Xunzi is Not a Chief Chinese Representative of Arbitrariness Theory:A Reflection Based on Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics
The argument regarding iconicity and arbitrariness in language has a long history.The increasing popularity of Cognitive Linguistics and Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics has led scholars to widely accept the former.Following the introduction of Saussure's concept of arbitrariness in his Structuralist Linguistics to our country,some scholars intended to find an ancestral sage for support,with Xunzi's saying"there is no unique way of naming..."in the article"On the Correct Use of Names"being selected as evidence.This led to Xunzi being assumed to be a main Chinese representative of arbitrariness theory.However,after having studied and analyzed Xunzi's article for years,we have found that this assumption is seriously misguided,as his article was a precursor of his early view of embodied cognition and iconicity that is currently proposed by Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics.In this paper,we attempt to criticize this misconception from five aspects in order to ensure a correct understanding of Xunzi.Thus,we propose the research principle"I think therefore I speak".
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