices is the main feature of CPS, and therefore Parataxishas generally been considered as the way to understand the coherent meaning of thiskind of non-connective sentence. However, Parataxis itself is a general conceptwhich can not serve as a satisfactory explanation towards the coherence of CPS. Thisdissertation holds that CPS has its own coherence mechanism and ICM~+can be usedto analyze the process of coherent semantic generation and the coherence mechanismof it.In this paper, all the paratactic sentences from the25short stories which haveever won the Lu Xun Literature Prize are picked out, amounting to515. In light ofthe three principles of ICM~+in cognitive linguistics, namely, image-schematicstructure, propositional structure and cognitive gap filling principle, the coherentmeans of paratactic sentences are examined and finally the general coherencemechanism of paratactic sentences is achieved.On the basis of statistic analysis and discussion with ICM~+, the thesis managedto find out the coherence mechanism of CPS. We believe that the coherence of CPSis achieved through two layers. On a macro-level, image-schematic principle canenable the readers to seek a continuous imagery meaning abstracted from differentimage stored in the surface of linguistic forms which seem to have no connection atall. Therefore, it can lay the foundation for the coherent meaning of CPS on thewhole. On a micro-level, propositions will trigger a certain ICM, then according tothis ICM, omitted parts and missing information in CPS will be filled with the assistof cognitive gap filling principle. Thus logical relation between the clauses in CPScan be identified, and the coherent meaning of CPS can be comprehended in details.The combination of the two layers together establishes the mental coherence of CPS.