The Explanatory Power of Conceptual Integration Theory for English Proverbs

Yongxiang YANG

Abstract


English proverbs are the crystallization of westerners’ wisdom and the accumulation of western culture. They have been essential windows for us to know western cultures. With the development of cognitive linguistics, Gilles Fauconnier put forward the conceptual integration theory based on mental space theory. The new theory has a whole system of operating mechanism. This is a tentative study that focuses on analyzing the meaning construction and cognitive mechanism of understanding English proverbs through conceptual integration theory. It attempts to prove the mighty explanatory power of conceptual integration theory for English proverbs and also make contributions to English proverbs study.


Keywords


Conceptual integration theory; English proverb; Explanatory power

Full Text:

PDF

References


Chen, M. H. (2007). A collection of English proverbs. Beijing: Science Press.

Colston, H. L. (1995). Actions speak louder than words: Understanding figurative proverbs (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California.

Fauconnier, G. (1985). Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. London: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

Fauconnier, G. (1994). Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fauconnier, G. (2003). Conceptual integration. Journal of Foreign Language, 2, 2-7.

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (1998). Conceptual integration networks. Cognitive Science, 22, 133-187.

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books.

Honeck, R. P. (1997). A proverb in mind: The cognitive science of proverbial wit and wisdom. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Honeck, R. P., & Kibler, C. T. (1984). The role of imagery, analogy, and instantiation in proverb comprehension. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 13, 393-414.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide for poetic metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wang, F. X., & Cai, J. (2001). 500 commonly used proverbs in modern English. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2015 Studies in Literature and Language



Share us to:   

 

Online Submission: http://cscanada.org/index.php/sll/submission/wizard

Please send your manuscripts to sll@cscanada.net，or  sll@cscanada.org  for consideration. We look forward to receiving your work.


We only use three mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases: caooc@hotmail.com; sll@cscanada.net; sll@cscanada.org

 Articles published in Studies in Literature and Language are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 STUDIES IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE Editorial Office

Address: 1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mail: office@cscanada.net; office@cscanada.org; caooc@hotmail.com

Copyright © 2010 Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture