Title: Conceptualization and Its Influence on Syntax: Illustrated by the Influence of Conceptualization on the Generation and Expansion of the Sentence of Eating and Drinking in English

Abstract: Conceptualization is the cognitive process in which categorical features are projected to the conceptual domain and concepts are formed. It determines the prototype concept and form of a syntactic unit by its initial conceptualization process and the non-prototype concept and form of a syntactic unit by its re-conceptualization process. The sentence of eating and drinking in English is a sentence category expressing the concept of eating and drinking, and is the formal representation of the concept of eating and drinking in English. The concept of eating and drinking results from the conceptualization of the action of eating and drinking. Its prototype results from the conceptualization of the physical-force action of eating and drinking, and is represented as the physical-force sentence of eating and drinking in English. Its non-prototype results from the conceptualization of the nonphysical-force action of eating and drinking, and is represented as the nonphysical-force sentence of eating and drinking in English. The physical-force concept of eating and drinking and the nonphysical-force concept of eating and drinking differ semantically in that the former is “concrete” while the latter is “abstract”. The physical-force sentence of eating and drinking and the nonphysical-force sentence of eating and drinking differ formally in that the former is “concrete” while the latter is “abstract”.

Keywords: conceptualization, concept of eating and drinking, sentence of eating and drinking, generation, expansionAuthors: Yuxiang Qin, Professor, Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Dan Zhao, Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2024.02.008