A Study On Construction Of Continuum For The Representation Of Number Category In English Nouns

The English noun is one of the most important learning contents for English learners, and the number of English noun has always been a heated issue. It is worthy noting that the countability of English noun is a pervasive phenomenon in the study of English Grammar. The number of English noun is the product of people’s categorization and it can be classified into countable nouns and mass nouns. The entities in the physical world can be divided into bounded objects and unbounded substances. Both of them have properties of quantification, so the types of quantification are pervasive among languages. However, based on the prototype theory of categorization, things could not be clearly cut. The bounded object can be converted into the unbounded substance, while the unbounded substance can be also converted into bounded object. The bounded object and unbounded substance form a continuum. Therefore, the types of quantification have been changed. Besides the objects have the prototypical accurate quantification, it may also have the non-prototypical vague quantification. While besides the substance have the prototypical vague quantification, it may also have the non-prototypical accurate quantification. In this thesis, the author focus on the study of types of quantification and lays the foundation of prototype theory, quantity and quality, boundeness and unboundness, trying to construct the continuum for the representation of number of English noun category.Firstly, the author divides the countable nouns and mass nouns according to the theory of boundedness and unboundedness. The countable nouns have the properties of bounded, heterogeneous and countability. The mass nouns have the properties of unbounded, homogeneous and uncountability. The countable nouns have the bounded accurate quantification to the unbounded vague quantification then unbounded mass nouns. It has formed the continuum for the representation of quantity of countable nouns. The mass nouns have the unbounded vague quantification to the bounded accurate quantification then bounded countable nouns. It has formed the continuum for the representation of quantity of mass nouns. Therefore, we have constructed the continuum for the representation of the number of English noun category. The representation of it which is based on the perspective of human being recognized the physical world. When cognitive subjects observes the world, they may have different point of view. This may due to the change of the viewing frame, specialization,widowing of attention and prominence. Moreover, it has closely related to the ways of living of people in daily life.This thesis has its theoretical significance on exploring the process of quantification of both countable nouns and mass nouns and it analysis the underlying cognitive process of people when they quantify things. On the other hand, this thesis points out its deficiency. Quantification is not just limited to nouns. Verbs also have quantification expression. These can be the starting points for further studies.