A Cognitive Semantic Study Of EYE And YAN

Polysemy is pervasive in language. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also an economic and effective means for people in the construal processes of experience into meaning. Body-part terms are most widespread in polysemy. The cognitive semantic study of EYE and YAN(眼) has attracted great attention of scholars both at home and abroad.However, previous studies have failed to give a cognitive interpretation of the semantic change of EYE and YAN(眼) and do an in-depth discussion of semantic cognitive mechanisms of EYE and YAN(眼).This thesis aims to study EYE and YAN( 眼) from a cognitive perspective. It adopts conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual metonymy theory in cognitive linguistics, mainly employing a qualitative analysis, literature induction and linguistic material analysis in the study of meaning change, semantic networks, the cognitive processes of conceptual meanings and semantic cognitive mechanisms of EYE and YAN(眼).This thesis has answered the following three questions:(1) What are the semantic change and conceptual meanings of EYE and YAN( 眼)respectively?(2) What are the conceptual metaphors and conceptual metonymies in EYE and YAN(眼) respectively?(3)What are the semantic cognitive mechanisms of EYE and YAN(眼)?The findings of this thesis are as follows:(1) The meanings of “eye”and the meanings of yan( 眼) are closely related. And their related patterns are combinations of radiation and concatenation, which reflect the complexity, flexibility and variety of human thinking modes. A word can extend in different directions to satisfy the need of communication.(2)There are twenty conceptual metaphors and conceptual metonymies in the phrases and compounds for EYE and YAN(眼). And the number of conceptual metonymies is far more than the number of conceptual metaphors.(3) The main cognitive mechanisms of EYE and YAN(眼) are conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy.The theoretical value and practical significance of this study are:(1)this thesis applies two cognitive linguistic theories: conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual metonymy theory in the explanation of EYE and YAN(眼). It further demonstrates that the above theories have a strong explanatory power in the polysemy research of EYE and YAN(眼).(2) It can help English and Chinese language learners understand the meaning change and the characteristics of semantic networks and use the relevant words and expressions effectively of EYE and YAN(眼).(3) It is of some reference value for English and Chinese language teaching and culture learning.