意象图式与多义体系的范畴化——现代汉语动词“赶”的多义研究

Image Schema and Polysemous Categorization:A Case Study on Chinese Verb Gan

就表达基本空间运动或空间关系的词项而言,多义体系的形成很大程度上是受意象图式驱动的,意义范畴化的背后是意象图式的范畴化。本文根据相关意象图式,梳理出现代汉语动词"赶"的多义体系,论证了意象图式对多义体系范畴化的驱动作用。对比符号操作范式,本文总结了意象图式对于词义研究的重要意义。

Image schemas, as the foundation of the conceptual system, give rise to more specific concepts which can turn into semantics when coded by linguistic forms. Taking the Mandarin verb g？in as a case study, the paper demonstrates the relationship between four image schemas （ i.e., ATTFRACTION, ATTRACTION-PATH, COMPULSION, and COMPULSI- ON-CONTAINER） and four meaning clusters （ i.e., the cluster of ＂catch up with＂, ＂hurry along one＇s journey＂, ＂drive toward＂, and ＂expel out of＂） of g？in, elucidates how the image schemas are combined with metaphors and metonymies to motivate the concrete sense variants covered under each of the clusters, establishes the polysemous network of g^tn which consists of twelve variants and then features family resemblance among them. Based on the characteristics （ i.e. family resemblance） of the schemas system and the roles that the four schemas play in the formation of this category, the paper points out that for the polysemous items which are bound up with spatial movements and relationships, tile categorization of various concepts into a particular lexical form can be essentially attributed to the fact that the inherent conceptual structure assigned to these concepts conforms with the same image schema or matches a group of image schemas which share similarity with one another; the family resemblance among meanings boils down to the reflection of the family resemblance among the underlying conceptual architectures onto the linguistic level. In this paper, it is shown that image schemas, as one of the remarkable approaches to lexical semantic analysis, can reveal the core essence of an intricate category and bring into order the practice of semantic exploration, and hence qualifies for attention and spreading. The last section of the paper makes a comparison between the Symbol Manipulation Paradigm and cognitive topology and emphasizes the significance of an imaginary model （ e.g. the image-schematic approach） with reference to lexical semantics.