A cognitive-semantic comparative study of Chinese compounds in Malaysia and China / Zhang Xing

Zhang , Xing (2021) A cognitive-semantic comparative study of Chinese compounds in Malaysia and China / Zhang Xing. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

In global Huayu (Chinese), Malaysian Chinese (MC) and China Chinese (CC) are from two different regions. They have strong characteristics of commonality as well as marked differences in terms of meaning, word formation, and pronunciation. The most significant difference lies in their words, as it is a direct reflection of the two societies. In addition, the main form of Chinese words is compound words. Therefore, compound words constitute the main object of this study. Cognitive linguistics can be used to explore the relationship that exists among our language, our mind, and our experience of the world. Cognitive semantics is a main area under cognitive linguistics, which investigates knowledge representation and meaning construction. This study compares Malaysian Chinese compounds (MCCs) with their corresponding China Chinese compounds (CCCs) to detect their similarities and differences from the perspective of cognitive semantics. In this study, a total of 56 pairs of MCCs and CCCs (112 examples in total) were extracted from five sources amongst a collection of MC mini fictions. Based on Bloomfield’s (1933) classic semantic classification, all MCCs and CCCs were classified as endocentric compounds and exocentric compounds. Additionally, partially endocentric compounds were added as an intermediate type of compounds in the study. According to the findings of the comparison, firstly, three types of compounds were found in both MCCs and CCCs, and endocentric compounds had the highest occurrence among the compounds of these two regions. However, the percentages of partially endocentric and exocentric compounds in MCCs were higher than in CCCs. This indicates that the meanings noted in MCCs are more implicit than the meanings in CCCs. Secondly, there were several commonalities and differences between each type of MCC and its corresponding CCC. In terms of characteristics, three similarities and three differences between MCCs and CCCs were found. In the partially endocentric group, two similarities and differences between MCCs and CCCs were found. Furthermore, in the exocentric group, there were two similarities and differences in the characteristics. Finally, Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) conceptual blending theory (CBT) was utilized to illustrate and analyze the partially endocentric and exocentric compounds, as their meanings are not fully explicit. The CBT illustrated how implicit conceptual meaning contributes to the construction of meaning in MCCs and CCCs. The study will offer better insight for others to understand the disparity that exists between Chinese compounds in Malaysia and China, and to promote more effective interaction for these two Chinese communities.

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