英语heart情感习语的共时分布与历时演变研究

Synchronic Distribution and Diachronic Evolution of English Heart Emotional Idioms

heart是人体的核心组成部分之一,其情感功用体现了体认特性。然而,以前的研究很少从其习语构式角度考察,更不用说语料库实证。试图通过跨语料库(COCA,CORE,COHA,EEBO和GLOWBE)对相关习语从正面义、负面义和中性义三个维度进行共时分布与历时演变进行考察,发现不管是共时还是历时,本族语国别还是非本族语国别等,中性义始终占主导地位,而正面义和负面义则处于附属地位,说明中性的平和心态是人之常态,而非平和心态则是非常之态。换言之,对于身边所发生或经历的任何事每个人都应有一种平常心态对待,不能过激,这才是理性的处事之道。但随着时间的推移,中性义在逐渐减少,而负面义则相应增加,说明人们希望它们多用于人们的情感表征,而非中立状态。

Heart,as one of the core components of human body,its emotional functions are usually reflected in the properties of embodied cognition.However,very few studies have probed into its idiom constructions in the past,let alone from the perspective of corpus researches.This paper hereby attempts to conduct a survey of various corpora(COCA,CORE,COHA,EEBO and GLOWBE)to examine the corresponding synchronic distribution and diachronic evolution of heart emotional idioms from the positive,negative and neutral dimensions.The findings have unveiled that no matter from the synchronic or diachronic,native or non-native and so on,the neutrality enjoys the predominant role,while the positive and negative just follow far behind.All these demonstrate that the neutral stance is very normal,while the non-neutral abnormal.In other words,everyone should have a normal attitude toward anything happening or experienced around them,not too radical,this is the rational way of coping with affairs.Yet as time goes on,the neutral is on the decline,while the negative on the rise,indicating the negative is expected to be employed in more emotional expressions.