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Research journal "Foreign Languages in Tertiary Education"
ISSN 2072-7607
Latest issues

Li Yuhan

Structure-semantic analysis and cognitive interpretation of Chinese parallel structure idioms. Pp. 50–56.

UDC 811.581

DOI: 10.37724/RSU.2025.75.4.005

EDN: NIYZUS

 

Abstract. Chinese parallel structure idioms can be classified into three categories based on their forms: ABCD, AABB, and A1B1A2B2. This article collates 373 Chinese parallel structure idioms with obvious structural differences, analyzes the meaning-acquisition path and the internal mechanism of idioms. Research has found that different types of Chinese parallel structure idioms share a common feature, namely, describing partial and specific meaning to achieve the reproduction of the generalized and abstract meaning of idioms. Therefore, the semantic formation mechanism of the Chinese parallel structure idioms reflects the interaction and interpenetration of the meaning of components and idioms in an explicit or implicit way, which corresponds to the thinking ability and cognitive laws of human beings “from part to whole” and “from concrete to abstract”. The parallel structure itself plays a essential and constructive role in this semantic mechanism. It not only contributes to the fixed and regular form of the idioms, but also facilitates semantic generalization and abstraction. Consequently, investigating Chinese parallel structure idioms from a cognitive perspective is of significant value, as it enables systematic structural information and extensive extrinsic information of such idioms, thereby ensuring a comprehensive and adequate understanding of their content and meaning.

Keywords: chinese idioms, parallel structure, formal composition, semantic analysis, meaning-acquisition path, internal mechanism, cognitive interpretation.

 

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