A Cognitive Analysis of the English Existential Construction from the Perspective of Iconicity

Abstract

For the purpose of seeking the underlying motivations of the English existential construction, this paper first constructs the English representations of Idealized Cognitive Model construction pattern of existential construction and then , based on the theory of iconicity, attempts to explain the internal language structure from the external factors by exploring four kinds of mapping relationship between the linguistic structure of the English existential construction and the conceptual structure it represents, accordingly, to find out the cognitive motivations of the English existential construction forming. It can also make us grasp the nature of this language construction and better understand the construction forming motivations of this universal complex construction of almost all the human languages.