| Abstract | 第4-5页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-11页 |
| Introduction | 第11-17页 |
| 0.1 Background of the Study | 第11页 |
| 0.2 Objectives of the Study | 第11-13页 |
| 0.3 Organization of the Thesis | 第13-17页 |
| Chapter 1 Literature Review | 第17-35页 |
| 1.1 Previous Studies on English Nouns | 第17-26页 |
| 1.1.1 Classification of English Nouns | 第18-22页 |
| 1.1.2 The Countability of English Nouns | 第22-26页 |
| 1.2 Previous Studies on the Number Category of English Nouns | 第26-32页 |
| 1.2.1 Definition of the Number of English Nouns | 第27-28页 |
| 1.2.2 Singular Number and Plural Number | 第28-32页 |
| 1.3 Summary | 第32-35页 |
| Chapter 2 Theoretical Foundation | 第35-49页 |
| 2.1 The Category Theory | 第35-43页 |
| 2.1.1 Categorization | 第36-38页 |
| 2.1.2 Prototype Categories | 第38-43页 |
| 2.2 The Metaphor Theory | 第43-47页 |
| 2.2.1 Conceptual Metaphor | 第44-46页 |
| 2.2.2 Metaphorical Mapping | 第46-47页 |
| 2.3 Summary | 第47-49页 |
| Chapter 3 The Number of English Nouns as Prototype Category and Its Generation and Expansion | 第49-57页 |
| 3.1 The Number of English Nouns as Prototype Category | 第49-51页 |
| 3.2 The Generation of the Number of English Nouns | 第51-54页 |
| 3.2.1 The Experiential Basis of the Number of English Nouns | 第51-53页 |
| 3.2.2 The Generation Process of the Number of English Nouns | 第53-54页 |
| 3.3 The Expansion of the Number of English Nouns | 第54-56页 |
| 3.4 Summary | 第56-57页 |
| Chapter 4 The Linguistic Representation of the Number of English Nouns as a Prototype Category | 第57-79页 |
| 4.1 The Linguistic Representation of the Singular Number of English Nouns as a Prototype Category | 第57-68页 |
| 4.1.1 The Prototype of the Singular Number and Its Linguistic Representation | 第58-62页 |
| 4.1.2 The Non-Prototype of the Singular Number and Its Linguistic Representation | 第62-68页 |
| 4.2 The Linguistic Representation of the Plural Number of English Nouns as a Prototype Category | 第68-77页 |
| 4.2.1 The Prototype of the Plural Number and Its Linguistic Representation | 第68-73页 |
| 4.2.2 The Non-prototype of the Plural Number and Its Linguistic Representation | 第73-77页 |
| 4.3 Summary | 第77-79页 |
| Conclusion | 第79-83页 |
| Bibliography | 第83-87页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第87-89页 |
