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(43.13%) and [VN]V structure in metaphorical lexicalization (32.96%), with [NN]N
structure in metaphorical lexicalization showing a slightly higher percentage of occurrences than [VN]V structure in metaphorical lexicalization.
(59) kǒu in the [NN]D structure and in agrammatical lexicalization
NEAR TIME: dāngkǒu ‘at present’
(60) kǒu in the [NN]N structure and in metaphorical lexicalization
GATEWAY: gǎngkǒu ‘harbor’
(61) kǒu in the [VN]V structure and in metaphorical lexicalization
GATEWAY: jìnkǒu ‘import’
4.4 Overall Discussion
In general, the six body-part terms are all used to denote the metonymic meanings
PERSON and EMOTION. It is found that when the six target body-part terms denote the metonymic meaning PERSON, the highest frequency of their word component
structures occurs in [NN]N. When liǎn, miàn, and yǎn denote the metonymic meaning
EMOTION, the [NN]N structure also shows the highest frequency of occurrences, while [VN]V shows the highest frequency of occurrences when mù, zuǐ, and kǒu denote
EMOTION.
The [NN]N structure shows the highest frequency of occurrences when liǎn and zuǐ are used to denote the metonymic meaning CHARACTER, while the [AN]N
structure is used when miàn denotes CHARACTER. When denoting the metonymic meaning DIGNITY, liǎn favors the [VN]V structure, while miàn prefers the [NN]N
structure. The [VN]V structure is prefered when liǎn and miàn are used to denote
APPEARANCE. The [VV]V structure shows the highest frequency of occurrences when miàn is used to denote the metonymic meaning CONFRONT (V.). It should be noted that when miàn is used to denote CONFRONT, the form class identity of miàn is analyzed
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as a verb instead of a noun. When yǎn and mù are used to denote the metonymic meaning ABILITY, the [NN]D structure is prefered in yǎn, while mù favors the [VN]V
structure. The [NN]N structure is favored when yǎn and mù denote the metonymic meaning INTELLECTION. When denoting the metonymic meaning FOCUS, both yǎn and mù prefer the [VN]V structure. Both [AN]N and [VN]V structure are favored when zuǐ is used to denote the metonymic meaning FLAVOR, while the [NN]N structure is preferred when kǒu denotes FLAVOR. The [VN]V structure shows the highest
frequency of occurrences in zuǐ, but the [NN]N structure occurs the most frequently in kǒu, when denoting the metonymic meaning UTTERANCES. The [NN]N structure shows the highest frequency of occurrences when miàn and kǒu are used to denote the metonymic meaning QUANTITY.
As for the metaphorical meanings in the six body-part terms and their corresponding word component structures, the [NN]N structure shows the highest frequency of occurrences for all the six body-part terms when they are used metaphorically. The only difference is that when kǒu is used to denote the metaphorical meaning GATEWAY, the [VN]V structure is preferred rather than the [NN]N structure.
Once the lexicaliation types are determined based on the grammatical identities and meanings of the word components in the words containing the six body-part terms (as presented from Table 4.6 to Table 4.11), the number of frequency of the lexicalization types in the six body-part terms can be counted, which is shown in Table 4.18. And, the distribution of the lexicalization types in the six body-part terms is exhibited in Table 4.19.
