基于事件转喻的时间概念化及其理论意义——来自汉语时间词的证据

Metonymic Event-Based Conceptualization of Time and Its Theoretical Significance:Evidence from Chinese Time Interval Words

学者普遍认为时间范畴经空间范畴隐喻化投射而产生。本文提出汉语中时间的概念化通过事件转喻概念化的方式实现,这样的概念化方式继承了先民时空同态的认识论。本文以汉语的时间词作为考察对象,充分证明:(1)汉语时间概念经由转喻认知形成;(2)每一个时间词都基于一个事件的转喻概念化而生成。文章指出汉语时间概念化中的隐喻思维定势问题在于未能区分时间本体与时间属性特征,其本体意义都是事件转喻化的结果,时间概念隐喻化本质上是对时间特征的概念化。汉语时间概念的事件转喻化深刻反映了汉语思维的特征和中华民族认识世界方式的历史印记。

In contrast to the overwhelming view that time is metaphorically conceptualized in terms of space,time in Chinese in this paper is believed to be metonymically conceptualized in terms of events,which inherits the epistemology of timespace conflation of the ancestors.As systematically evidenced by the original meaning and the construction of time interval words in Chinese,the paper fully proves that(1) The conceptualization of time in Chinese is realized through metonymic cognition,and(2) each time interval word is generated based on the metonymic conceptualization of an event.The paper further argues that the problem of metaphorical mindset in Chinese time conceptualization lies in its failure to distinguish between time ontology and time attribute features.The ontological meaning of time is all the result of event metonymy,and the metaphorical concept of time essentially conceptualizes the temporal features.We conclude the event metonymy conceptualization of time can better reflect the characteristics of Chinese thinking and the historical imprints of the Chinese way of understanding the world.