原型理论对英语介词的研究 ——以over，above，on为例

论文摘要

介词是人们用来表达空间概念的一种基本词汇,在英语语言中起着举足轻重的作用。著名认知语言学家Talmy（2000:177-178）将语言结构分为宏观层次语言结构和微观层次语言结构,后者又可称为语法层次结构或功能层次结构。微观层次结构不但构成了人类语言大厦的基本骨架,而且是人类思维的重要基础。表达空间概念的词汇结构是微观层次结构的核心内容。而介词是英语语言中表达空间概念的典型词汇之一（Talmy2000:Tyler&Evans 2003）。英语中介词的概念最早来源于拉丁语。对英语介词的早期研究大多限于语法方面。随着20世纪70年代以来认知语言学的兴起,人们对英语介词的认识突破了仅限于对其在句中的位置及功能进行研究的局限性,对于介词在语言中的重要地位有了重新认识。基于前辈们对英语介词研究所做的卓越贡献,本文从认知语言学中的原型理论出发,结合英语母语者的三种基本思维机制:映射、顺应以及图形和背景的倾向性,以英语中常见的三个介词over、above、on为例,阐述了每一个介词的任何意义都来源于其原型特征这一事实。原型特征是某个家族成员成为其家族一员的依据和基础。家族成员享有的原型特征越多,那么它在整个家族中的位置就越典型。本文通过研究发现,over,above,on的原型特征分别如下:●over的图形总是高于背景,而且两者之间即可以有距离也可以没有距离。●above的图形总是高于背景,而且两者之间常常存在距离。●on的图形总是高于背景,而且两者之间常常不存在距离。背景常常对图形的存在起着一个支撑的作用。本文从这三个介词的原型特征出发,不难发现,over,above,on的图形都总是高于背景。（难怪这三个介词翻译成中文都是“在…上”的意思。）over的原型特征分别和above,on的原型特征有重合之处。因此,本文着手于这三个介词原型特征之间的异同之处,分别分析了这三个介词其它意义之间的异同。尽管一种语言中存在许多组同义词,然而在实际使用中,这些同义词之间还是存在着细微的差别。本文在对over,above,on的比较过程中,重点强调了这三个介词相似意义之间的细微差别。针对许多学生在实际语言应用过程中,不能正确使用介词这一事实,本文提出了三步教学法:1)帮助学生学习词汇的原型特征;2)帮助学生从词汇的原型特征出发理解词汇的各种意义;3)帮助学生通过阅读,做练习题等方法巩固认知所学词汇的基础知识。为了证明这一方法的切实可行性,本文作者在重庆师范大学2006级文学与新闻学院文秘班及生命科学学院生命科学专业二小班共60个同学当中做了相关实验。实验结果表明,这种方法不仅可以减轻学生记忆英语单词的负担,而且还可以提高学生学习英语的兴趣。

论文目录

• ABSTRACT
• 中文摘要
• CONTENTS
• CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
• 1.1 The significance of this thesis
• 1.2 The Purposes of this Thesis
• 1.3 The layout of this thesis
• CHAPTER TWO A REVIEW OF THE STUDIES OF PREPOSITIONS
• 2.1 Grammatical Definitions of Prepositions
• 2.2 Previous Studies of Prepositions
• 2.2.1 Early Studies of Prepositions
• 2.2.2 Major Studies of Prepositions in Cognitive Linguistics
• 2.3 Summary
• CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL BASES
• 3.1 Categorization
• 3.1.1 The Classical View of Categorization
• 3.1.2 The Present View of Categorization
• 3.2 Prototype Theory
• 3.2.1 An Introduction to the Prototype Theory
• 3.2.2 Family Resemblance
• 3.2.3 Basic Level Terms
• 3.2.4 The Nature of Subjectivity
• 3.3 Several Basic Mechanisms of Human Mind
• 3.3.1 Mappings
• 3.3.2 Accommodation
• 3.3.3 Figure and Ground Orientation
• 3.4 Summary
• CHAPTER FOUR A DETAILED STUDY OF OVER,ABOVE AND ON
• 4.1 The Reasons for Choosing Over,Above and On in this Thesis
• 4.2 Two Standards to Define the Prototypical Features of Over,Above and On
• 4.2.1 The Prototypical Features of Over,Above and On from Dictionaries
• 4.2.2 Prior Senses of Over,Above and On in People's Mind
• 4.3 Various Senses of Over,Above and On
• 4.3.1 An Analysis of the Senses of Over
• 4.3.1.1 Senses Inferred from"Higher than and Directly above with a Space between the Figure and Ground"
• 4.3.1.2 Senses Inferred from"Higher than and Directly above without a Space between the Figure and the Ground"
• 4.3.1.3 Other Senses from both Features
• 4.3.2 An Analysis of the Senses of Above
• 4.3.3 An Analysis of the Senses of On
• 4.4 Similarities and Differences between Over,Above and On
• 4.4.1 Similarities between Over,Above and On
• 4.4.1.1 Similarities between Over and Above
• 4.4.1.2 Similarities between Over and On
• 4.4.1.3 Similarities between Above and On
• 4.4.2 Differences between Over,Above and On
• 4.4.2.1 Differences between Over and Above
• 4.4.2.2 Differences between Over and On
• 4.4.2.3 Differences between Above and On
• 4.4.3 Summary of the Similarities and Differences between Over,Above and On
• 4.5 Summary
• CHAPTER 5 IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING PREPOSITIONS
• 5.1 The Teaching of Prepositions in English
• 5.1.1 An Introduction to the Prototypical Features of Prepositions
• 5.1.2 Extended Senses of Prepositions
• 5.1.3 Consolidating Exercises
• 5.2 Experimental Studies of the Teaching of Prepositions
• 5.2.1 The Purposes of the Experiments
• 5.2.2 Subjects of the Experiments
• 5.2.3 Contents of the Experiments
• 5.2.4 The Performance of the Experiments
• 5.2.5 Results of the Experiments
• 5.2.6 Results of the Investigation
• 5.3 Summary
• CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION
• 6.1 The Main Contribution of this Thesis
• 6.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies
• Appendix Ⅰ
• Appendix Ⅱ
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements