英语字母及字母组合意义相关性的认知研究
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硕士学位论文
I
ABSTRACT
As is known to all, alphabet, monogram and lexicon are the foundation of
English, and current English system forms on this basis. It is not exaggerated to say
that without them, there is no English. When one symbol is coined, it is usually
monosemantic. However, language is changing through time, so the meaning of
language is changing too. During this process, one symbol gains more than one
meaning in order to make our language convenient and easy to be remembered. This
phenomenon is called polysemous phenomenon, which is in conformity with the
principle of least effort and the principle of effect. Polysemous phenomenon is the
result of language change, so although this is a synchronic phenomenon, it is a
diachronic process.
The focus of semantics is the study of meaning, thus polysemous phenomenon
certainly belongs to the field of semantics. However, some well-known semantic
theories’ explanation about polysemous phenomenon, such as semantic componential
analysis and semantic field theory, is not satisfying. Some cognitive linguists have
studied the issue of polysemy, but few have done researches on the meanings of
alphabets and monograms from the perspective of cognition. In fact, cognitive
linguistics provides us with a new angle to explain polysemous phenomenon, which is
more convincing, acceptable and effective.
Theoretically, the author gives a brief definition of monogram and defines what a
lexical symbol means to in this thesis, and introduces some important theories in
cognitive linguistics which will be adopted, respectively metaphor, metonymy and
prototypical category based on family resemblance. This thesis is going to discuss
polysemous phenomena of alphabets and monograms and tries to explore the reasons
behind it from a cognitive linguistic perspective. How different meanings of one
lexical symbol appear? Do they appear together or one by one? What is the
relationship among them? This thesis has the following aims: first, investigate how
different meanings come into being. Second, observe how cognitive linguistics exerts
its effect on this process.
The researches show that every symbol has the core meaning and other meanings.
They are not arbitrary, but related to a certain extent. There are two fundamental
硕士学位论文
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processes leading the development of meanings from monosemous to polysemous:
radiation and concatenation. Multiple meanings of one symbol consist of meaning
chains, which belong to one category. The core meaning is the prototypical meaning,
which can be be maximized, minimized, ameliorated, or pejorated, and other
meanings are called the peripheral meanings. The prototype is the source of the
peripheral meanings. Metaphor and metonymy, which are no longer just two kinds of
rhetoric, but are two fundamental cognitive devices, one is based on the association,
comparison and similarity, and the other is based on contiguity. Sometimes, it is
difficult to distinguish which device is used in meaning extension, because it may be
the result of their mutual effect. With the help of metaphor and metonymy mainly, the
derived meanings ascend to the core meanings during next process of meaning
development. The direct source to establish prototypical categorization is family
resemblance. Through this thesis, the author tries to make a conclusion that
polysemous phenomenon is the mutual result of diachrony and human being’s
cognitive ability. The possible relations among the senses of a polysemous symbol,
such as alphabet or monogram, are established through the cognitive tools, such as
metaphor and metonymy.
Although there is still a long way to go in meaning research, based on authentic
evidence and some cognitive theories, this study is reliable and worthwhile. This
thesis fills in a gap of research in the field of theoretic study on multiple meanings of
alphabets and monograms, and extends the content of semantic construction from
polysemy to alphabet and monogram. The research also uncovers a fact that language
is much more non-arbitrary than people generally think. The study of alphabets and
monograms’ meanings can predict the general developmental direction of meaning,
provide us a little clue to the study of polysemy, let us see one aspect of human’s
thinking development process. In practice, this study will help language learners to
understand the interrelationship among multiple meanings of a lexical symbol, then
they can more deeply understand the lexical symbol. Consequently, one the one hand,
learners can better understand the evolution and development of the English language.
On the other hand, with the help of cognition, they learn some lexical skills, thus their
competence of remembering symbols and vocabulary is improved. This thesis can
also enlighten teachers in the future teaching or researching work.
