语一词多义现象的认知研究本科论文

Figure3.6Representationofthedynamicimageschema-over-(Source:Ungerer&Schmid2001:161)Inthisfigure,theballoon(TR)istheprominentandsalientpartinthestructure,whilethecity(LM)isthereferencepointorbackground.TheTRmovesforwardfollowingahorizontalwayandcreatesthepath.TheTRdoesnotcomeintocontactwiththeLM.ThefollowingsentencesareexamplesofFigure3.6:Thebirdflewovertheyard.Theplaneflewoverthehill.Lakoffandhisstudentsprovideusawell-knowncentralimageschemaof-over-whichispowerfulinexplainingsomesentencescontainingprepositionover.Butactuallysuchanimageschemaof-over-sometimescannotcoverallthesensesofit.Forexample:a.Johnjumpedoverthefence.b.Heissotallthathetowersovertherestofus(张汉熙,1995:252).Insentencea,theTR“John”obviousfollowsanup-and-downpathratherthanaflatandhigherpath.Insentenceb,theTR“he”andtheLM“therestofus”standonthesamehorizontallevel.Moreover,theTRpartiallycovers“therestofus”vertically.Inthiscase,overconveysthemeaningofpartiallycoveringandhigher.Ofcourse,acoremeaningofaflatpathcannotprovideaconvincingexplanationtosuchapartiallycoveringandhigherposition.Basedontheabovediscussionsaboutcentralimageschema-over-,thefeaturesofitcanbesummarizedasfollows:(1)TheTRisinpotentialcontactwiththeLM.(2)TheTRfollowsanup-and-downpath.(3)TheTRmaybepartiallyhigherthantheLM.Thus,overisprototypicallynotaprepositionofaplacebutaprepositionofpathormovement.Onlyonacertainpointofitspath,it’streatedasastaticwordwithastaticmeaning.Soanotherimageschemaisadoptedasthecentralone,whichisrepresentedbyFigure3.7.lmlmHorizontalspaceaxistrtrtrtrtrVerticalspaceaxisJohnjumpedoverthefence.Figure3.7Representationofcentralimageschema-over-Ifsuchanimageschemaisadoptedasthecentralone,thefollowingsentencesthencanbewellexplained:Marydroveoverthebridge.Ellenwalkedoverthehill.Barbaraclimbedoverthehill.Thecentralimageschema-over-(Figure3.7)hasconsiderableexplanatorypowerwiththefollowingadvantages:1.Itcoversthemeaningofabovevertically,suchameaninghasaverticalspacesalience.2.Itprovidesareasonableexplanationtothecaseofhigherandpartiallycoveringasinthesentencehetowersovertherestofus.3.ItcanwellexplainthecaseofTRisincontactwiththeLMasinthesentenceofMarydroveoverthebridge.Wehaveprovidedthedefinitionofcentralimageschemainthepreviousdiscussions.Centralimageschemaistheunifiedonefromwhichvariationsofimageschemacanbederivedfromasfigure3.7shows.Inordertoaccountformorespecificmeaningsorusesofprepositionover,wehavetoconsiderthevariationswhichtrajector,pathandlandmarkcanundergo,suchvariantswhichonlyspecifycertaincomponentsofaschema,butdonotdivergefromitscentralimageschema,arecalledelaborations(Ungerer&Schmid2001:164).Transformationsandelaborationsofcentralimageschemaaredifferentinnamebutessentiallythesameinmeaning.SchematicrepresentationSpecificationoftheschemaLinguisticexamplelmlm(a)trTrjectorisincontactwithlandmarkSamdroveoverthebridge.trtrlm(b)TrajectorcoverslandmarkThethickmistcloudedoverthecity.tr=lm(c)tr=lm(c)TrajectorandlandmarkareidenticalThefencefellover.Figure3.8Someelaborationsofthecentralschemafor-over-(BasedonLakoff1987:419ff)Figure3.8illustratessomeoftheelaborationsobservedfortheimageschema-over-.Variant(a)describesaveryusualinstance,whichmaybesuitableformanyactionverbs,namelycontactbetweenTRandLM.Variant(b)depictsthecoveringrelationshipbetweenTRandLM.TheTRassumesasimilarsizeandshapetothatoftheLMandbeplacedquiteclosetoitsothattheTRactuallycoverstheLM.Finally,variant(c)showsamarginalcaseinwhichTRandLMmergeintoeachother.ThefusionrelationofTRandLMiswellexplainedinthesentencethefencefellover.ThefencethatfallsistheTRthatismovedalongapathanditisatthesametimetheLMwhichactsasreferencepointforthemotion.

