| Due to historical and cultural differences,there are certain distinctions in the categorization and cognition of the world among different nations.In language contact,when words that exist in one language are not contextualized as words in another language,lexical gaps come into being.In the 1950 s,the American linguist Hockett(1954)first revealed the phenomenon of linguistic gaps,then known as “gaps in language”.Since then,the phenomenon has been extensively researched in linguistic circles in various countries,focusing on intercultural communication,foreign language teaching,and translation.However,comparative studies across languages and studies of the cognitive mechanisms behind the phenomenon of lexical gaps are still lacking.Based on this,this study chooses to systematically investigate the phenomenon of lexical gaps between Chinese and English,with an attempt to reveal the social factors and cognitive mechanisms involved.This study holds theoretical value for deepening lexical research and practical significance for vocabulary learning,lexicography and vocabulary teaching.This study employs a cognitive sociolinguistic perspective with the theoretical basis of “reality-cognition-language”,and combines language contact,conceptual metonymy and conceptual blending theory to construct a CMB model(C for language contact,M for metonymy and B for conceptual blending theory).The model explores the causes of partial lexical gaps between Chinese and English from both social and cognitive dimensions.Using the Oxford English Dictionary as a benchmark,this thesis compares it with the Xinhua Dictionary of Loanwords(2019)and the Dictionary of Foreign Languages in Chinese(2015),selecting a total of 1,136 words for the study.This thesis classifies the relevant lexical gaps and examines the distribution of lexical internal construction patterns and internal semantic forms.According to the corpus,the 1,136 words consist of 226 words of Chinese origin and910 words of English origin.Based on the characteristics of the semantic fields of the two languages and their convergence,these words can be divided into eight categories,namely social life(314),science and technology(213),literature and art(148),geography(114),religion and philosophy(107),politics and economy(94),history and culture(83),and flora and fauna(63).An examination of the distribution of internal word formation patterns and internal semantic forms reveals that the social life vocabulary is the most frequently used,accounting for about 27.6% of the total,followed by science and technology vocabulary,accounting for 18.75%.The analysis of the CMB model shows that Chinese primarily perceives lexical gaps of English origin through language contact and metonymy,while English predominantly perceives lexical gaps of Chinese origin phonetically.This study demonstrates the following findings:(1)The phenomenon of lexical gaps between Chinese and English is observed in various domains,encompassing natural science,humanities,and social life.Both languages have words related to these domains.English dictionaries include a larger number of words of Chinese origin concerning language,history and culture(approximately 28.8%),which reflect China’s rich 5000-year civilization.On the other hand,Chinese dictionaries include a greater number of words of English origin related to social life,science and technology(approximately35.6%),which are associated with the rapid development of modern civilization in Western countries.Overall,words related to social life are the most frequently used,indicating that language creation occurs within a social context and that people engage in cognitive activities through language contact.The second most frequent word is science and technology,highlighting the importance of their role in societal progress and facilitating cross-cultural communication.(2)Language contact broadens people’s perspectives,and to better integrate foreign words into their language systems,users adapt them primarily through metonymy and conceptual blending.Chinese tends to focus more on writing,dissemination,and preservation,while English emphasizes the portrayal of artistic culture and collective activities.The analysis of the CMB model suggests that Chinese speakers are more inclined to understand lexical gaps of English origin through language contact,metonymy,and conceptual blending.In contrast,English speakers have a more direct approach in perceiving lexical gaps of Chinese origin.(3)The lack of objects to experience and perceive in reality is the most fundamental cause of lexical gaps.This may arise from a conceptual gap due to the lack of a cognitive experiential basis or from a failure to map the mental space due to differences in prominence and association under the metonymy mechanism.Through metonymy and conceptual blending,people use appropriate linguistic symbols or words to represent corresponding concepts and fill the lexical gaps.This results in the introduction of a significant number of foreign words into a given language,enriching people’s social experiences and language. |
