Abstracts of Papers in This Issue

CommentonSamuelLevin’sclassicalsemantictheoryofmetaphor(p.1)

SUNYi(Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510420, China)

LIMin(Department of Russian-Japanese, College of Foreign Languages, Shanxi Datong University, Datong 037000, China)

Based strictly upon the classical metaphorical semantic theory of linguist Samuel Levin, this paper combs the discussions of linguists Frege, Ryle and Wittgenstein on reference, meaning and truth, and discusses their logical contradiction and semantic contradiction in semantically deviated sentences, semantic incompatibility, the relationship between the real world and the possible world, whether absurdity can be calculated and the truth of sentences, as well as poetic metaphors proposed by Abraham and Ricoeur in detail. This paper analyzes and discusses the problems of text metaphor and whole-world metaphor, demonstrates the unequal relationship between reference, meaning and truth value in deflected sentences, and successfully adopts the core view of metaphor semantic theory to lead us to uncover the mystery of metaphor from the perspectives of linguistics, philosophy, mathematics and other fields, attempting to provide nutritious academic nourishment from divergent perspectives for understanding and deciphering metaphors.

Formalaccountofcognitiveeventframeanditsvariousconstructions(p.11)

CHENGQianwen(School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201900, China)

This paper aims to construct a theoretical model to formally account for the autonomous operations and their theoretical mechanisms connecting the conceptual contents of event and their various constructions indetail. The model is composed of Cognitive Event Frames integrated with information structures. The former represents for the coherent concept contents of events while the latter represents the general information structures and their correspondence with the syntactic structures. The integrated theoretical mechanisms account for how the conceptual contents of one event is realized as different constructions through different information processing. This integrated model is tested with samples of both kicking event and packing event and is verified to be operationally feasible for both comprehension and production. In this line of argument, the integrated model brings up some new ideas and methods for solving the problems of formal representation and its autonomous operation in the research of natural language processing successtully.

AstudyofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesofsunmetaphorsinChineseandEnglishidiomsfromthecognitiveandculturalcontextperspective(p.19)

WANGYaqi(College of Foreign Languages, Yuzhang Normal University, Nanchang 330103,China)

Idioms are fixed expressions formed by the long-term use in the specific language communities, which contain a large number of metaphors. Taking the sun metaphors in Chinese and English idioms as an example, this paper analyzes the similarities and differences of the sun metaphors generated in Chinese and English idioms by the specific features of the source domain of the sun, and then explains the homogeneity and heterogeneity of metaphorical meaning from the aspects of the embodied cognitivity of metaphor and cultural context. The research shows that the universality of cross-language embodied-cognitive experience and the uniqueness of cultural context work together on the generation of metaphorical meaning in languages. Namely, the commonness of conceptual-cognitive context based on common embodied-cognitive experience brings the universality of cross-language metaphors, while the unique cultural context forms the differences of cross-language metaphors.

Thetransformativethreedimensionsinlinguisticlandscape:Acasestudyofspatialvisibilityinlanguageplanning(p.26)

MINJie(School of English Studies, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, 400031, China)

The three dimensions is one of the important analytical model of linguistic landscape, and its physical dimension, political dimension and experiential dimension are three closely related analytical ones. Faced with the problems of limited research perspective and disjointed analysis dimension in the localization application of this model, this study successfully transforms the model and applies it into the empirical study of road name planning. It is found that genre selection of physical dimension determines the spatial prominent representation of road names;visibility as an experiential dimension can induce the spatial perception and attitude of the road users; political dimension is influenced by spatial perceptions and attitudes, thus adapting its creation mechanisms and policy intentions. The study therefore, proves that the transformative model, based on the selection principle and quantitative statistics to ensure its legitimacy, can improve the adaptability of the model’s applied research and further develop its overall analytical and explanatory function.

