Constraints On Space-to-time Mapping In English And Chinese Spatial Adjectives

Under the guidance of the cognitive typology,the present study takes English and Chinese spatial adjectives(hereinafter as“SPs”)as the research object,by means of comparison,quantification and qualification,to examine the similarities and differences of constraints on space-to-time mapping in spatial adjectives between English and Chinese.Then,related hypotheses of implicational universals are proposed based on the similarities of constraints and proved through a cross-linguistic typological investigation.Finally,the cognitive motivations for similar and different points are explored.The purpose of this study is to reveal the cognitive universal rules of constraints on space-to-time mapping in spatial adjectives,and the main findings are as follows:Firstly,the constraints on space-to-time mapping in English and Chinese spatial adjectives are largely identical but with minor differences.The similarities are:1)not all“SPs”are frequently-used to represent the abstract concept of time.2)there exists a strict hierarchy of constraints on space-to-time mapping in English and Chinese“SPs”:length/distance>size/height/depth>width/thickness 1/thichness 2,and the grade is inversely proportional to the strength of the constraints.3)the internal hierarchy of constraints is of positive semantic tendency on the whole.4)The constraints on space-to-time mapping in English and Chinese spatial adjectives obey the two implicational universals:spatialization of time in“SPs”(?) one-dimensional horizontal“SPs”;temporal representations of vertical“SPs”(?) absolute preference for positive vertical“SPs”.The differences are:1)the constraints on space-to-time mapping in English“SPs”are stronger than those in Chinese.2)the space-to-time mapping of English spatial size and Chinese spatial distance are of negative semantic preference.Secondly,the hierarchy of“SPs”in the category of space provides a cognitive source for the hierarchy of constraints on space-to-time mapping,and the structural similarity of space and time is the major determinant for the temporal mapping of“SPs”,and human visual cognition preference is a critical factor that affects the tendency of horizontal time axis and the positive spatial concept in the process of mapping.However,different language types constrain the essence and degree of spatialization and meanwhile different national cultural characteristics of cognitive subjects also make the differences in the temporal representations of“SPs”...