| Acknowledgement | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract | 第4-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-11页 |
| Contents | 第11-14页 |
| A List of Tables and Figures | 第14-15页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第15-19页 |
| ·Research Background | 第15-16页 |
| ·Research Objectives | 第16-17页 |
| ·Significance of the Present Study | 第17-18页 |
| ·Organization of the Thesis | 第18-19页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第19-27页 |
| ·Aristotle's Classical View | 第19页 |
| ·Semantic Point of View | 第19-20页 |
| ·Pragmatic Point of View | 第20-22页 |
| ·Interactionist Point of View | 第22-24页 |
| ·Other Studies of Metaphor Adopting the Cognitive Approach | 第24-27页 |
| Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework of this Study | 第27-45页 |
| ·Cognitive Linguistics | 第27-33页 |
| ·The Theory of Prototypes and Basic-level Categories, and the Principle of Family Resemblances | 第27-29页 |
| ·Philosophical Foundation: Experiential Realism | 第29-30页 |
| ·Cognitive Semantics | 第30-31页 |
| ·Three Approaches in Cognitive Linguistics | 第31-33页 |
| ·The Cognitive Approach to Metaphor | 第33-38页 |
| ·The Cognitive View on Metaphor and Its Internal Structure | 第33-36页 |
| ·The Experiential Grounding of Conceptual Metaphors | 第36-37页 |
| ·Classification of Metaphor | 第37-38页 |
| ·Image Schemas, Spatial Metaphors and Prepositions | 第38-45页 |
| ·Image Schemas | 第39-42页 |
| ·Definition and Internal Structure | 第39-40页 |
| ·Function of Image Schemas | 第40-41页 |
| ·Image Schemas and Invariance Principle | 第41-42页 |
| ·Spatial Metaphors and Prepositions | 第42-45页 |
| Chapter 4 Research Methodology | 第45-52页 |
| ·Research Questions | 第45页 |
| ·The Corpus | 第45-49页 |
| ·Lexicographical Data | 第45-47页 |
| ·Corpus Data | 第47-48页 |
| ·The Synopsis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | 第47-48页 |
| ·The Synopsis of the Da Vinci Code | 第48页 |
| ·The Concordancing Tool: ConcApp | 第48-49页 |
| ·Data Collection and Classification | 第49-52页 |
| ·Working Principles | 第49-50页 |
| ·Procedures of Data Collection and Classification | 第50-52页 |
| Chapter 5 Results and Discussion | 第52-84页 |
| ·Distinct Senses of the Preposition IN in Lexicographical Data | 第52-53页 |
| ·The Prototypical Sense and Image Schema of the Preposition IN | 第53-57页 |
| ·Criteria for Defining the Prototypical Sense | 第53页 |
| ·Analysis of the Prototypical Sense of the Preposition IN | 第53-55页 |
| ·The Prototypical Image Schema of the Preposition IN | 第55-57页 |
| ·Analysis of Spatial Meanings of the Preposition IN | 第57-63页 |
| ·One-dimensional, Two-dimensional and Three-dimensional Space | 第57-59页 |
| ·Static Inclusion vs. Dynamic Inclusion | 第59-63页 |
| ·Static Inclusion | 第59-61页 |
| ·Dynamic Inclusion | 第61-63页 |
| ·Analysis of Metaphorical Extensions of the Preposition IN in Corpora Data | 第63-82页 |
| ·Three Dimensions of Metaphorical Extensions of IN | 第63-65页 |
| ·The General Picture of the Basic Dimension of Metaphor of IN | 第65-70页 |
| ·The Domain of DIRECTIONS | 第66-67页 |
| ·The Domain of BODY PARTS | 第67-68页 |
| ·The Domain of ENVIRONMENT | 第68-69页 |
| ·The Domain of MEDIA | 第69-70页 |
| ·The General Picture of the Mid-dimension of Metaphor of IN | 第70-80页 |
| ·The Domain of TIME | 第71-72页 |
| ·The Domain of MANNER | 第72-74页 |
| ·The Domain of STATE | 第74-75页 |
| ·The Domain of FIELD | 第75-76页 |
| ·The Domain of EVENT | 第76-78页 |
| ·The Domain of PURPOSE | 第78-79页 |
| ·The Domain of GROUP | 第79-80页 |
| ·The General Picture of the High Dimension of Metaphor of IN | 第80-82页 |
| ·Summary | 第82-84页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第84-89页 |
| ·Major Findings | 第84-86页 |
| ·Implications of the Present Study | 第86-87页 |
| ·Implications for English Teaching | 第86-87页 |
| ·Implications for Lexicography | 第87页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions | 第87-89页 |
| Bibliography | 第89-97页 |
| Appendix Ⅰ Samples of Corpus Data | 第97-113页 |
| Appendix Ⅱ Papers Published During MA Study | 第113-114页 |
