A Cognitive Analysis of Chinese Shape-Measure Words in TCFL
Gou Rui-long · Journal of Yunnan Normal University · 2006
Language is not only the most important tool of human communication,but also a main encoding system of knowledge.There are plenty of measure words in Chinese with flexible usages.Many measure words are used to encode the shapes of objects,and so they can be called SHAPED-MEASURE WORDS.When some of these words are used to measure the same object,they often highlight some of the different details in the shape of the object.Usually,the native people may intuitively use these words correctly while foreign students learning Chinese are often puzzled by them.This paper analyzed some of the popular shape measure words in TCFL with a focus on a cognitive analysis as well as thecognitive motivation in using measure words╋ noun structure.