A Cognitive Approach to the Semantic Change of the Polysemy gàng ‘Wooden Bar’

The semantic meaning of the Chinese word 杠 gàng ‘wooden bar at the front of bed,’ has experienced a long derivational process driven by cognitive mechanisms such as metaphor and metonymy. In this study, we elaborated on the extended meanings of 杠 gàng based on the dictionaries and the corpus data. We have found a tendency of grammaticalization, denominalization, and deterioration of affective connotations for 杠 gàng. Further, we summarized five representative meanings of 杠 gàng and created image schemas respectively to discuss how the new meanings are generated and associated through the cognitive mechanism. With a radial framework of the semantic change of 杠 gàng presented in the end, we reiterate a continuum of metaphor and metonymy through realizations of image schemas and further highlight the interrelations between the cognitive mechanisms.