A Study on Polysemy from the Cognitive Perspective: A Case Study of “Spring”

Abstract

Polysemy is a universal linguistic phenomenon, arising from the development of human society. Generally, there are three modes of meaning change: radiation type, chain type and synthetic type. Spring comes from the Old English springan, meaning a quick movement. The polysemy of the word "spring" is a good example of synthetic type, whose meanings are derived from the prototype meaning by metaphorical mapping. For English learners, only through constant input of vocabulary can they get a better grasp of English. However, in this process, due to the principle of linguistic economy, an English word possesses multiple meanings, i.e., polysemy. This poses a huge challenge for English learners. During this process, not only the students are supposed to be active, but the teachers should enhance their own cognitive abilities and guide students in comprehending the culture background of target language. Therefore, there is a need to find an efficient way to help English learners acquire polysemy.