This paper is intended to delve into the dynamics of Japanese TE-SHIMAU in semanticsfrom the perspectives of cognitive linguistics and semiotics. Specifically, it aims to observe how human beings manage to use languages to express an infinite variety of ideas by applying a definite number of signs. It lays emphasis on how Japanese verbal SHIMAU changes to TE-SHIMAU as a compound verb in the process of grammaticalization through metonymy and semiotics.