A Frame-based Approach to Polysemous Near-synonymy: the Case with Mandarin Verbs of Expression

In this paper, we propose a frame-based approach to polysemy by analyzing three near-synonymous verbs biaoshi (表示), biaoda (表達) and biaolu (表露). Based on Liu and Wu (2004), this paper further discusses the cross-frame phenomena of near-synonyms with a detailed comparison of their syntactic and collocational patterns. It is shown that polysemy among related verbs may be well defined and manifested within the framework of Frame Semantics. In addition, following Liu and Wu’s finding, we also want to further explain the relationship between frames and the mechanism of forming polysemy. Keyword: Frame Semantics, metaphor, metonymy, near-synonymy, polysemy, verbs of Expression. _________________________________________________________________________