The Cognitive Study of polysemous phenomenon of vocabulary about Facial Features

罗晓娟

Abstract： Lexical polysemy is a very common linguistic phenomenon. Over the years， many linguistics of different schools try to explain the polysemy phenomenon from different angle of view， but they all failed to grasp the full and the essence of the phenomenon of polysemy. The emergence and development of cognitive linguistics provides a new perspective for polysemous vocabulary study， but this theory is usually used to explain prepositional polysemy or polysemy verbs， but less analysis used in the human body vocabulary， let alone facial features vocabulary polysemy analysis. This paper attempts to study the meanings of facial features vocabulary by cognitive semantics， which provides a new perspective for the analysis of polysemy. This paper aims to find out the forming mechanism of polysemy meaning by cognitive senmatics， Which can help English learners to better understand and master the characteristics of polysemy.

Key words： Facial features vocabulary； Cognitive semantics； Lexical polysemy

一 Theoretical Framework

1 Conceptual Metaphor

“The metaphor reflects a mode of thought， not simply a figure of speech. Lakoff has written that the generalization governing poetic metaphorical expressions are not in language. But in thought： they are general mappings across conceptual domains. Moreover， these general principles， which take the form of conceptual mappings. Apply not to novel poetic expressions， but much of ordinary everyday language. In the cognitive view， metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain. For example， we talk about knowledge in terms of food， time in terms of money， love in terms of fire， etc. Metaphor plays an important role in our attempts to understand the world.

2 Conceptual Metonymy

In the framework of cognitive linguistics， metonymy is modeled as idealized cognitive models （ICMs） by lakoff， reference-point activation by Langacker and scenarios by Panther and Thornburg. In addition， as to Radden and Kovecses， it is conceptual mapping， which goes similar to Barcelonas point of view that metonymy is a conceptual projection whereby one experiential domain， the target domain， is partially understood in terms of another experiential domain， the source domain， included in the same common experiential domain. Croft stresses domain highlighting， claiming that by means of activating one cognitive category through referring to another one within the same domain can highlight the first category. Since many parts co-exist in the source category， which part to select is determined by which aspect of the whole people would like to focus on. In other words， people tend to select those easily perceived and recognized salient parts to stand for the whole. Metonymy is ruled by the principle of contiguity and salience. Considering that our understanding about the world is constructed via ICMs which are perceived as the whole and the parts， Radden and Kovecses classifies two main types， i.e. whole ICM and its part， and parts of an ICM. It contains Thing and Part ICM， Scale ICM， Constitution ICM and so on. Parts of an ICM is specifically divided into Action ICM， Perception ICM， etc.

二 Case Studies of Polysemous Facial Features Vocabulary

1 Cognitive Analysis of Senses of Eyebrow

The shape of brow is rich and beautiful. and it is very important for human facial makeup. and in English， so， through Part for Whole ICM， it can be used to refer to a person， especially emphasis on ones culture or intelligence， for example： lowbrow， middlebrow， highbrow. Brow is one of the most expressive facial organ.it can express peoples happiness， anger and sadness. So， through category and property ICM and causation ICM， it can be used to refer to emotion， for example： raise ones brows， clear ones brows. Knit ones brows， an angry brow.

Because brows are located in the upper of eyes， and its shape is arch. So， “brows” can also extend new senses metaphorically as the rim or side. For example： the brow of a hill， the brow of a helmet. Cognitive Analysis of Senses of eye

2 Cognitive Analysis of Senses of Eye

The main function of eye is observing things and collecting messages. and it is very important for human.so， through Part for Whole ICM， it can be used to refer to a person， for example： private eye ，eyes and ears. Through Production ICM， “eye” can refer to the ray from eye and the ability to see. for example： good eyes， sharp eyes， dull eyes， an eager eye， the evil eye， an eye for an eye. Through perception ICM， eyes can be used to refer to attention， opinions And the ability to appreciate. For example： catch ones eyes， leap to the eye， in ones eyes， have the eye of a painter. eye is one of the most expressive facial organ.it can express peoples happiness， anger and sadness. So， through category and property ICM and causation ICM， it can be used to refer to emotion， for example： sparking eyes， starts in ones eyes， the apple of ones eyes， green eyed， cry ones eyes out.

“Eye” can also extend new senses metaphorically on the basis of resemblance in appearance/structure with other inanimate domains. Our general knowledge indicates that eye is a organ of face which looks like a little round hole. So， little hole is the metaphorical concept of eye. For example： the eye of a potato， the eye of a needle， a hook and eye. There are also some spatial metaphors for eye， for example： under ones eyes， before ones eyes.

3 Cognitive Analysis of Senses of Nose

The main function of nose is smelling， and it is very important for human.so， through Part for Whole ICM， it can be used to refer to a person， for example： count noses， under ones very nose， get ones nose down to. Nose is used to smell or breathe. So， it can be used to refer to smell through perception ICM， for example： a good nose. Meanwhile， through category and property ICM， it can be used to refer to ability to find or search. For example： a reporter with a nose for scandal. People can express their feelings by nose， through causation ICM， it can be used to refer to emotions， for example： with ones nose in the air. Get a blood nose， make a long nose at. People can also use their nose to push something to move. So， through action ICM， it can be used to refer to this kind of action. For example： the car nosed carefully round the corner.

“Nose” can also extend new senses metaphorically on the basis of resemblance in appearance and its location on the face. It can be used to refer to the things with the same shape. For example： the aircrafts nose， the nose of the car.

4 Cognitive Analysis of Senses of Ear

The main function of ear is hearing things and collecting messages. and it is very important for human.so， through Part for Whole ICM， it can be used to refer to a person， for example： eyes and ears， walls have ears. Through perception ICM， it can be used to refer to the ability to hear and attention. for example： good ears， sharp ears， dull ears， have no ear for music， have a good ear for language， by all ears， shut ones ears， fall on deaf ears， get in one ear and out the other. People can express their feelings by ear， so， through causation ICM， it can be used to refer to emotions， for example： be on ones ears， ones ears are burning， give ones a thick ear， grin from ear to ear.

“Ear” can also extend new senses metaphorically on the basis of resemblance in shape. For example： the ear of a pitcher， the ear of a cap， an ear of corn.

5 Cognitive Analysis of Senses of Mouth

The prototypical sense of mouth refers to “a natural opening through which food passes in to the body of an animal and which in vertebrates is typically bounded externally by the lips and internally by pharynx and encloses the tongue， gums and teeth”. According to this prototypical sense and combined with our general knowledge of mouth， it can be obviously noticed that the shape of mouth is an opening， it is located at the lower part of ones head， and its main function is to eat and to produce sound. Based on our case analysis of “mouth”， under the principle of contiguity and salient，“mouth” can metonymically refer to “a person， lips， voice/speech， emotion， special taste for food， way of speaking， to speak， as well as the movement of the mouth， etc. Everyone has only one mouth. Mouth is so important to human beings， without which we cannot even survive， because we feed ourselves through mouth. Thus， through Part for Whole ICM， it can be used to refer to a person， especially “a person requiring food”. such as “a hungry mouth”，“less mouth to feed”， “an extra mouth to feed”. As is mentioned above， one of the main functions of mouth is to speak， so through Production ICM， “mouth” can refer to “the words produced by mouth”， especially “some saucy or disrespectful language”， e.g. harsh or foul mouth， word of mouth， etc. Since mouth is one of the sound organs， and it is an instrument to produce speech， so through Instrument for Action ICM， “mouth” can be used as a verb with meanings of “to speak， to mumble， to lick”， e.g. silently mouthing the words of the Promise， the puppies mouthing each other gently. Then via Action for Agent ICM， “mouth” can also be used to refer to “a speaker”， e.g. news spreading

form mouth to mouth.

“Mouth” can also extend new senses metaphorically on the basis of resemblance in shape/structure， and function with other inanimate domains. It generates new senses of “the round opening of a vessel”， e.g. the mouth of a bottle. It can be used to represent the outside edge of the container， i.e. “the rim of a container”， e.g. the mouth of a cup. It can be used to refer to “a protruding part of something” so， mouth is used to refer to “the beaks of birds”

三 Conclusions

In this thesis， I have attempted to offer theory account from the cognitive Perspective， of the relations between the senses of polysemous English facial features vocabularies. Theory findings can be summaried as following： According to the case studys of English facial features vocabularies， the author find that Human cognition is based on physical experience and daily life experiences and human build a semantic net by metonymy and metaphor， so， for each English facial features vocabulary， it has many different meanings. by metonymy and metaphor， English facial features vocabularies can be used for concrete object， space， time， vessel， human， emotion and perception. This construction is beneficial to explain polysemy， guide vocabularies teaching and dictionary compilation.

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