Cognitive linguistics began to develop in 1980s and soon became the focus of linguistics study. It studies the concepts in human brain from a linguistic perspective as well as the important roles that various schemas and metaphors play in people’s understanding and cognition. It has developed by leaps and bounds, among which the investigation of metaphors is conspicuous. This book discusses the internal mechanism of the semantic development from the cognitive patterns of metaphors (including metonymy). This new angle is rather innovative. 

 

This book, nine chapters in all, analyzes and compares the semantic scope and metaphorical cognition of word groups, i.e. "心", "目", "口", "足", "水", "艸", "糸" and "犬". It is based on the basic cognitive theories, including “domain theory”, "prototype theory”, and “theory of family resemblance”. All of these theories are relatively new study results. Combining these foreign theories with the local condition will deepen our understanding of Chinese.