3.4.4MetaphoricalExtensionofImageSchema

Sofarwehavediscussedthenotionofcentralimageschemaanditsvariouselaborations.IthasbecomeclearthatlocativeimageschemahasconsiderableexplanatorypowertoaccountforvarioususagesofprepositionsinEnglish.Metaphoricalextensionsofimageschemahavethespatialdomainastheirsourcedomain.Theymaptheimageschemaofthespacedomainontothatofnon-physical,moreabstractdomains,whichenablesustothinkaboutandtalkaboutthosenon-physicaldomainsintermsofspatialprepositions.Sinceagreatnumberofextensionsexistforallprepositions,itseemsunrealistictoexpecttobeabletostudyallofthem.Weshallthereforecontinuethepreviousstudiesoftheprepositionoverwhichwehavelistedallpossibleelaborationsofitsspatialuses.Sentences1)-6)aresomeexamplesinwhichtheextendedusagesofoverareinvolved:

1)Hiswifehasanauthorityoverhim.

2)Hereignsoveragreatempire.

3)Itspopulationisovertwomillion.

4)Theriverisoverfiftymileslong.5)I’llstayovertillnextMonday.6)I’msorryIoversleptandmissedthebus.Howcantheseusagesofoverbeexplained?Obviouslytheimageschemaofoverintheabovesentencesisextendedfromthespatialdomaintootherdomains.OneoftheelaborationsofoverisverticallyaboveschemainFigure3.5.Ifwetakethisverticallyaboveschemaasthesourcemodels,theusagesofoverabovethencanbewellexplained.Sentence1)and2)containorientationalmetaphorswhichmapbasicexperiencefromthespatialdomainontoabstractcognitivedomain.Morespecifically,thetwosentencesarethecognitiveextensionsofthestructureoftheverticallyaboveimageschemainFigure3.5fromthephysicalspacetothepowerdomain.Metaphoricallyspeaking,apersonwhohasthepowertocontroloveranotherpersonoracountryisthetrajectorwhichisinahigherplacethanthelandmark.Asforsentence3)and4),overhasthemeaningofmorethan,beyondsomecertainquantity.Metaphoricalextensionoccursfromthebasicspatialconceptverticallyaboveorhigherthantoquantitydomain.Ahigher-thanrelationshipbetweenTRandLMismappedontoquantitydomain.Insentence5),twodomainsareinvolved:longertimeandhigherposition.Therefore,weconceptualizethetemporalrelationintermsofspatialconceptthroughmetaphoricalmapping.Insentence6),overisusedastheprefixofacompound,whichcreatesan“excess”imageschema.TheLMisthe“usualornormalstandard”.Throughmetaphoricalmapping,theTRisconceptualizedas“morethanusual”.Inthissentence,theverticallyhigher-thanspatialrelationshipismappedontotheabstractlimitdomain.Someotherextensionsofoverarelistedbelowinsentences7)-12):7)Heisjustgettingoverhissevereillness.8)Hewasdelightedtohelphimoverallhisdifficulties.9)YouthinkoverwhatIsaid.10)Summerisover-it’sautumn.11)Ihearditovertheradio.12)Igottoknowhimwellovertheyears.Theusagesofoverinthesesentencesaresomewhatdifferentintermsofthepathwhenimageschemaofoverisconcerned.Insentences7)and8),metaphorLIFEISAJOURNEYisatwork.TheillnessesanddifficultiesinthejourneyoflifearetakenastheLM.Theabove-crossimageschemaofoverinFigure3.6isinvolvedinthetwosentences.Sentence9)istheextensionoftheelaboration(c)inFigure3.8,inwhich“whatIsaid”istakenastheTRandLMatthesametime.ThemetaphorTHINKINGSOMETHINGISEXAMINGITisatwork.Itsimageisapersonthinkingsomethingoverinordertoseeallsidesofit.Sentence10)summerisover-itisautumnisaninstanceofschemaFigure3.7(thecrossimageschemawithendfocus).Itisbasedonthecognitivemappingfromthespatialdomaintothetemporaldomain.Thus,weconceptualizetherelationshipintimeasoneinspatialconfiguration.Overinsentence11)means“bymeansof”.Inthiscase