Key Words: polysemous phenomenon; alphabet; monogram; metaphor; metonymy;
硕士学位论文
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categorization
摘要
众所周知，字母、字母组合和词汇是英语的根基，在此基础上，形成了当今
的英语系统。毫不夸张地说，没有它们，就没有英语。当一个符号生成时，它常
常是单义的。然而，语言随着时间的流逝而变化，语言的意义也随之变化。为了
使语言更加方便和易记，一个符号获得了更多意义，这种现象称为多义现象，这
与最省力原则和效果原则相符。一词多义现象是语言变化的结果，所以虽然这是
一种共时现象，却是一个历时过程。
语义学研究的重点就是意义，因此一词多义现象属于语义学研究领域，但是
一些著名的语义学理论，例如语义成分分析理论和语义场论，对这一现象所做出
的解释并不令人满意。有部分认知语言学家研究了多义性的问题，但很少有人从
认知的角度研究字母和字母组合的多义性现象。事实上，认知语言学的发展为字
母和字母组合的多义性的研究提供了更为合理和可信的解释。
作者给字母组合下了定义，规定了文中词法符号的所指，并且介绍了一些文
中会使用到的认知语言学理论，分别是隐喻、转喻及基于家族相似性的原型范畴。
文章要讨论的是字母和字母组合的多义现象，并试图从认知语言学角度探讨其背
后的原因。一个符号的不同含义是如何出现的？他们是一起出现还是出现的时间
有先后？它们之间的关系是什么？此文有以下目标：第一，研究不同的含义如何
应运而生，即基本意义是怎样拓展成其他意义的。第二，观察认知语言学如何在
这个过程中施加影响。
研究表明：每个词法符号都有核心意义和其他意义。它们之间的关系不是任
意的，而在一定程度上相联系的。有两个过程导致了符号的意义由单义向多义发
展，即辐射和连锁。这些意义构成了一个由语义链条连接的范畴。其中，核心意
义是该范畴的类典型，它可以扩大、缩小、变褒或者变贬，而其他意义被称为边
缘意义。类典型是边缘意义的来源。隐喻和转喻，不再仅仅是修辞方法，而是两
种重要的认知机制，前者建立在关联性、比较性和相似性的基础上，而后者建立
在邻近性的基础上。有时很难区分在意义派生过程中，哪种机制起了作用，有可
能是两种机制共同作用的结果。在隐喻、转喻等认知机制作用下，原本的派生意
义在下一个意义演化过程中也可能成为下一个阶段的核心意义。此外，在语义构
建中家族相似性起了不可忽视的作用。本文作者试图得到这样的结论：一词多义
现象是历时和人类认知能力共同作用的结果。多义符号的意义扩展，例如字母或
硕士学位论文
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字母组合，是通过隐喻和转喻来实现的。
虽然语义研究还可以更深入，本文的研究把真实的材料和理论结合起来，是
有一定价值的和可信度的。本研究填补了字母和字母组合多义性理论研究领域的
空白，把语义建构内容从一词多义扩展到了字母和字母组合。在语言的任意性和
理据性问题上，此研究也揭示了语言比人们通常认为的要更非任意性这一事实。
字母和字母组合的意义相关性研究可以为预知一个符号的下一个意义提供了大
致思索方向，为一词多义研究提供了一点线索，让我们看到人类思维发展过程的
一方面。在实践中，本文的研究结果还可以帮助语言学习者明白一个词法符号的
多个含义的内在关系，加深他们对词法符号的了解。因此，一方面学习者更好地
了解了英语语言的形成和演变过程，另一方面，有了认知力的帮助，学习者掌握
了一定的词汇技巧，因而他们记忆符号和单词的能力大大提高。同时，本文的研
究可以启发教师未来的教学和研究工作。
关键词：一词多义现象；字母；字母组合；隐喻；转喻；范畴化
硕士学位论文
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Literature Review..........................................................................................5
1.1 Previous Studies about Polysemous Phenomenon...............................................5
1.2 Previous Studies about Alphabets and Monograms.............................................6
Chapter 2 Theoretical Foundation...............................................................................11
2.1 The Relation between Form and Meaning......................................................... 11
2.2 The Relation between Multiple Meanings of One Symbol................................12
2.3 Cognitive Semantics...........................................................................................16
Chapter 3 Meaning to Meaning Extension..................................................................21
3.1 Polysemous Phenomena of Alphabets and Monograms.................................... 21
3.2 The Stages of Meaning Evolution......................................................................24
3.3 Meaning Chain and Radial Networks................................................................25
Chapter 4 A Cognitive Understanding of Alphabets and Monograms..................... 31
4.1 Polysemization and Prototypical Categorization............................................... 31
4.2 Metaphor and Metonymy: Two Processes of Polysemization........................... 33
4.3 Cognitive Model in Alphabets' and Monograms' Original Meanings................38
Conclusion......................................................................................................................41
Bibliography...................................................................................................................43
硕士学位论文
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Introduction
1. Subject of the Research
Modern linguistics holds that morphemes are the smallest semantic units. But some
scholars both home and abroad think that letters, as the basic elements of words, have
their meanings, at least at their initial stage. For example, Phoenicians used letters to do
business. This fact is generally accepted and used to support the argument that letters
have their meanings. Not only letters, the combinations of letters also have their
meanings. Most scholars do agree that letters have their original meanings, but some
hold that letters have already lost their original meanings. Believing that letters and the
combinations of letters still keep their original meanings, this thesis tries to study the
polysemous features of letters and monograms by cognitive means of metaphor and
metonymy. Then, what is monogram? The traditional definition of monogram is the
writing emblem or code sign consisting of two or more letters, usually stands for a name
or part of a subject. In this thesis, it mainly refers to two letters combined to express a
definite meaning or several meanings. It is a little different from diagraph, which also
consists of two letters, but usually have a single sound such as: “ea” in “meat” and “th”
in “path”. The term “monogram” we use in this thesis mainly refers to the two letters
that stand at the first and second position in a word, or initiate a word. It may have one
sound or two sounds. It has its own semantic meanings. Generally, the meanings it
carries have close connection with the original meanings of the single letters from its
component, more often, the combination of the separate letter meanings. For example,
in the monogram “sn”, “s” stand for “tooth” in Hebrew language, “n” is the imitation of
