隐喻理解加工中概念构建的内在理路及其作用机制研究

The Construction of On-line Concept and the Cognitive Mechanisms Involved during the Understanding and Processing of Metaphors

本文介绍隐喻理解加工过程中概念构建的词汇语用过程,着重阐述3大研究范式对此的解释,即范畴涵括模型、词汇语用学解释以及Recanati的词汇阐释模型。隐喻理解加工既要应用已习得概念,又涉及新概念的构建,即临场概念,这是一个经词汇编码概念的"窄化"与"宽化"的语用调整结果。"宽化"使得词汇编码概念的一个或者更多的逻辑或者定义属性被"摒弃";"窄化"则相反,词汇编码概念的一些百科属性被"提升"为概念的逻辑或者内容组成成分。本文指出,"提升"与"摒弃"本质上是词汇焦点属性的激活问题,是认知机制即强化与抑制机制作用的结果。概念构建的3大研究范式对隐喻理解加工的洞察具有开创性。从概念构建入手研究隐喻的理解加工将打破自亚里士多德以来视隐喻为隐含比较的学术传统,学术动向值得关注。

This article examines the on-line construction of ad hoc concept during the understanding and processing of metaphors by centering on the explanations from three research paradigms： The class-inclusion model, the account of lexical pragmatics and Recanati＇ s lexical account. Metaphor comprehension involves both the use of previously acquired concepts and the creation of new ones, -- the ad hoe concepts. The ad hoc concept results from concept broadening and concept narrowing, -- a general pragmatic process of concept adjustment. In terms of concept broadening, one or more of the logical or definitional properties are dropped, while as for concept narrowing, some encyclopaedic property is promoted to the status of a logical or content-constitutive component. Scholars maintain that all this can be understood in terms of degree of activation of the properties of words in focus which demonstrates the effectiveness of two general cognitive mechanisms, -- suppression and enhancement. Explanations from the three research models have offered important insights into metaphor understanding and processing.