低调陈述:基于隐喻及转喻的认知语言学诠释

The Mechanism of Understatement:A Cognitive Explanation Based On Metaphor and Metonymy

隐喻和转喻思维对低调陈述话语的理解和生成起着极为重要的作用,低调陈述机制在很大程度上依赖于我们所具有的隐喻和转喻能力。交际受信息、经济、认知突显和社会需要等原则制约,说话人或是运用来源域里的知识结构来彰显目标域里的知识结构——即用隐喻;或是选择突显、易感知的部分代替整体或整体的其它部分以及用具有完形感知的整体代表所要传递的信息——即用转喻进行交际,因而产生低调陈述意义。低调陈述含意在很大程度上是自动激活而非有意识的推导。

Both metaphoric and metonymic thinking play central roles in the interpretation and generation of understatement.The mechanism of understatements lies in our metaphoric and metonymic ability.Understatement arises as speakers either use the knowledge frame of a source domain to highlight that of the target domain,or select the salient and perceivable part to stand for the whole or other parts of the whole or the whole as a gestalt to signal all that they want to convey because communication is governed by the four competing principles of informativeness, economy, cognitive salience and social needs.