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Table 4.18 Number of frequency of the lexicalization types in the six body-part terms
Lexicalization Types
Metaphorical Asemantic Agrammatical Complete Total
Frequency 47030 4320 3180 0 54530
% 86.25 7.92 5.83 0 100
Table 4.19 The distribution of lexicalization types among the six body-part terms
Lexicalization Types
Liǎn % Miàn % Yǎn % Mù % Zuǐ % Kǒu %
Metaphorical 538 92.44 22372 93.15 2832 84.66 13931 74.56 186 91.18 7171 93.17
Asemantic 50 0.21 4270 22.85
Agrammatical 44 7.56 1596 6.65 513 15.34 483 2.59 18 8.82 526 6.83 Complete
Total 582 100 24018 100 3345 100 18684 100 204 100 7697 100
In general, only three types of lexicalization types are found in words containing the six body-part terms: metaphorical lexicalization, asemantic lexicalization, and agrammatical lexicalization, with metaphorical lexicalization showing the highest precentage of occurrences (86.25%). Metaphorical lexicalization occurs most
frequently in the six body-part terms in disyllabic words (92.45% for liǎn; 94.79% for miàn; 84.69% for yǎn; 74.55%for mù; 91.18% for zuǐ; and 93.17% for kǒu ), with agrammatical lexicalization occuring in certain percentages (7.55% for liǎn; 5.19%
for miàn; 15.31% for yǎn; 2.59%for mù; 8.82% for zuǐ; and 6.83% for kǒu ). As for disyllabic words containing miàn and mù, in addition to metaphorical lexicalization and agrammatical lexicalization, asemantic lexicalization they also show some percentages of occurences in (0.02% for miàn; and 22.86%for mù).
Table 4.20 and Table 4.21 present the distribution of lexicalization types in the
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six body-part terms either with metonymic meanings or with metaphorical meanings.
Table 4.20 The distribution of lexicalization types in the six body-part terms with metonymic meanings
Lexicalization
As shown in Table 4.20, when words containing liǎn, yǎn, mù, zuǐ, and kǒu denote metonymic meanings, they are found in the form of either metaphorical lexicalization or agrammatical lexicalization, with the majority of the meanings being found in the form of metaphorical lexicalization. Words containing miàn are found in the form of either metaphorical, asemantic, or agrammatical lexicalization, with the majority of the meanings being found in the form of metaphorical lexicalization.
Table 4.21 The distribution of lexicalization types in the six body-part terms with metaphorical meanings
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In Table 4.21, when words containing yǎn, zuǐ, and kǒu denote metaphorical meanings, they are found in either metaphorical lexicalization or agrammatical lexicalization, with metaphorical lexicalization being the more dominant one. As shown in Table 4.20, when words containing liǎn, yǎn, mù, zuǐ, and kǒu denote metonymic meanings, they are found in the form of either metaphorical lexicalization or agrammatical lexicalization, with the majority of the meanings being found in the form of metaphorical lexicalization. Words containing miàn and mù which denote a metaphorical meaning are found in three lexicalization types: metaphorical,
asemantic, and agrammatical lexicalization, and metaphorical lexicalization is also the most dominant type among the three. It should be noted again that liǎn denotes no metaphorical meanings.
Lexicalization can help explain the nature of the component-word relationship (Packard, 2000). Packard (2000: 219) sets up the specific criteria used to determine the degree of lexicalization as follows :
(a) whether the word components retain their full original meaning, reflect a figurative, metaphorical sense, or lose their original meaning entirely, and (b) whether the grammatical information within word components remains
available to the grammatical as a whole.
As mentioned in 2.1.3, lexicalization types are categorized based on the degree of the semantic and grammatical transparency of the word components, and are exhibited on a continuum are to show their degree of transparency: the more transparent the
semantic and grammatical identity of the components of a word remain, the more weakly lexicalized a word will be (Parkard, 2000). That is, the continuum is as
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follows: conventional lexicalization, metaphorical lexicalization, asemantic lexicalization, agrammatical lexicalization, and complete lexicalization, with
conventional lexicalization as the most weakly lexicalized and complete lexicalization as the most strongly lexicalized.
In this study, the lexicalization types of disyllabic words that containing one of the six body-part terms are generalized based on the interaction between the
component structures of words containing body-part terms and their corresponding metaphoric and metonymic extensions. As shown in Table 4.6, in general, only three types of lexicalization are found: metaphorical lexicalization, asemantic lexicalization and agrammatical lexicalization. Conventional lexicalization, the least frequently occuring type of lexicalisation, and complete lexicalization, the most frequently occuring type of lexicalization, are not found in the case of disyllabic words
containing liǎn, miàn, yǎn, mù, zuǐ, and kǒu. Metaphorical lexicalization occurs most frequently in the case of disyllabic words containing the six body-part terms, with agrammatical lexicalization occurring in some percentages. As for disyllabic words containing miàn and mù, in addition to metaphorical lexicalization and agrammatical lexicalization, they also show some percentages of occurences in asemantic
lexicalization.
