A Study on Comparative Analysis of the Chinese and Japanese Idioms Concerning「一」「二」「三」

• Main Authors: Su-chen Lai, 賴素珍
• Other Authors: Jiin-chiuen Lai
• Format: Others
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/43953576179876000034

碩士 === 東吳大學 === 日本語文學系 === 97 === Numbers, as an integral part of our daily lives, are commonly used in the idioms of the Chinese language and the Japanese language. The purpose of this study is to probe into the polysemy structures and cognitive processes of both the Chinese and the Japanese idioms concerning 「一」「二」「三」. Related studies have been done from the perspectives of vocabulary, phonology and culture. However, little attention has been given to a systematic description of the cognitive processes of the formation of polysemy. Therefore, the polysemy and polysemy networks of the Chinese and Japanese idioms concerning 「一」「二」「三」, as well as the classification of the above mentioned idioms were examined in this study. Results of the study indicate that in the cognitive processes of the semantic expansion of the Chinese and Japanese idioms concerning 「一」「二」「三」, the Chinese number「一」 is most commonly found in metonymical expressions. Besides, 「二」and「三」 in both languages share similarities in having all the three features of metaphorical expressions (morphology, character and function). As to the semantic expansion, 「一」「二」「三」 occur mostly in metonymical expressions, and are relatively less found in synecdochical expressions. In addition, the semantic classification of 「一」「二」「三」in the Japanese language resembles that of the Chinese language while the Chinese semantic classification appears in more subtle forms. The scope of this study was limited, in that it concentrated on the comparative analysis of the polysemy structures of the Chinese and Japanese idioms concerning only「一」「二」「三」. Whether this method can be applied to other numbers remains to be examined.