Chapter 8. A neurocognitive approach to Chinese idiom comprehension
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Hui Zhang
Abstract
In Chinese, three-character idioms abound, represented by a ‘base’ form as well as variants according to the context in which they are embedded. How base-forms and their variants are contextually processed is controversial. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) data were collected to investigate time course and neural activity in the processing of Chinese three-character idioms and their variants in discourse dialogic contexts (e.g. literally biased and figuratively biased contexts). The results are discussed in regard to three proposed models of idiom processing and theories of idiom variations elaborated by Cognitive Linguistics, Relevance Theory and Glucksberg’s proposals. The data provide neural evidence that different types of discourse context play a facilitative role in the processing of base-forms and variants.
Abstract
In Chinese, three-character idioms abound, represented by a ‘base’ form as well as variants according to the context in which they are embedded. How base-forms and their variants are contextually processed is controversial. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) data were collected to investigate time course and neural activity in the processing of Chinese three-character idioms and their variants in discourse dialogic contexts (e.g. literally biased and figuratively biased contexts). The results are discussed in regard to three proposed models of idiom processing and theories of idiom variations elaborated by Cognitive Linguistics, Relevance Theory and Glucksberg’s proposals. The data provide neural evidence that different types of discourse context play a facilitative role in the processing of base-forms and variants.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Series Editors’ Preface ix
- Foreword xiii
- Abbreviations xv
- Introduction to this volume 1
- General introduction 7
-
Part I. Morphological, lexical and syntactic constructions
- Chapter 1. When constructions meet context 47
- Chapter 2. On the partial productivity of constructions 73
- Chapter 3. A corpus-based study of subjectification and the disposal construction in modern Mandarin 95
- Chapter 4. Types of negatives and the noun-verb distinction in English and Chinese 121
- Chapter 5. The conceptual spatialization of actions or activities in Chinese 157
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Part II. Cognitive pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Structural salience and referential accessibility 185
- Chapter 7. Complementing cognitive linguistics with pragmatics and vice versa 207
-
Part III. Neurocognition and psycholinguistics
- Chapter 8. A neurocognitive approach to Chinese idiom comprehension 227
- Chapter 9. The role of metaphor in categorization 261
- Chapter 10. Linguistic and mental representations of caused motion in Chinese and English children 285
- Author index 309
- Subject index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Series Editors’ Preface ix
- Foreword xiii
- Abbreviations xv
- Introduction to this volume 1
- General introduction 7
-
Part I. Morphological, lexical and syntactic constructions
- Chapter 1. When constructions meet context 47
- Chapter 2. On the partial productivity of constructions 73
- Chapter 3. A corpus-based study of subjectification and the disposal construction in modern Mandarin 95
- Chapter 4. Types of negatives and the noun-verb distinction in English and Chinese 121
- Chapter 5. The conceptual spatialization of actions or activities in Chinese 157
-
Part II. Cognitive pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Structural salience and referential accessibility 185
- Chapter 7. Complementing cognitive linguistics with pragmatics and vice versa 207
-
Part III. Neurocognition and psycholinguistics
- Chapter 8. A neurocognitive approach to Chinese idiom comprehension 227
- Chapter 9. The role of metaphor in categorization 261
- Chapter 10. Linguistic and mental representations of caused motion in Chinese and English children 285
- Author index 309
- Subject index 311