,metaphoricalmappingoccursfromthespatialendpointontotheendpointofinformation.Asweknow,whenweheartheinformationfromtheradio,itisattheendofitspath.Sentence12)IgottoknowhimwellovertheyearsisaninstanceofschemaFigure3.7(theimageschemawithapathfromonesidetotheother).Inthisschema,theeventcategoryIgottoknowhimistheTRandtimetheLM.ThusweconceptualizethetemporalexperiencewithaSOURCE-PATH-DESTINATIONschemaandconstruetimeasapathwithastartingpointandendpoint.3.5SummarySofarsomerelevanttheoriesincludingprototypetheory,conceptualmetaphor,andmetonymyandimageschemawithinthecognitiveframeworkareintroduced.Besidestheintroductionofthosetheories,casestudiesofmyownnamelyinterestandwindowanalysesaregiventoillustratetheexplanatorypowerofcognitivelinguisticstolexicalpolysemy.Prototypetheoryisatheoryofcategorizationwherecategorymembershipisbasedonfamilyresemblance.Thenon-prototypicalmemberssharemoreorlesscommonfeatureswiththeprototypicalmember.Lexicalpolysemeisactuallyapolysemouscategoryinwhichthecoremeaningactsastheprototypeandtheextendedmeaningsastheperipheralmembers.Meanwhile,intheprocessofwordspolysemization,conceptualmetaphor,metonymyandimageschemaalsoperformanimportantrole.Theyarethemaindevicesofsenseextensionmotivation.Conceptualmetaphorisaunidirectionalmappingacrossdifferentdomains,whichcreatesnewmeaningsfromthecoresenseandgivesrisetopolysemousterms.Animageschemaisarecurrentpatternusedinstructuringactivity,whichemergesfromourbodilyandperceptualexperience.Imageschematheoryisveryusefulinexplainingpolysemousphenomenonofprepositionsthroughmappingsfromspatialdomaintootherabstractdomains.Lexicalpolysemyistheproductofhumancategorizationandconceptualizationonthebasisofhumanexperiencethroughthedevicesofmetaphor,metonymyandimageschema.Inordertoseeclearlyhowthepolysemouswordscreateandextend,adiagramisintroduced(Figure3.9)[48]HumanexperienceHumanexperienceCategorizationandconceptualizationPolysemouswordsCoremeaningExtendedmeaningsFamilyresemblanceandprototypetheoryMetaphoricalandmetonymicmappings,imageschemaPolysemouscategoryFigure3.9processofpolysemization(吕佳,2005:23)Cognitivelinguistsholdthatthemeaningofawordistightlyconnectedwithhumanexperienceandthewayinwhichhumanbeingscategorizeandconceptualizetheworld.Figure3.9showsthattheexternalworldcanbeperceivedandunderstoodbyhumanbeingsthroughcategorizationandconceptualization.Additionally,theseconceptsandcategoriescanbetransformedintowordmeaningthroughhumanspeech.Bythemeansofmetaphoricalandmetonymicmappings,acertainwordmayformitspolysemouscategorywhichconsistsofthecoremeaningandextendedmeanings.Intheprocessofcategorizationandwordpolysemization,conceptualmetaphor,metonymyandimageschemaarethemotivationmechanismsofpolysemy.MasterofArtsThesisChapterFourCaseStudiesChapterFourCaseStudiesUptonow,wehavediscussedthetheoreticalfoundationandmotivationmechanismsofpolysemizationofEnglishwordswithinthecognitiveframework.AlargenumberofpolysemouswordsexistinEnglish,solexicalpolysemyisubiquitousandthemostimportantsemanticphenomenoninlanguage.Intheprocessofwordspolysemization,humancognitivecapacitiesplaycrucialroles.Thetheoryofcategorizationandprototypeprovidesthetheoreticalfoundationfortheformationofpolysemy.However,thetheoriesofmetaphor,metonymyandimageschemaprovidethemotivationmechanismsforthesenseextension.Mostofthepreviousthesislaytheiremphasisontheanalysisofperceptionwordsorbodily-partwordssuchashandorheart.Thesethesesmaybelengthyandlackinginnovelty.Intheformerchapters,Ihaveconductedthecasestudiesofinterestandwindow.Besidesthepolysemousbodily-partwords,perceptionwords,emotionalwords,thereisanotherimportanttypeofpolysemouswords,namelythepolysemousspatialwords.AndtheprepositionsinEnglisharetypicalspatialwords.Soprepositionbeyondwhichattractslessattentionareselectedtobestudiedinthischapter.4.1SpatialConceptandPrepositionsSpace,relativelyconcreteandaccessiblenotionforourhumanbeings,canbeeasilysensedthroughourinteractionswiththeworld.Intheprocessoftheinteractions,humanbeingsperceivetheworldandtheninitiallydevelopspatialconcept.Spatialconcept,arisingdirectlyfromhumanexperience,isoneoftheearliestconceptswhichareformedduringtheinfants’cognitivedevelopmentprocess(张辉,1998:19).Therefore,spaceenjoysaprivilegedplaceinourcognitivesystem.Space,servingasafundamentalconceptualstructuringdeviceinlanguage,istakenasabasiccategorybyLakoff(1987),Taylor(2001)andotherlinguists.Itisacategorywithwhichhumanbeingsinteractwiththeenvironmentmosteffectively.Andatthesametime,theyprocess,storeandcommunicateinformation.ThesignificanceofspatialconceptishighlightedbyMachunyu.Accordingtohim,thespatialconceptisthestartingpointforhumanthinkingandconceptualization(马春雨,2004:36).Levinson(2003:7)alsonoted:Thereisenoughevidencetodeemspatialconceptualizationascriticaltohumanincognition:understandingisprobablytheinitialgreatintellectualtaskfacingthechild,ataskwhichhumanmobilitymakesmandatory,butaboveallspatialthinkinginvadesourconceptualizationsofmanyotherdomainsasdiverseastime,socialstructureandmathematics.SpatialtermssuchasprepositionsinEnglishareoftenusedinnon-physicaldomainsthroughmetaphoricalormetonymicmappings.Forinstance,theLaborPartywentoutin1980.Inthissentence,outisextendedfromitsbasicspatialimageschemainFigure3.4topowerorinfluencerelations,whichindicatesthattheLaborPartylostpoweringovernmentin1980.Thusspatialconceptisoftentakenasoneofthetwoprimarybasesonwhichpeopledevelopotherabstractconcepts.Theotherisbodilypartconcept.Consequently,spatialandbodily-partconceptsareconsideredastwosourcesofmetaphors(王寅,2002:84).Prepositions,typicalspatialwords,playavitalroleinEnglishlanguage.Cognitivelinguisticsholdsthatprepositionsnotonlydesignatethespatialrelationshipinastructure,butalsoserveasthelinguisticformreflectingspatialconceptualization.Itshowshowthephysicalexperienceofhumanbeingsisconceptualizedinlanguage.Incognitivelinguistics,thebasicmeaningofprepositionscanbedepictedbycentralimageschema.Furthermore,thefactthatmostprepositionsarepolysemousprovidesusthereasonwhyprepositionsbecomeastudyfocus.Besidesthestudiesofcentralimageschemaandvariouselaborations,thesemanticextensionsofprepositionsfromthebasicspacetootherunfamiliarabstractdomainsdrawconsiderableconcernofagreatnumberoflinguists.Englishprepositionsarefunctionwordsusedtoexpresstherelationshipbetweentwoentities.Manyprepositionsareoriginallyrenderedtoindicatespatiallocationandspatialrelations.4.2ACaseStudyofBeyondBeyondisanEnglishprepositionwhichattractslessconcernoflinguistsbecauseitisnotascomplicatedasoverorunder.Thefollowingsectionwillconductacasestudyofbeyondfromacognitiveperspectivewithintherelevanttheoreticalframeworkofimageschema,metaphorandcategorization,thegoalofwhichistofindtheinternalstructureaswellassemanticextensionmechanismofpolysemy.

