The Study of Word Meaning Construction from a Conceptual Integration Theory Perspective

Abstract

In our daily life, it’s very usual to ask what’s meaning of things around us, from which, we can know the significance of meaning, but how to know the meaning of things? Maybe it seems like a very simple question, but to answer it in a proper way will be very difficult. The answer has to change as the specific circumstance, such as time, place, and person. Meaning construction has been focused for a long time by linguistic, philosopher and psychologist. Since German philosopher G.W. Leibniz (1646-1716) offered the concept of possible world, a throng of learned people have explored meaning construction. In recently, as the rapid development of Cognitive Linguistics, scholar study meaning construction steps into a whole new stage, especially after Fauconnier (1985) offered the mental space. As we all know, there are many ways to get meanings, such as hearing, communication and reading, but how to connect meaning with object itself? Blending space gives us a new way to connect meaning and object itself; at the same it offers us a space, in which we can construct meaning of object. As we have learned, every object has its own name, while these name need to connect with meaning, but how? In this moment, blending space offers a bridge again, and in a properly speaking way, blending space demonstrates a container, in which, the object is named and given a meaning. Conceptual Integration theory focuses on the meaning construction subject, namely when people are thinking, working, communication, there is advanced and complicated mental process is working (Fauconnier, 1985/1994, 1997). Conceptual Integration theory is not language itself, while it is under the language dynamic object, and it is a conceptual packet, which is built for getting a better partial understanding when people was talking and communicating (Fauconnier & Turner, 1996:113). Based on the collected materials, this paper shows the development history of Conceptual Integration theory. This paper demonstrates how to study meaning construction by taking advantage of Conceptual Integration theory.