Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the role of cognitive semantics in Chinese lexicography. Specifically, the paper focuses on the multiple senses of the headword 心 xīn and the related idioms in Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典 xian dai han yǔ ci diǎn). It first provides a cognitive analysis of the related idioms of 心 xīn based on its different underlying conceptual metaphors and metonymies. From the cognitive perspective, 心 xīn and ‘heart’ in both Chinese and English can be further classified into different categories. As a result, different idioms with 心 xīn may be interpreted in various ways to match their conceptual categories. In present Modern Chinese Dictionary, all the idioms are arranged according to their pinyin alphabetical sequence. This arrangement mixes up with the headword’s conceptual mechanisms, and may bother some dictionary users, especially the Chinese language learners. This paper suggests that in Chinese dictionary compilation, the arrangement of those idioms may take the underlying conceptual mechanisms into account.

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