意义的百科知识观——兼谈认知语义学的原则和主张

The Encyclopedic View of Meaning: Additional Remarks About the Principles and Claims of Cognitive Semantics

意义是一个古老而复杂的问题,是认知语言学研究的核心,更是认知语义学研究的焦点。认知语义学认为,意义即概念化,即意义建构的心理过程,而不是可能世界里的真值条件。要理解意义,必须了解大脑中激活的概念以及意象、认知域、隐喻等认知结构。因此,一个语言表达式的意义必须依赖百科知识。本文阐释意义的百科知识观,并在此基础上论述认知语义学的原则和基本主张。

Meaning is an old and complex issue.It is the core of cognitive linguistic studies,and the focus of cognitive semantics studies in particular.According to cognitive semantics,meaning is conceptualization,viz.the mental process of meaning construction,but not the truth conditions of the possible world.The understanding of meaning involves the concepts activated in our brains,and images,cognitive domains,metaphors,and some other cognitive structures.The meaning of a linguistic expression,therefore,must depend on the encyclopedic knowledge.This paper,first of all,explicates the encyclopedic view of meaning,and then the principles and basic claims of cognitive semantics.