In and out: Senses and meaning extension of mandarin spatial terms nei and wai

Yiching Wu; Cui Xia Weng; Chu-ren Huang

In and out: Senses and meaning extension of mandarin spatial terms nei and wai

Yiching Wu, Cui Xia Weng, Chu-ren Huang

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

Abstract

This paper explores the semantic properties and extension paths of modern Mandarin Chinese spatial terms nei4 'in, inside' and wai4 'out, outside'. Their symmetric and asymmetric contrasts are accounted for with idealized cognitive models (ICMs) and metonymic models. These models are used to delineate the core meaning and main meaning extension routes of nei4 and wai4: from the area of a region to the length of the radius or side, and then to distance. Locations of the observer, marked foci, container metaphors and social backgrounds also contribute to the asymmetry of the two terms. The synchronic difference between nei4 and wai4 can also be attributed to diachronic changes.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	PACLIC 19 - Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2005
Externally published	Yes
Event	19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, PACLIC 19 - Taipei, Taiwan Duration: 1 Dec 2005 → 3 Dec 2005

Conference

Conference	19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, PACLIC 19
Country/Territory	Taiwan
City	Taipei
Period	1/12/05 → 3/12/05

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Language and Linguistics
Computer Science (miscellaneous)

Cite this

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title = "In and out: Senses and meaning extension of mandarin spatial terms nei and wai",

abstract = "This paper explores the semantic properties and extension paths of modern Mandarin Chinese spatial terms nei4 'in, inside' and wai4 'out, outside'. Their symmetric and asymmetric contrasts are accounted for with idealized cognitive models (ICMs) and metonymic models. These models are used to delineate the core meaning and main meaning extension routes of nei4 and wai4: from the area of a region to the length of the radius or side, and then to distance. Locations of the observer, marked foci, container metaphors and social backgrounds also contribute to the asymmetry of the two terms. The synchronic difference between nei4 and wai4 can also be attributed to diachronic changes.",

author = "Yiching Wu and Weng, {Cui Xia} and Chu-ren Huang",

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month = dec,

day = "1",

language = "English",

booktitle = "PACLIC 19 - Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation",

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In and out: Senses and meaning extension of mandarin spatial terms nei and wai. / Wu, Yiching; Weng, Cui Xia; Huang, Chu-ren.

PACLIC 19 - Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation. 2005.

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

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AU - Weng, Cui Xia

AU - Huang, Chu-ren

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Y1 - 2005/12/1

N2 - This paper explores the semantic properties and extension paths of modern Mandarin Chinese spatial terms nei4 'in, inside' and wai4 'out, outside'. Their symmetric and asymmetric contrasts are accounted for with idealized cognitive models (ICMs) and metonymic models. These models are used to delineate the core meaning and main meaning extension routes of nei4 and wai4: from the area of a region to the length of the radius or side, and then to distance. Locations of the observer, marked foci, container metaphors and social backgrounds also contribute to the asymmetry of the two terms. The synchronic difference between nei4 and wai4 can also be attributed to diachronic changes.

AB - This paper explores the semantic properties and extension paths of modern Mandarin Chinese spatial terms nei4 'in, inside' and wai4 'out, outside'. Their symmetric and asymmetric contrasts are accounted for with idealized cognitive models (ICMs) and metonymic models. These models are used to delineate the core meaning and main meaning extension routes of nei4 and wai4: from the area of a region to the length of the radius or side, and then to distance. Locations of the observer, marked foci, container metaphors and social backgrounds also contribute to the asymmetry of the two terms. The synchronic difference between nei4 and wai4 can also be attributed to diachronic changes.

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M3 - Conference article published in proceeding or book

BT - PACLIC 19 - Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation

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Y2 - 1 December 2005 through 3 December 2005

ER -

In and out: Senses and meaning extension of mandarin spatial terms nei and wai

Abstract

Conference

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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