| Abstract | 第1-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-14页 |
| Introduction | 第14-20页 |
| ·Background and Significance of the Current Study | 第14-15页 |
| ·Objectives of the Current Study | 第15-17页 |
| ·Layout of This Thesis | 第17-20页 |
| Chapter One Literature Review | 第20-32页 |
| ·The Structural Approach to the Existential Sentence | 第20-22页 |
| ·The Generative Approach to the Existential Sentence | 第22-24页 |
| ·The Functional Approach to the Existential Sentence | 第24-28页 |
| ·The Cognitive Approach to the Existential Sentence | 第28-29页 |
| ·Comments on the Previous Researches | 第29-32页 |
| Chapter Two Theoretical Foundation | 第32-42页 |
| ·The Prototype Theory | 第32-36页 |
| ·Definition of the Prototype | 第33页 |
| ·Important Concepts of the Prototype Theory | 第33-36页 |
| ·Prototype Category | 第34-35页 |
| ·Family Resemblance | 第35-36页 |
| ·Metaphor Theory | 第36-40页 |
| ·Conceptual Metaphor Theory | 第37-39页 |
| ·Metaphorical Mapping | 第39-40页 |
| ·Summary | 第40-42页 |
| Chapter Three The Generation and Expansion of the Existential Concept | 第42-66页 |
| ·The Generation of the Existential Concept | 第42-48页 |
| ·Experiential Basis of the Existential Concept | 第43-44页 |
| ·The Existential Concept | 第44-45页 |
| ·Componential Elements of the Existential Concept | 第45-48页 |
| ·The Expansion of the Existential Concept | 第48-59页 |
| ·Prototypes of the Existential Concept | 第49-54页 |
| ·Prototype of the Existential Concept as a Whole | 第49-50页 |
| ·Prototypes of the Conceptual Elements of the Existential Concept | 第50-54页 |
| ·Non-prototypes of the Existential Concept | 第54-59页 |
| ·Non-prototype of the Existential Concept as a Whole | 第55-56页 |
| ·Non-prototypes of the Conceptual Elements of the Existential Concept | 第56-59页 |
| ·The Mechanism and Process of the Expansion of the Existential Concept | 第59-64页 |
| ·Summary | 第64-66页 |
| Chapter Four The Generation and Expansion of the Existential Sentence in English | 第66-86页 |
| ·The Generation of the Existential Sentence in English | 第66-76页 |
| ·The Linguistic Representation of the Existential Concept | 第67-68页 |
| ·The Existential Sentence in English | 第68-76页 |
| ·The Expansion of the Existential Sentence in English | 第76-83页 |
| ·The Prototype of the Existential Sentence in English and Its Syntactic Features | 第76-77页 |
| ·The Non-Prototypes of the Existential Sentence in English and Their Syntactic Features | 第77-83页 |
| ·Summary | 第83-86页 |
| Conclusion | 第86-92页 |
| Bibliography | 第92-96页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第96-98页 |
