Development of the Semantic Map Model in China

Abstract

The chapter provides an overview of research employing the Semantic Map Model (SMM henceforth) in China, an emerging research area among Chinese scholars. It retraces the introduction of SMM into China, and demonstrates the various domains to which Chinese researchers have applied the semantic map. Moreover, it also analyzes the research methods employed by Chinese scholars doing SMM-based studies, with an account of how the Chinese academia responds to such state-of-art issues as diachronic semantic maps and “second-generation” semantic maps. This is followed by a discussion of current debates and future directions of SMM-based research in China.KeywordsSemantic mapsChinese languagesSemantic typologyCross-linguistic comparisonDomains and methods