4.2.1TheCentralImageSchemaofBeyond

Spaceservesasafundamentalconceptualstructuringtoolinlanguage.Basicspatialrelationsareusuallytakenastheprototypicalmeaningofprepositions.Thesebasicspatialrelationsarecalledimageschemas.Imageschematheoryismostcommonlyappliedinthepolysemousstudiesofprepositions.BeyondisatypicalprepositionwhichindicatesspatiallocativerelationinEnglishlanguage.InCOBUILDEnglishandChineseDictionary(2002:168),theliteralmeaningofbeyondis“atortoapointontheothersideof,atortothefurthersideof”,Thisbasicmeaningisderivedfromourphysicalspatialexperience,whilethespatialdomainisthemostprimarycognitivebaseonwhichpeopledevelopotherabstractconcepts.Thenthegraphicrepresentationoftheimageschemaofbeyondcanbedrawninthefollowingway:

lmtrlmtrFigure4.1Representationsofthestaticimageschema-beyond-Asmentionedabove,therearethreeelementsintheimageschema:trajector,landmarkandpath.TheTR(staticordynamic),whichisrepresentedbytheshadedellipse,referstotheentityormoreprominentelementinanyrelationalstructure.AndtheLM,whichisshownbytheboldline,standsfortheotherentityinthestructure.AcertaindistanceexistsbetweentheTRandtheLM.ThedashedrectanglelineshowsmyassumedrangeinwhichtheTRiswithinthereachoftheLM.Forexample:Thehouseisbeyondthebridge./Thereisariverbeyondthehill.ButifsuchastaticrelationshipbetweentheTRandtheLMisadoptedasthecentralimageschemaofbeyond,howcoulditwellexplainthedynamicspatialrelationshipoftwoentities?Suchas:hethrewtheballbeyondthehedge./hethrewtheballbeyondthepool.Inthetwosentencesbeyonddenotes“exceedingacategory,outsidethelimitsofsomething”.Sothecentralimageschemaofbeyondshouldbeadynamicone.Thenweschematizethebasicmeaningofbeyondasfollows:HorizontalspaceaxisHorizontalspaceaxisVerticalspaceaxislmtrtrFigure4.2Representationofthecentralimageschema-beyond-IntheimageschemaofFig4.2,theTR(figure)isrepresentedbyboldcirclestohighlightitsprominence;theLMprovidingusthereferencepointisthefocalentity(ground)representedbyboldrectangleintherelationalstructure.ThesymbolfortheTRappearsseveraltimestoindicatethatwhatisrepresentedisaprocess,somethingthathasadynamicquality.Eachcirclestandsforadifferenttemporalstageofthisprocess.Thedashedarch-likelineshowsmyassumedprototypicalpathwhichtheTRfollowsinitsmovementfromonesideofthelandmarktotheotherside.ThedashedlineisalsousedheretoillustratethepathbecausetheTRisnotboundtomoveanupanddownpath;TheTRisalsopossibletomoveforwardhorizontallyasthearrowillustrates.Forexample:Hedrovebeyondthecastleintotheforest./ThereputationandinfluencespreadfarbeyondtheborderofGermany.AccordingtoFig4.2,thecentralimageschemaofbeyondisasurpassingorexceedingacategoryschema.Forexample:doyourdutiesasapriestextendbeyondtheuniversity?