| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Academic Achievements | 第5-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-9页 |
| List of Figures | 第9-10页 |
| List of Tables | 第10-13页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第13-17页 |
| ·Purpose of the Study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Research Questions | 第14-15页 |
| ·Research Methodology | 第15页 |
| ·Significance of the Study | 第15-16页 |
| ·Organization of the Thesis | 第16-17页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第17-25页 |
| ·Previous Studies on Polysemy Abroad | 第17-20页 |
| ·The Development Types of Lexical Meanings | 第17-19页 |
| ·Cognitive Explanations on Polysemy | 第19-20页 |
| ·Previous Studies on Polysemy at Home | 第20-24页 |
| ·Theoretical Study on Polysemy | 第20-23页 |
| ·Applied Study on Polysemy | 第23-24页 |
| ·Summary | 第24-25页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretical Background | 第25-33页 |
| ·Definition of Context | 第25-27页 |
| ·Three Features of Context of Situation | 第27-28页 |
| ·Relationships between Context of Situation and Text | 第28-32页 |
| ·Transitivity System and Field of Discourse | 第29-30页 |
| ·Mood System and Tenor of Discourse | 第30-31页 |
| ·Theme-information Structure and Mode of Discourse | 第31-32页 |
| ·Summary | 第32-33页 |
| Chapter Four Dynamic Evolution of the Polysemous-word Meanings | 第33-44页 |
| ·Introduction to the New Model | 第33-37页 |
| ·The Vine-like Model and Four Biological Features | 第33-34页 |
| ·Cases Study | 第34-37页 |
| ·Application of the New Model | 第37-43页 |
| ·Lexical Meanings on Noun “face” | 第37-39页 |
| ·The Statistics Based on Brown Corpus | 第39-41页 |
| ·The Vine-like Model of Noun “face” | 第41-43页 |
| ·Summary | 第43-44页 |
| Chapter Five Impetus of the Polysemous-word Meanings | 第44-55页 |
| ·Context Affecting the Evolution of Polysemous Meanings | 第44-48页 |
| ·Internal Force and External Force | 第44-45页 |
| ·Context’s Three Features | 第45-47页 |
| ·Summary | 第47-48页 |
| ·Three Functions of Context | 第48-53页 |
| ·Choosing the Right Meaning | 第48-50页 |
| ·Restricting the Ambiguous Meaning | 第50-51页 |
| ·Generating the New Meaning | 第51-53页 |
| ·Summary | 第53-55页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第55-58页 |
| ·Major Findings of the Study | 第55-56页 |
| ·Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Further Study | 第56-58页 |
| References | 第58-62页 |
