Conceptual Combination and Modification

概念组合是将来自两个（或多个）概念的信息组合以生成新概念的过程（例如，结合狗和房子以产生狗屋）。概念组合的有趣之处在于：1）它提供了关于单个概念的理论是否充分的信息，在这个意义上，概念理论需要提供基础来解释概念组合，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产生和解释名词短语的上下文中，本研究的最终目标是建立一个更加完整的概念组合关系解释理论。“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释义，例如house FOR a dog，作为doghouse的释义。本项目将通过研究关系解释是如何阐述的，来发展RICE（关系解释竞争性评估）理论（Spalding，Gagné，Mullaly，& Ji，2010）。也就是说，像doghouse这样的组合的完整意义是如何从关系解释中发展出来的。如果组合概念是通过RICE理论中描述的关系过程来解释的，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”，那么阐述就在此基础上进行。另一方面，如果主旨是“有狗的房子”，那么详细说明将完全不同。作为一个简单的例子，一个狗的房子将建议没有门把手，而一个有狗的房子（即，一个有狗的家庭拥有的房子）会暗示门把手的存在。理解细化过程对于创建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.