英语名词界性的体认观

An Embodied Cognitive View on Boundaries of English Nouns

在英语中,可数与不可数是名词的重要属性之一,二者不能混淆。可是,当代英语中一个非常奇特的现象是,大多数可数名词可以用作不可数名词。本文以体认语言学理论,对英语名词的界性这一现象进行了分析和解释,提出了新的认识。新的发现是:英语可数名词与不可数名词转换的基础在于体认,转喻机制凸显了物体的物质属性;构式完型与压制机制赋予可数名词的物质属性意义,相当于该名词“+ish”的形容词意义,这样的用法往往不能脱离语境单独出现,是互动体验与认知加工的结果。在语言表达与理解方面,体认语言学彰显出强大的生命力。

According to traditional grammar,there is a clear boundary between countable nouns and uncountable nouns in English,and countable or uncountable is one of the most important features of nouns.However,it is common now that many countable nouns can be used as uncountable nouns in modern English.This paper,based on cognitive construal theory,attempts to analyze such phenomenon from the perspective of EmbodiedCognitive Linguistics,and the major findings are as follows:This phenomenon is a reflection of embodied experience and cognitive processing,among which metonymy plays quite an important role in the transfer from countable to uncountable.It is also a reflection of cognitive construal and depends on the concrete context.Thus EmbodiedCognitive Linguistics has shown its explanatory force in the way of language expression and understanding.