英汉空间方所表达的认知语义分析——以“里”“上”和“in”“on”为例

Semantics of Spatial Expressions in and on in English and li and shang in Chinese:A Cognitive Approach

通过对语言实例的考察,我们发现:1)典型的“in/里”表示“目标物包含于三维的参照物范围内”,典型的“on/上”表示“目标物附着在二维的参照物的表面,参照物支撑目标物”,表达此类方所关系时,英汉两种语言之间存在固定的对应关系;2)对参照物维度的认知和划分,英汉两种语言有各自的标准,对二维的参照物,英语按其是否有周围的边界而分为“面”和“域”,并分别用介词“on”和“in”来表达方所关系,汉语表达此类方所关系时,“里”“上”皆可,而“上”使用的频率较高。

This paper explores the semantics of spatial expressions of English in and on and Chinese li and shang. We find that ： 1 ） Prototypical in/li denotes that ＂the located object （LO） is contained in a three-dimensional bounded reference object （RO）＂, while prototypical on/shang designates that ＂the LO is attached to the surface of, and supported by the RO＂. English and Chinese correspond with each other in expressing the prototypical locative relations; 2） English and Chinese are different in construing the dimensions of the ROs. Depending on whether it is bounded or not, English divides the two-dimensional ROs into ＂surface＂ and ＂area＂, which are respectively lexicalized as on and in. This distinction, however, is not so dear-cut in Chinese, and li and shang can both be used to designate the relationship, with the latter being used more frequently.