Conceptual Combination and Modification

概念组合是将来自两个（或更多）概念的信息组合以生成新概念的过程（例如，将狗和房子组合以生成狗屋）。概念组合的有趣之处在于：1)它提供了关于单个概念理论的充分性的信息，也就是说，概念理论需要为解释概念组合提供基础；2)它提供了关于语言系统和概念系统之间关系的信息，因为许多概念组合发生在名词短语的产生和解释的背景下；3)它为复合词的创造提供了基础，这是许多语言中常见的过程。这个研究项目的最终目标是创造一个更完整的概念组合的关系解释理论。“关系解释”指的是这样一个事实，即概念组合经常使用关系链接来解释，例如，将“house FOR a dog”解释为“doghouse”。该项目将通过研究如何阐述关系解释来发展RICE（关系解释竞争评价）理论（Spalding, gagn<s:1>, Mullaly, & Ji, 2010）。也就是说，像doghouse这样的组合的完整含义是如何从关系解释中发展出来的。如果通过RICE理论中描述的关系过程来解释组合的概念，那么阐述必须从要点出发。例如，考虑像doghouse这样的组合。如果主旨是“狗的房子”，那么详细阐述将在此基础上进行。另一方面，如果主旨是“有狗的房子”，那么详细阐述的过程就会大不相同。举个简单的例子，一个养狗的房子意味着没有门把手，而一个养狗的房子（也就是说，一个养狗的家庭拥有的房子）意味着有门把手。理解细化过程对于创建一个完整的概念组合理论至关重要。

Conceptual combination is the process of combining information from two (or more) concepts to generate a new concept (e.g., combining dog and house to generate doghouse). Conceptual combination is interesting in that 1) it provides information about the adequacy of theories of individual concepts, in the sense that theories of concepts need to provide the underpinnings to account for conceptual combination, 2) it provides information about the relation between the language system and the conceptual system, because much conceptual combination occurs in the context of producing and interpreting noun phrases, and 3) it provides the basis for the creation of compound words, a common process in many languages.The ultimate goal of this research project is the creation of a more complete theory of relational interpretation of conceptual combinations. "Relational interpretation" refers to the fact that conceptual combinations are often paraphrased using relational links such as house FOR a dog, as the paraphrase for doghouse. This project will develop the RICE (Relational Interpretation Competitive Evaluation) theory (Spalding, Gagné, Mullaly, & Ji, 2010), by investigating how relational interpretations are elaborated. That is, how does the full meaning of a combination like doghouse develop from the relational interpretation. If combined concepts are interpreted via the relational process described in the RICE theory, then the elaboration must proceed from the gist. For example, consider a combination like doghouse. If the gist is "house for a dog" then the elaboration proceeds on that basis. On the other hand, if the gist was "house that has a dog" then the elaboration would proceed quite differently. As a simple example, a house for a dog would suggest no doorknobs, while a house that has a dog (i.e., a house owned by a family that has a dog) would suggest the presence of doorknobs. Understanding the elaboration process is critical to creating a complete theory of conceptual combination.