/MyresponsibilitiesattheDepartmentofIndustrygobeyondcomputersandtheirtechnology.Therefore,beyondisprototypicallynotaprepositionofaplacebutaprepositionapathandmovement.Onlyonacertainpointofitspath,it’streatedasastaticwordandthusacquiresastaticmeaning.4.2.2MetaphoricalExtensionoftheCentralImageSchema-beyond-Sofarwehaveseenhowpowerfultheexplanatorycapacityofcentralimageschemaistotheprepositions,however,itcannotaccountforallusesofbeyond.Hereisanexample:Thebicycleisbeyondrepair.Inthissentence,metaphoricalmappingisatwork.Wecaninterpretitastheresultofcognitivemappingfromthespatialtocapacitydomain.Thepotentialthatthebicyclecanberepairedisregardedasthelandmark,thebicycleasthetrajector.Metaphoricallyspeaking,thelandmarkissurpassedbythetrajectorintermsofthecapacitydomain.Metaphoricalextensionsofimageschemahavethespatialdomainastheirsourcedomain.Theymaptheimageschemaofthespacedomainontothatofnon-physical,moreabstractdomains,whichenablesustothinkaboutandtalkaboutthosenon-physicaldomainsintermsofspatialprepositions.MappingfromSpatialDomaintoTemporalDomainIntheprocessofhumancognition,theformationofspatialconceptsusuallytendstoprecedethatoftemporalconcepts.Thisisbecausehumanbeingshavethecapacityofperceivingthemselvesandtheexternalworldbuttheycan’tperceivethemoreabstractandvaguetemporalconcepts.Andthisisthephysiologicalbaseforpeopletocognizetemporalconceptsthroughspatialconcepts.Spaceandtimeareincommonintermsofcontinuity.Therefore,spatialtermsusuallyacquirestemporalmeaning,suchasthepropositionsinEnglishfrom,inetc.areoriginallyusedinthespatialdomain,asinfromChina,inthehouse.Later,theconceptsexpressedbysuchprepositionsaremappedontothetemporaldomain,asinfromMondaytoFriday,in1980s.Inthetemporalcategories,theobjectbehindbeyondisoftenaparticulartimepointoraperiodoftime,suchasyear,midnight,winteretc.Thesetermsfollowbehindbeyondwhichmeansthesubjectislaterthanthatparticulartimepointortheperiodoftime.Thefollowingsentencesaretheexamples:Don’tstaytherebeyondmidnight.IknowwhatIshallbedoingforthenextthreeweeksbutIhaven’tthoughtbeyondthat.Shecarriedonteachingwellbeyondretirementage.Fewchildrenremainintheschoolbeyondtheageof16.Itmightbeunwisetodelayitbeyond1987.Thiswillbearguedaboutitintheseventiesandbeyond.MappingfromSpatialDomaintoCapacityDomainTheconceptualmappingofbeyondfromspatialdomaintocapacitydomainisprimarilybasedonthecentralimageschema(Figure4.2).Thecentralimageschemamainlydesignatesaspatialstructureinwhichthetrajectorsurpassesorexceedsthelandmark.Whenthisspecificspatialstructureismappedontotheabstractcapacitydomain,beyondthenbearssuchasensethatsomethingistoodifficultforsomebodytodo.Thefollowingsentencesaretheexamples:Thesocialsituationhaschangedbeyondrecognition.Loveisbeyondallhumancontrol.Thetaskinvolvedisalmostbeyondcomprehension.Howhemanagedtofindusisbeyondme.Thistypeofworkisfarbeyondthecapacityofmanychildren.Thistechniquedoesnotdemandskillsandknow-howwhicharebeyondthem.MappingfromSpatialDomaintoRelationshipDomainAnothersignificantmeaningofbeyondis“except,apartfrom”whichisalsobasedonthecentralimageschema(Figure4.2).Thetrajectoristheprominentandsalientpartinthisschemawhichattractsmoreattention.Whereas,thelandmarkmerelyactsasreferencepointwhichiscrossed,surpassed,andevencoveredbythetrajector.Whenthisspatialstructureismappedontotheabstractrelationshipdomain,theomissionandevennegationtothelandmarktendstobepossible.Thefollowingsentencesaretheexamples:TheyhadnomoneybeyondSirArthur’ssalary.Parentsandchildrenhavelittleincommonbeyondthebiologicallink.Hedecidednottocommentbeyondsayingthatitwasjollyhardluckonme.He’sgotnothingbeyondhisstatepension.Ididn’tnoticeanythingbeyondhisratherstrangeaccent.Accordingtolotsofcontextualexamples,foursemanticcategoriesofpolysemousbeyondarefound.Iattempttosumthemupasaroughmeaning“surpassorexceedacertainscope,boundaryorrange”.Thisrangemaybethecriticalpointintime,thespecificscopeinspace,abstractcapacitylimitandcoverageinrelationshipdomain(冯茵,2007:117).4.2.3SummaryAllthemeaningsofbeyondconstituteapolysemouscategoryinwhichthespatialbasicmeaningistakenastheprototypeandotherextendedmeaningsastheperipheralmembers.Imageschemaplaysafundamentalroleinthepolysemouscategory.Thespatialbasicmeaningcanbewellexplainedandmanifestedbycentralimageschema.Theextendedmeaningsofbeyondareextendedthroughmetaphoricalmappingsfromspatialdomainontoothernon-spatialdomainsincludingtemporal,capacityandrelationshipdomains.Consequently,threeothermeaningsofbeyondareextendedfromthebasicmeaningthroughmetaphoricalmappings.Allthemeaningsofbeyondsharessomecommonfeatures.Thepolysemouscategoryofbeyondcanbeschematizedasfollows:ExceedarangeExceedarangeOthersideSpatialelaborationTemporaldomainLaterthanCapacitydomainToodifficulttodoRelationshipdomainExcept,apartfromMetaphoricalmappingPrototypeImageschemaMetaphoricalmappingMetaphoricalmappingFigure4.3PolysemouscategoryofbeyondChapterFiveConclusionChapterFiveConclusionAgreatnumberofpolysemouswordsexistinalllanguages,sothephenomenonoflexicalpolysemyhasattractedmuchconcernofmanylinguists.Theclassicalapproach(thecomponentialanalysis)andstructuralisticapproachtopolysemyisreviewedatthebeginningofthethesis.Bothofthetwoapproachescannotrevealtheessentialnatureofpolysemouswords.Structurallinguistssimplyregardedpolysemoustermsasalistofdistinctarbitrarywordsthathappentosharetheidenticalformeitherphonologicallyororthographically.Thestructuralapproachistomaximizehomonymyattheexpenseofpolysemywhichistherebyreducedtoanarbitraryandunmotivatedphenomenon.Andforthecomponentiallinguists,it’simpossibletomakealistofinfinitenumberofsemanticfeaturesofwordsbecausetermsandwordsinanylanguageareimmenseandchangeable.Thisthesisconductsastudyofpolysemouswordsfromacognitiveperspectivewithintherelevanttheoreticalframeworkofcategorizationandprototype,metaphor,metonymyandimageschema.Cognitivelinguistsholdthattheexternalworldandhumanexperiencecanbeperceivedandunderstoodbyhumanbeingsthroughcategorizationandconceptualization.Theresultoftheseconceptualizationandcategorizationistheformationofcategoriesandconceptswhichgiverisetothemeaningofawordthroughhumanspeech.Therefore,themeaningofawordistightlyconnectedwithhumanexperienceandthewayinwhichhumanbeingscategorizeandconceptualizetheworld.Basedontheprincipleoflanguageeconomy,humanbeingsusuallyexpressnewly-inventedthingsandnewideaswiththealreadyknownwords.Thusthephenomenonofpolysemycomesintobeing.Whatwefindaboutpolysemycanbesummedupasfollows:Firstly,thetheoryofcategorizationandprototypeprovidestheth