The results show that most of the disyllabic words containing liǎn, miàn, yǎn, mù, zuǐ, and kǒu are found under metaphorical lexicalization when they denote non-literal meanings. This means that the grammatical identities of the word components are still retained, but their original semantic identities are lost and then “take on a related, figurative or metaphorical interpretation” (Packard, 2000: 220). For example,
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fānliǎn [VN]V ‘suddenly get mad’; biànmiàn [VN]V ‘suddenly get mad’;
yàoyǎn [VN]V ‘dazzling’; dèngmù [VN]V ‘stare in anger’; tiāozuǐ [VN]V ‘be fussy about food’; and jìkǒu [VN]V ‘be on a diet’.
Some percentages are found under agrammatical lexicalization when the disyllabic words containing liǎn, miàn, yǎn, mù, zuǐ, and kǒu denote non-literal meanings, for example, liǎnnèn [NA]V ‘be shy’; miànlín [VV]N
‘confront’; yǎnhóng [NA]V ‘be jealous’; jímù [VN]D ‘strain one's eyes to look at the distance’; zuǐyìng [NA]V ‘be stubborn; be firm in speech’; and kǒutóu [NN]D ‘verbally’. In agrammatical lexicalization, the word components lose their grammatical identities but they still (either fully or metaphorically) keep their semantic identities (Packard, 2000).
A few cases of disyllabic words that contain one of the six body-part terms are found under asemantic lexicalization when when the disyllabic words containing miàn or mù denote non-literal meanings. In asemantic lexicalization, the word component meanings are lost but their grammatical identities still remain (Packard, 2000), as illustrated by miànshì [VN]V ‘to be published’ and shūmù
[NN]N ‘bibliography’.
The distribution of metonymic and metaphorical meanings exhibited in Table 4.4 and Table 4.5 gives three important insights. First, the six body-part terms are all used to denote the metonymic meanings PERSON and EMOTION. Second, the metonymic meanings the six body-part terms denote may be strongly correlated with the physiological functions that the three body-parts (face, eye, and mouth) possess.
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Third, some metaphorical meanings that the five body-part terms denote may be developed mostly based on the physiological shapes of the three body-parts.
That PERSON and EMOTION are the most prevalent metonymic meanings in the six body-part terms may indicate that the three body-part (face, eye, and mouth) share the two similar functions in social interactions: to represent individual identity and to show emotions.When the body-part terms in disyllabic words are used to denote
PERSON, most of them belong to PART FOR WHOLE type of metonymy. For instance, tóuliǎn ‘person’, rénmiàn ‘person’, yǎnméi ‘spy’, tóumù
‘leader of a tribe’, míngzuǐ ‘pundit’, and hùkǒu ‘number of households’
are cases that a centain body-part stands for a person. In denoting the metonymic meaning EMOTION, most disyllabic words are constructed with a predicate with a body-part term, for emotions can be exhibited through the change of the state on the body-parts. For example, fānliǎn ‘suddenly get mad’ and dūzuǐ ‘pout’ are cases that are constructed with a predicate and a body-part term to show the change of the state on the body-part (face and mouth in these two cases).
