摘要：

本论文以认知语言学为理论基础，从原型范畴理论，隐喻和转喻机制和意象图式理论阐释商务英语一词多义现象，此次设计重在培养学生从词源学角度学习词汇的意识，引导学生正确使用英语字典，从而指导词汇教学。本论文主要摘选构成句子主要成分的动词、名词和在商务英语语料中使用频率最高的介词为例进行具体分析，运用原型范畴理论对实词的语义范畴进行分类并分析各义项之间如何在隐喻和转喻机制下进行转变，再而分析介词如何从空间域映射到其他域从而实现词义的衍生。从具体词汇的词义演变过程和各义项联系分析得知：不论是纸质字典还是网上字典都只是体现词义的罗列功能，并未体现词义的范畴关系和词源基础，大多数词典是对词义的高度概括，对于很多初学者来说并不适用。本论文试图运用原型范畴理论对一个所选词汇进行字典词条编纂加深语义理解。

关键词：商务英语；认知语言学；一词多义；原型范畴；隐喻；转喻

Abstract:

The thesis analyzes the polysemy in business English through Prototype Theory, metaphor and metonymy mechanism, and Image-Schema Theory from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The thesis aims to cultivate English users’ awareness to learn lexis in terms of etymology, make full use of English dictionary correctly and then offer some directions to lexical teaching. The thesis mainly analyzes the content words, verb and noun, and the most frequency usage of preposition, categorizes the semantic categories of the content words and analyzes how the senses realize the transformation of meaning under the background of metaphor and metonymy. In addition the thesis illustrates how the preposition enlarges its semantic category through the mapping from spatial domain to other domains. From the analysis of the derivation process and the inner connections among senses, it is concluded that whether the paper dictionary or the online dictionary, they both just play a function of exhibition which cannot demonstrate the category relations of lexical meanings and the etymological source. Most of dictionaries are the result of a high summarization of lexical meaning which is not available to English beginners. The thesis attempts to compile the lemma of one selected word through Prototype Theory to comprehend lexical meaning profoundly.

Key words: business English; cognitive linguistics; polysemy; prototype category; metaphor; metonymy

1. Introduction
1.1 The purpose and significance of the research
The purpose of the paper is to have business English users make acquaintance with the inner relations of all meanings of a polysemic word as well as the process of meaning derivation. The paper guides English users to value the study of root and etymology and understand how English lexicographers order lemma entry based on family resemblance so that users can make full use of dictionary effectively.