网络模型视角下英语介词“Under”的语义建构

Semantic Construction of English Preposition “Under” from the Perspective of Network Model

摘要: 介词是英语中使用频率极高的封闭词类，其语义和用法却是英语教学的重难点。基于英国国家语料库中的语料样本分析，本文采用认知语法中的图式网络模型探究介词under的多义性。研究发现空间意义“射体低于界标”在介词under的语义建构中具有原型效应。通过两种范畴化关系，这一中心意义延伸出“影响”“覆盖”“少于”“经历”等非空间意义，共同构成介词under的语义网络。本文验证了认知语法中图式网络模型的解释力，进一步证明了多义词是由关联意义构建起的复杂范畴。

Abstract: Prepositions are the most frequently used closed parts of speech in English, but their meanings and usages are the most important and difficult points in English teaching. Based on the analysis of the language samples drawn from the British National Corpus, the present paper adopts network model approach in cognitive grammar to investigate the polysemy of the preposition under. It is found that the spatial sense, the trajector below the landmark, exerts the prototypical effect on the semantic construction of under. By employing two categorization relationships, the central sense yields non-spatial senses, such as influence, covering, less, and undergoing a process, in aggregate constituting a semantic network of under. The paper proves the validity of the schematic network model in cognitive grammar, further demonstrating that a polysemous word is structured in a complex category with interconnected senses.