nasal sound, so the combination of these two letters dominates several dozens of words
dealing with the actions and functions of our noses. Another example is the monogram
“br”, in which “b” stands for “two”, and “r” stands for “head”. When put together, the
combined meaning is “two heads”, this gives hints and enlightment to such words as
“brace, branch, bracelet, brachiate, branks, brass, brawn, braza, breast, brogan, brogue,
brood, brig, break, brick etc.. ”All of them have some connections with “two heads”. It
should be pointed out that some of these monograms are well accepted as mature
prefixes, having definite and fixed meanings, and others are still on their ways of
evolution, waiting to be accepted. This statement of ours can be tested and proved with
硕士学位论文
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“pr” and “fr”, we can say “pr” is both a monogram or a prefix, because “pr” itself has
the meaning of “early, before, in front of, first” etc., but when we add a vowel after it, it
become a prefix, for example, pra-, pre-; pri-; pro- are nowadays widely accepted as
mature prefixes, but “fr” is not. For the transliteration of ‘P’ and ‘F’, “fr” has the same
meaning as “pr”, but it does not appear in the form of prefixes, we can see the meaning
“early, before, in front of, first” in “fore, before, forecast, foretell, foresee, forefather,
foremother, forerunner, foreman, first, front, far, further, farther forest, foreign, forum,
from” etc.. All the listed words contain the basic element “fr”, and all have almost the
same meanings.
In this thesis, we mainly focus on those to be accepted for the convenience of
exposition. We shall also mention some of the nature ones, the so-called prefixes.
From above definition, we can further define letters and monograms as lexical
symbols: they are components of meanings (though this theory is not widely accepted in
linguistic circle). For the convenience of description, this author will use the term
“lexical symbols” to represent letters and monograms.
At the beginning, a lexical symbol only has one meaning. Although it is easy for
people to remember and use, its deficiency is obvious. It could not satisfy people’
cognitive, expressive and communicative requirements. Later, new meanings are added
into lexical symbols, so they usually have more than one meaning associated with them.
When the meanings are related, this is called polysemous symbols. Lexical symbols like
alphabets and monograms should be treated as conceptual categories, organized as a
network through meaning chains. Polysemous symbols arise because meanings are
linked to a network of lexical concepts rather than to a single concept. However, there is
usually a core or typical meaning that relates the others, which is called prototype. Other
derived meanings are called peripheral meanings and their position in this network is
decided by their degree of family resemblance. One question that has intrigued
cognitive linguists is concerning how polysemous symbol is motivated. That is, how
does a single lexical symbol come to have a series of distinct yet related meanings
associated with it? The author holds that there are two important factors in motivating
meaning extension: metaphor and metonymy.
2. Significance of the Research
Polysemous phenomenon is a pervasive semantic phenomenon, but this
phenomenon has not yet attracted enough attention. One approach of polysemous
硕士学位论文
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phenomenon, polysemy, is been studied, but not perfectly explained within semantic
theories, such as semantic componential analysis and semantic field theory. Moreover,
the phenomenon that the form of one alphabet or one monogram corresponds to more
than one meaning has seldom been studied from theoretical perspective, more exactly,
from cognition. With the development of cognitive linguistics, it provides us with a new
angle to explain polysemous phenomenon, which is more convincing, acceptable and
effective. Therefore, my goal in this thesis is to present a new perspective on the study
of multiple meanings of alphabets and monograms. Cognitive linguists hold that
semantic structure closely corresponds to conceptual structure, and my research of
meaning extension just provides the first-hand data about conceptual structure. Research
shows that metaphor and metonymy are not just two kinds of rhetoric used in English
language and literature. More important, they are cognitive tools. On the basis of
metaphor and metonymy, people can predict the general developmental direction of
meaning by the pre-existing network. It also shows that some cognitive theories,
especially prototypical categorization based on family resemblance play a crucial role in
the process of semantic construction.
This thesis does researches on multiple meanings of alphabets and monograms, so
as to fill in a gap of research in this field and extend the content of semantic
construction from polysemy to alphabet and monogram. I focus mostly on ample
examples in order to reveal that multiple meanings of alphabets and monograms must
be related to a certain extent, so another significance of my thesis is to uncover a fact
that language is much more non-arbitrary than people generally think.