Ontheoppositionbetweensubjectiveandobjectivemodalityfrommarkedness(p.34)

PANChenguang(Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China)

Subjective modality conveys the speaker’s opinions and attitudes tied to the here-and-now of the current speech situation, and the markedness of modality lies in the fact that its subjective meaning can be displaced in the sense that it can describe events in time and space from the speech situation. Most of the previous studies dichotomize the objective and subjective modality according to the opposition between speakers and non-speakers, while this paper defines the distinctive features of subjective and objective modality in terms of time and space dimensions, and discusses the markedness of objective modality from its form and distribution. The markedness of modality is motivated by cognitive-communicative factors, because the markedness in space is manifested in the transfer of modal source from the speaker to non-speakers, highlighting the intersubjectivity and textual function of modality, and the markedness in time is manifested in the transfer of the time of modal evaluation from the present to the past, highlighting the emotive meaning of modality.

Thetheoryoffeeling-situationcorrelationforthestudyofJiedai(p.42)

YANGYuqian(Institute of Kligher Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

HEAijing(School of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

Jiedaiis not a direct and truthful recording of the real situation, but is processed through association and imagination, the real purpose of the speaker being implied in the rhetorical expression. The basic characteristic ofjiedaiis to make use of the concept of one thing by the concept of another. Generally speaking, the use ofjiedaiexpression may be divided into two types: artificially-coined expression and figuratively-made expression; and from the point view of the words used,jiedaiexpression may be further divided into three kinds: thejiedaimade from an ordinary expression, that made from a figurative expression, and that made from an alternative name. The present paper tries the “theory of feeling-situation correlated with each other” for a unified analysis and explanation of the types. “Theory of feeling-situation correlated with each other” holds that the feeling and the situation are correlated with each other in any linguistic expressions, out of which the meaning of the linguistic expression is generated. The user of the expression arrives at the understanding of the feeling and reason from the inference of the state of affairs in the situation, thus generating the object of thejiedaiexpression.Jiedaiis actually a metabolic process, which is the exchange of substances and information between the language organism and the environment to achieve self-metabolic renewal and make new language expression.

Recentdevelopmentoniconicity:AreviewofSpecialIssuesfrom—LanguageandCognition(2019—2020)(p.49)

WANGYuze&ZHANGJianli(School of Foreign Languages, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China)

Based on the latest developments in the study of iconicity abroad, this paper provides a scuuessful in-depth description, analysis and outlook of the frontier of iconicity research based on ten pictorial papers published in a special issue ofLanguageandCognition, a leading journal of cognitive linguistics published by Cambridge University Press, It is found that recent research on iconicity abroad has focused on the interdisciplinary veins of iconicity, sign language linguistics and its application. The above findings not only help to reveal the relationship between language and cognition, but also serve as a reference for domestic scholars to grasp the latest progress in international research on iconicity.

Dismantlingandintegrating:ThetexttensionofMaxineKingston’s“AttheWesternPalace” (p.56)

LIGuirong&CHENJiamin(School of Foreign Languages Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China)

Maxine Kingston’s “At the Western Palace” is a realistic literary work with a multi-layered narrative structure and rich realistic references, therefore. demonstrating strong textual tension.On the basis of Aristotle’s “plot view”, this paper dismantle in detail the narrative content in both horizontal and vertical directions to extract the overall “spindle shaped” structure. Then, according to the “intertextuality” theory, the thesis successfully extends the meaning of the dismantled narrative information inside and outside the text, and reversely “integrates” them in the multi-level structure to achieve the construction of plot logic within the text and the interpretation of realistic significance outside the text. This work integrates a large number of highly expressive language symbols into a multi-layer intertwined narrative structure, thus presenting the novel with rich cultural heritage and historical and practical significance under multiple logical foundations.

Rebellion,exileandhomecoming:MongoBeti’srealisticwriting(p.63)

WANGLin(College of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China)

The writing career of Cameroonian writer Mongo Beti can be divided into three stages. Before Cameroon’s independence, he describ in detail the evils of the colonial system, satirized the hypocrisy of Western religions, and called on people to resist French colonial rule firecely. After the independence of the country, he eulogized the historical achievements of national heroes and expressed the identity confusion under the confrontation between Western and local cultures. Although he had been in exile in France for decades, after returning to his motherland successfully, he still insisted on pointing out the incompetence and corruption of the African ruling class in the post colonial period. Beti is full of fighting spirit. His realistic writing closely follows the political development of Africa and is the most important window into French literature in Cameroon.

