Article published in:
Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 6:2 (2015) ► pp. 162–182

Conceptual autonomy and dependence in Chinese lexical semantic analysis

The role of image-schema, conceptual domains and co-text in [v]–[shang]

| Masaryk University

The present study addresses the rate of conceptual autonomy and dependence in Chinese lexical semantic analysis, presenting an analysis of how image-schema, domains and co-text interact in the [v]–[shang] construction as an example. Following a Principled Polysemy methodology, I identify the semantic prototype and four metaphorical senses of the construction. I also show the co-textual characteristics associated with each sense, which opens up further discussion of how image-schema and conceptual domains collaborate to produce the various senses. Based on these findings, I further establish a hierarchy of influence from co-text, where the semantics of an RVC depends first of all on its collocating verb and secondarily on a collocating noun phrase. This paper aims to show in some detail how image-schema, conceptual domains and patterns of co-text co-contribute to the polysemy of RVCs. It moreover proposes a novel way of analyzing Chinese lexical semantics in terms of conceptual autonomy and dependence.

Keywords: conceptual autonomy, co-text, conceptual dependence, conceptual domain, image-schema, polysemy, resultative verb construction
Published online: 28 January 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.6.2.03lu
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