The study of alphabet and monogram’s meanings can provide us a little clue to the
study of polysemy and let us see one aspect of human’s thinking development process.
In practice, this study will help language learners to understand the interrelationship
among multiple meanings of a lexical symbol, and then they can more deeply
understand the lexical symbol. Consequently, on one hand, learners can better
understand the evolution and development of the English language. On the other hand,
with the help of cognition, they can learn some lexical skills, thus their competence of
remembering symbols and vocabulary is improved. This thesis can also enlighten
teachers in the future teaching or researching work.
3. Organization of the Thesis
This thesis is divided into four chapters. In chapter one, there are some review of
硕士学位论文
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the previous studies about polysemous phenomenon from the views of semanticist and
cognitive linguists. Then, it is a summary of previous researches about alphabets and
monograms. It does not only include domestic researches, but also western researches.
Chapter two is the theoretical foundation. First of all, it discusses the relationship
between lexical symbols’ form and meaning. Is the relation between form and meaning
of a symbol arbitrary or motivated? Two kinds of traditional views are introduced, one
is from Naturalists, which holds that there is an intrinsic correspondence between sound
and sense, and the other is from Conventionalists, which holds that sound and sense are
not the same thing, there is no necessary connection between sound and sense, the sense
of a word is only a kind of linguistic social contract. Then, what is the relationship
between meanings of a lexical symbol? In the author’s opinion, the process of meaning
evolution has some reasons, and the multiple meanings of a symbol must be in certain
relation, which is also a part of this chapter. The ending section of this chapter is a brief
introduction of cognitive semantics. Within this thesis, there are three important theories
the author will adopt, respectively metaphor, metonymy and prototypical category based
on family resemblance. In chapter three, the first section is an introduction of
polysemous phenomena of alphabets and monograms, and then it describes five stages
of meaning evolution: meaning generation, meaning initiation, stabilization, the spread
of meanings and reaching an agreement. The third part concerns that multiple meanings
of alphabets and monograms form meaning network by the way of radiation and
concatenation. In the first part of chapter four, the author presents what polysemization
and prototypical categorization are. After that, two cognitive processes of
polysemization, metaphor and metonymy, are introduced and the author gives some
instances under the impetus of them, finally the cognitive model in alphabets’ and
monograms’ original meanings are discussed.
硕士学位论文
5
Chapter 1 Literature Review
1.1 Previous Studies about Polysemous Phenomenon
1.1.1 The Views of Some Semanticist
Polysemous phenomenon is very common and belongs to the field of Semantics.
The focus of semantics is the study of meaning, and one important research content of
semantics is to explain the relation between multiple meanings of an expression.
Semantic componential analysis was put forward by an American anthropologist in
1950s, and structural semanticists apply it to analyze meanings. It can help people to
understand a word’s multiple elementary components, and well account for the semantic
distinctions between different words, such as synonyms, antonyms and relationship of
hyponymy. For example, “father” and “mother” are separately described as having the
semantic features of [+Parent] and [+Male], of [+Parent] and [-Male], so we can easily
know the relationship between “father” and “mother”, including similarity and
difference. However, semantic componential analysis cannot explain the polysemous
relationship among different meanings of a single alphabet, a monogram or a word. The
reason is that a polysemous item has at least more than one meaning, therefore it has
sets of semantic components and there is no comparability among them. Take the word
“father” for another example, it can be defined as “a male parent”, “a priest, especially
in the Roman Catholic church”, “God” and etc. Therefore, it has at least three sets of
semantic features, and every set of semantic features are different. Componential
analysis seems too complicated and too weak in explaining it.
Semantic field theory was first brought forward by German scholar J Trier, but
Lehrer gave it a definition, “semantic field refers to an area of human experience and
perception, which is delimited and subcategorized by a set of interrelated vocabulary
items in a language.” (Lehrer, 1974: 1) Words in each semantic field define one another.
For example, the color field includes red, blue, orange, green and etc. If we want to
know the meaning of “red”, we have to compare it with other items in the same field,
such as “green”. The advantage of the semantic field theory is that it does researches in
different fields separately, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that it neglects the
relationship among separate semantic fields, so polysemy is not its range of study.
In previous studies, the relationship among different meanings of one symbol has
seldom been studied. Some previous researches have studied the phenomenon of
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硕士学位论文IABSTRACTAsisknowntoall,alphabet,monogramandlexiconarethefoundationofEnglish,andcurrentEnglishsystemformsonthisbasis.Itisnotexaggeratedtosaythatwithoutthem,thereisnoEnglish.Whenonesymboliscoined,itisusuallymonosemantic.However,languageischangingthroughtime,sothemeaningoflanguageischangingtoo.D...
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