Aphenomenologicalreadingofthe“gaps”inAPaleViewofHills(p.70)

MINRuiqi(College of Foreign Language and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novelAPaleViewofHillsis full of enigmatic “gaps” awaiting reader’s decoding, which involves reader’s active participation in generating the meaning of the novel. Wolfgang Iser, one of the leading figures of the reception theory, especially advocating the significance of reader in the construction of the meaning of literary works, develops a phenomenological method in the research of the reading process. This article, therefore, will be an Iserian reading of this novel following Iser’s framework of the phenomenological approach of reading concerning major concepts of anticipation and retrospection, indeterminacy and gap-filling, gestalt and illusions in order to get deeper understanding of this novel. It will also successfully prove the feasibility of Iser’s phenomenological approach to the interpretation of the work. This reading would demonstrate the aesthetic values of “gaps” in Ishiguro’s novel.

Dysart’slossofidentity:AmodernisticreconstructionofhumanisticspiritintragedyinPeterShaffer’sEquus(p.76)

WANGYinuo&LYUChunmei(School of English Studies, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Dalian 116044, China)

Peter Shaffer’s Equus is a play with a strong sense of tragedy. The previous studies have focused on the tragic upbringing of the main character, Alan. However, not enough attention or discussion has been given to the secondary character, Dysart. Dysart’s tragic life is a reflection of playwright’s sense of tragedy and tragic narrative, and also a microcosm of contemporary British society which is at a loss between the freedom of existence and the complexities of social relations. From the perspective of Freudian psychoanalysis, this article examines the three stages of identity loss experienced by Dysart and explores how Peter Shaffer presents the tragedy faced by human beings in modern society from Dysart’s loss of identity and reconstructs the modernity of humanism in tragedy.

Translationprocessinthelightoftransknowletology(p.82)

YANGChaojun&YANPing(School of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

When “Knowledge” is regarded as the core research object, the essential attribute of translation as knowledge construction and mutual learning of civilization is highlighted, and “know-ledge turn” of translation studies is on the way. In the light of Transknowletology, translation is regarded as a cross-lingual knowledge processing and reconstruction. So the role of translation in knowledge collection, knowledge analysis, knowledge dissemination and knowledge consequence need to be further analyzed within the frame of knowledge sociology. Besides, inspired by Dynamic Translation Model (DTM), this paper analyzes the translation process of knowledge transfer, offering tentative suggestions on how to make adjustments according to the linguistic context, cultural context and sitrational context in presenting the knowledge in target language.

Ethicalanalysisofthetranslator’sinterpretationinHowardGoldblatt’sEnglishversionofMoYan’snovels(p.89)

HUZuoyou&PENGJiuzhou(School of Foreign Studies, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230002, China)

The translator’s interpretation is the personalized content added by the translator in the process of translation. Howard Goldblatt’s English translation of Mo Yan’s novels has a prominent translator’s style and has become a research hotspot that cannot be ignored in the translation circle. Exploring the translator’s interpretation from an ethical perspective is a new attempt in translation research. In his translation, there are three kinds of translator’s interpretation: explicit, implicit, and noisy. From the perspective of building a harmonious relationship among the author, the translator and the reader, the translator’s interpretation should be the microphone of the author’s voice, not the main tone; the translator should limit the overtones rebellious to the meaning of the original text and reduce unnecessary noise, so as to play a harmonious sound in translation.

Studiesonword-formationandtranslationofcomputingterminologies:AcasestudyofthecomputingterminologiesinTheCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionary(Vol.Ⅰ, Ⅱ)(p.98)

SHIAling(College of Foreign Language and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

Nowadays, computers are used in all walks of life in society, thus leading to the emergence of many computing terminologies. Based on the computing terminologies inTheCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionary(Vol.Ⅰ, Ⅱ)compiled by Wu Guanghua, this paper tries to analyze their word formation and translation. Meanwhile, this paper compares the translation of the computing terminologies inTheCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionarywith those inTheChinese-EnglishDictionary(3rdEdition),NewCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionary(2ndEdition)andChineseTermsinComputerScienceandTechnology(3rdEdition). It is found that the terminology inTheCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionaryis widely distributed with abstract meanings. They are mainly subordinate compounds. The translation method adopted is mainly literal translation supplemented by free translation. However, some translation names are verbose, inconsistent, and even incorrect, which all need to be improved.