A Cognitive Study On Compounds In Est Based On The Conceptual Integration Theory(CIT)

The compound obviously has become an indispensible part of EST. It came into being and developed with the appearance and development of science and technology. It gradually draws great attention from domains of both science and linguistics. It is also a scientific and technological register formed by scientists and technicians in order to meet the needs of scientific communication.Conceptual Integration Theory(CIT) that develops from Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Mental Space is one of the most important theories in cognitive linguistics. Many scholars have done numerous studies on vocabularies with the CIT, but the studies concerning compounds in EST are few. This thesis aims to discover intrinsic connections in the process of conceptual construction of compounds in EST from a cognitive approach.This thesis adopted the combination of qualitative and quantitative researches in order to draw a more objective conclusion. The data used in this thesis mainly comes from VOA, BBC and Science. This thesis tries to answer two questions: What the conceptual constructions of EST compounds and what the conceptual features of EST compounds are.According to CIT, the process of conceptual construction can be understood as online dynamic integration. There are four types of Conceptual Integration Networks(CIN) in the CIT. During this process, a series of optimality principles make elements in the blend reconstruct dynamically and generate new projecting relations. Based on the CIT, the author gives explanations on how the meaning of compounds in EST is constructed by analyzing examples in each network.This thesis reveals that the CIT is an effective method for analyzing the dynamic conceptual construction on compounds in EST. The mighty explanation power of CIT has been fully demonstrated. Two conceptual features, namely, endocentric feature and exocentric feature, are distinct in four networks in the CIT. This research contributes to both the learners and the linguistic field. For learners, this study can arouse their attentions to learning more about information. In linguistic field, it is a further combination of cognitive linguistics, semantics and lexicology.