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e one hand, a simple study of word classes in Chinese will only draw out some characteristics of Chinese that may not be common with English. However, a comparative study of the two will make it easier to find out more about word classes and the typological characteristics of the two languages, which is conducive to grasping objective linguistic characteristics and their laws in depth. According to Wang (2015), the key to comparative research lies in exploring the similarities and differences between the cognitive mechanisms hidden behind the two language structures. In other words, the comparative study of the word-class category in English and Chinese will also introduce the analysis of surface-level linguistic phenomena into deeper cognitive mechanisms. Comparing the organization of the word-class categories in English and Chinese will allow for a better exploration of cognitive differences between different peoples and a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship among prototype, cognition, and culture. 

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Evolutionary Studies of Word Classes at Home and Abroad

As the basis of grammar, research into word classes has been carried out throughout the development of linguistic studies. In general, three stages can be summarized as the relevant definitions of word classes, the developmental phase (the classification of word classes and its criteria), and current research (the heterosemy of word classes and their application) according to its evolutionary process. 

The concept of “word class” originates from Plato’s term “méros lógou” (Guo, 2012), which primarily refers to the component in the sentence. In Western grammar, there is a counterpart of “word class”, “part of speech”, with a longer history, coming from the Latin “pars orationis” (Si, 2016). The term and its concept are derived from the Greco-Roman tradition (Haspelmath, 2001), and its literal meaning reflects the importance of the Roman-Greek tradition on the composition of words in sentences. “Part of speech” is often regarded as the equivalent of “word class”, while Wälchli (2008) argues that “part of speech” is the result of wordform classification and “word class” is attributed to the categorization of lexemes. Moreover, some scholars working on typology also emphasize that the internal members of “word class” are lexemes rather than wordforms (Alpatov, 1990; Plank, 1997). 

Although Western sinologists published works on Chinese grammar as early as the 18th century, Chinese scholars tend to consider the publication of Mashi Wentong as a sign that Chinese grammar has formally become an independent discipline. “Word class” is the main part of this work, but the discussion is inevitably disturbed by the Indo-European view due to its heavy reliance on Indo-European grammar. Word-class studies in Chinese tend to be defined as “the grammatical classification of words” (Ma, 1983; Lai, 1924; Huang & Liao, 1997; Guo, 2002; Yuan, 2006, etc.), which embodies the consensus of Chinese linguists on the concept of “word class” (Si, 2016).

2.2 Research Tendencies of Word Classes at Home and Abroad

As research into word classes further deepens, great importance has been attached to the form-meaning interaction, highlighting cognitive, cross-language, and corpus-based explorations into word classes. Roughly, this tenden本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。