关键词: 语义韵, 极量词, 语言量域, 认知机制

Abstract: Based on linguistic corpora, the present makes an attempt to probe into the semantic structures of both “吭声” (kengsheng)cluster and “缄口”(jiankou)cluster as polarity words in Chinese. It is revealed that “吭声” (kengsheng)cluster tends to be used in negative structures while “缄口”(jiankou)cluster in positive structures in Chinese,and it is also found that their corresponding English counterparts are also characterized by both positive structures and negative structures. In fact, it indicates that the positive-negative quantitative continuum as a cognitive mechanism actually governs the alterative construction of positive or negative structures in both Chinese and English. It is hoped that our research will be of help to cognitive linguistics and foreign language teaching and research in China.