On the Novel Chinese Modifier-Head Construction Shejian Shang de X: An Analysis of Meaning Construction
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Siruo Zhou
Siruo ZHOU, Ph. D. in linguistics, is a lecturer at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China. Her research focuses on Chinese grammar, education of Chinese as a second language, and cognitive linguistics.
Dan XIONG has an MA from Central China Normal University and is a special translator at Chuanshen Language Network Company in China. Her research focuses on cognitive linguistics and Chinese-English or English-Chinese translation.
Tongquan ZHOU is a professor of English at Southeast University, China. His research focuses on neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics.
and
Ping Pang
Ping PANG is a lecturer of English at the School of Foreign Languages, Minzu University of China. Her research focuses on linguistics and English language teaching.
Abstract
Since the documentary A Bite of China (i. e. Shejian shang de Zhongguo ( 《舌尖上的中国》), where shejian shang literally means “on the tip of the tongue”), was broadcast in May 2012, a great number of expressions like shejian shang de Russia/world/Olympics/safety have begun to gradually converge into a novel modifier-head construction Shejian Shang de X, illustrating a typical evolution of modern Chinese.This study aims to analyze the construction’s meaning from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. Our investigation and analysis indicate that (1) Shejian Shang de X differs from the classic Chinese construction PP de X in both semantics and syntax; (2) as a modifier-head construction, Shejian Shang de X shows its variations in the head X’s multiple category options (noun, verb and adjective), therefore extending the scope of nominalization in Chinese and simultaneously triggering the construction’s diversified meanings; (3) the construction’s non-compositionality results mainly from its modifier components shejian and shang and is in general construed metonymically and metaphorically; (4) as a whole, the construction is a double-scope network consisting of two different organizing frames: the frame of shejian (“tip of the tongue”), a body part term and the frame of X, a dynamically changing entity (physical or abstract). The surface semantic incompatibility between the modifier and the head can be solved only by virtue of conceptual blending, producing the novel meaning [X relevant to the function of the tip of the tongue] of the whole construction.
About the authors
Siruo ZHOU, Ph. D. in linguistics, is a lecturer at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China. Her research focuses on Chinese grammar, education of Chinese as a second language, and cognitive linguistics.
Dan XIONG has an MA from Central China Normal University and is a special translator at Chuanshen Language Network Company in China. Her research focuses on cognitive linguistics and Chinese-English or English-Chinese translation.
Tongquan ZHOU is a professor of English at Southeast University, China. His research focuses on neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics.
Ping PANG is a lecturer of English at the School of Foreign Languages, Minzu University of China. Her research focuses on linguistics and English language teaching.
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© 2023 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
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- Exploring Mutual Learning of Four Chinese Senior High School EFL Teachers in a Collaborative Action Research Community
- Examining Chinese University EFL Teachers’ Perceptions and Participation in an Academic Salon-Based Professional Learning Community
- Insights From Informal Research Mentoring of Three University EFL Teachers
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- The Correlation Between English and French Proficiency of Chinese Trilingual Learners
- Chinese Learners’ Use of Translation in Learning Academic Subjects in English-Medium Instruction Context
- Discourse Analysis
- On the Novel Chinese Modifier-Head Construction Shejian Shang de X: An Analysis of Meaning Construction
- Course Design and Material Evaluation
- Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Communicative English for Chinese Learners (Integrated Course) From the Perspective of Ecosophy
- Abstracts
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Teacher Development
- Exploring Mutual Learning of Four Chinese Senior High School EFL Teachers in a Collaborative Action Research Community
- Examining Chinese University EFL Teachers’ Perceptions and Participation in an Academic Salon-Based Professional Learning Community
- Insights From Informal Research Mentoring of Three University EFL Teachers
- Second Language Acquisition
- A Decade of Research Into Second Language Acquisition: A State-of-the-Science Review (2009-2019)
- The Correlation Between English and French Proficiency of Chinese Trilingual Learners
- Chinese Learners’ Use of Translation in Learning Academic Subjects in English-Medium Instruction Context
- Discourse Analysis
- On the Novel Chinese Modifier-Head Construction Shejian Shang de X: An Analysis of Meaning Construction
- Course Design and Material Evaluation
- Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Communicative English for Chinese Learners (Integrated Course) From the Perspective of Ecosophy
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