In addition, it appears that the metonymic meanings that the six body-part term denote are not randomly created but are developed based on the physiological or social functions of each body-part. First, in addtion to PERSON and EMOTION, the pair of face-denoting body-part terms, liǎn and miàn, both denote CHARACTER, DIGNITY, and APPEARANCE. As in (6), our face can reveal our emotion and even our character, and our face are the only body-part where we can wear a mask to act like a certain character (CHARACTER).In addition to our physiological face, we also possess a social face, which is related to our dignity (DIGNITY and APPEARANCE ), as illustrated
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in (7) and (8). Then, the pair of eye-denoting body-part terms, yǎn and mù, both denote ABILITY, INTELLECTION,and FOCUS. The most important physiological function of eyes is our eyesight (ABILITY), as in example (13). And, as illustrated in (15), eyes are one of the most important organ for perception, thus, something important would first be noticed by our eyes (FOCUS). Because one of the ways to become intelligent is to read, we need our eyes to read to gain intellection
(INTELLECTION), as in (14). Moreover, the pair of mouth-denoting body-part terms, zuǐ and kǒu, both denote FLAVOR and UTTERANCES, which coincides with the physiological functions of mouth: to taste (FLAVOR) and to speak (UTTERANCES), as in example (19) and (20).
Furthermore, some metaphorical meanings that the five body-part terms denote may be developed mostly based on the physiological shapes of the three body-parts.
First, the metaphorical meaning SURFACE (as in (22)) that miàn denotes may be created based on the flat shape of faces. Second, the metaphorical meaning TINY HOLE (as in (27)) that yǎn and mù denote may be created based on the shape of eyes.
And the metaphorical meaning MOUTH-SHAPED (as in (31)) and GATEWAY (as in (32)) are created based on the shape of mouths and the physiological function of mouths, which is as an opening in the digestive system. But, it should be noted that although the metaphorical meanings mentioned here may be also created based on the
physiological shapes and functions of the three body-parts, they are different from metonymic meanings in that metonymic meanings are developed in the same domain (i.e. human), while metaphorical meanings are developed and mapped into different domains.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary
This study attempts to investigate the exact usages of body-part terms in disyllabic words and the syntagmatics in their meaning extensions. Although previous studies have identified some of the metonymic and metaphorical meanings that liǎn, miàn, yǎn, mù, kǒu, and zuǐ may denote, the exact metonymic and metaphorical meanings that the six body part terms denote in people’s everyday usage cannot be discovered based solely on the traditional and introspective approach alone. By analyzing the words extracted from Sinica Corpus 4.0 that contain the six body-part terms, a more comprehensive picture is provided to exhibit how people use the six body-part terms.
First, in terms of word component structures, the [NN]N structure is the most dominant word component structure found for the disyllabic words that contain the six body-part terms. The [VN]V structure is the second most dominant word
component structure among all of the six body-part terms.
Second, with regard to the meanings that the six body-part terms denote, it is found that miàn, mù, and kǒu are more frequently used to denote non-literal meanings (either metonymic or metaphorical meanings) than their counterparts – liǎn, yǎn, and zuǐ. It is suggested that a labor-sharing phenomenon has developed between the two candidates which refers to the same body-part in Mandarin Chinese: one is more literal-meaning-oriented and the other is more non-literal-meaning-oriented.
Moreover, it is found that PERSON and EMOTION are the most prevalent metonymic meanings across the six body-part terms in terms of the metonymic meanings denoted
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by the six body-part terms. This indicates that the denoting of PERSON and EMOTION
occur at the initial stage the development of meaning extensions when body parts are extended to denote non-literal meanings. That is to say, other metonymic meanings are extended on the basis of either PERSON or EMOTION. In addition, the metonymic meanings are nearly the same in each pair of face-denoting, eye-denoting, and mouth-denoting body-part terms, with miàn mouth-denoting more metonymic meanings than liǎn in the case of the pair of face-denoting body-part terms. As for the metaphorical
meanings, miàn, mù, and kǒu denote more metaphorical meanings than their counterparts.
Third, regarding the word component structures and their corresponding meaning extensions, in general, it is found that when the body-part terms denote
PERSON, the most dominant word component structure is [NN]N, while when they denote EMOTION, [NN]N and [VN]V are the most dominant structures. Moreover, in general, the [NN]N structure is found most frequently among all of the six body-part terms when they are used either metonymically or metaphorically. As for the
lexicalization types, most of the disyllabic words containing the six body-part terms are found under metaphorical lexicalization when they denote metonymic and metaphorical meanings.