A Cognitive Study Of Ba-construction

As a marked clausal construction, ba-construction has been one of the hot topics in the study of Chinese grammar. The extensive and profound researches on it have been conducted both at home and abroad, and as a result, a large amount of achievements have been made. Meanwhile, cognitive linguistics is on the upswing in the fields of linguistics at home and abroad. It provides us with a new paradigm of linguistic research. But, the application of this theory to the study of clausal constructions is still limited. In view of this, this study attempts to reexamine ba-construction from the perspective of and with the theoretical constructs of cognitive grammar, with the hope of gaining some new findings on the one hand, and making some contribution to the application of this theory with regard to the study of the Chinese clausal constructions, especially, the study of marked clausal constructions on the other hand.The main aim of this study is to abstract the grammatical or linguistic knowledge of ba-construction from the perspective of cognitive grammar, under which to account for ba-construction's semantic construction mechanism, to establish its grammatical network, and to reveal the application of its grammatical knowledge are subsumed specifically.The study consists of eight chapters. Chapter One is an introduction; Chapter Two, literature review; Chapter Three, research hypothesis; Chapter Four, the semantic construction of ba-construction; Chapter Five, Towards the grammatical network of ba-construction; Chapter Six, the grammatical network of ba-construction; Chapter Seven, the application of ba-construction's grammatical knowledge; Chapter Eight, conclusion and outlook.Chapter One is an introduction, mainly concerning the motive, aim, methodology, theoretical perspective, data of the study, and the composition of the dissertation.Chapter Two is literature review, which surveys the previous studies of ba-construction before the research questions are posed. So far as the studies of ba-construction are concerned, the structuralists provided the careful observation and adequate description with regard to its structure; the formalists gave the meticulous description of its generative process; functionalists offered the cogent explanation, while the cognitive study of it is being developed. Admittedly, these studies have deepened our understanding of ba-construction and serve as the reference for our imminent study. However, we notice that some questions are still at issue concerning this construction, and others have drawn little attention to date. For instance, what is the semantics of ba-construction, and its construction mechanism as well? The important role VP plays in ba-construction is widely accepted, yet, what is the motivation for its distribution in ba-construction? Ba-construction is a complex construction, but how are its different varieties are interrelated and interacted? These become the key questions of this study.Chapter Three presents research hypothesis, namely, ba in the construction is a handling verb, whose function is to derive from the post-ba verb the clausal head (ba(V)); ba-construction's grammatical knowledge is a complex network comprising interrelated symbolic units which differ in prototypicality and schematicity .There are always some questions unsolved under the background of ba as a preposition,whereas ba in the construction displays some features of a a verb, and the commonly used standards distinguishing between verbs and prepositions fail to prove that it is a preposition, and therefore, this dissertation postulates that ba in ba-construction is a verb. Its meaning of handling evolves from its original meaning, that is, to hold, to take with hands, or to grasp, both substantive and schematic, reached from the interaction between its original meaning and the requirement for expressing richer meaning.Chapter Four explores construction mechanism of ba-construction's semantics. This chapter begins from the clarification of semantic nature of a clause, and then goes on to the discussion of the relationship between verbs and clauses. Based on this, and within the framework of autonomy/dependence alignment model, the study characterizes the conceptual semantics of, the conceptual relationship between, and the conceptual organization from, individual components in ba-construction, making clear the semantic nature and the mechanism of ba-construction's semantic construction.Autonomy/dependence model is an analytic model of exploring grammatical valence in language use. An autonomous structure refers to an independent semantic or phonological structure whose manifestation does not presuppose the other structure(s), whereas a dependent structure refers to a semantic or phonological structure whose manifestation presupposes the other structure(s). On the basis of autonomy/dependence relationship, autonomy/dependence alighment integrates autonomous and dependent elements into a relatively autonomous composite structure by means of elaboration and profile determinacy.Like other clauses, ba-construction is defined as a linguistic structure that designates a kind of conceptually autonomous process, created through grounding or the elaboration of the participants in a temporal relation. Therefore, the grounded process of (ba(V))is realized through autonomy/dependence alignment. This not only leads to the emergence of ba-construction, but also accomplishes the ba-construction's semantic construction.With its semantic establishment accomplished, ba-construction's semantics can be generalized as follows: the semantics of the prototypical ba-construction is that B undergoes a perfective process designated by V under the handling of A, hereby being in a resultant state; different varieties of ba-construction form a continuum from central to peripheral depending on how far they deviate from the prototype in terms of resultant meaning.Chapter Five lays the groundwork for the characterization of ba-construction's grammatical network. First, an account is given of what usage-based model means; second, a discussion is made on the psychological and cognitive bases on which ba-construction's mental grammar network is constructed; and third, the communicative functions are discussed under the four types of ba-construction. Chapter Six establishes a limited but open network of ba-construction's grammatical knowledge, and explores how the prototypical variety is extended to the peripheral one in the network.To figure out the prototypicality of the varieties of ba-construction, the study posits the different dimensions as the standards for A, B and P in"A ba B-VP", specifically, the dimensions for A and B include their semantic roles in relation to the process designated by post-ba verb and their positions on the scale of empathy, and the dimensions for P cover result, quantity of activity, state of affairs, and tendency. In accordance with these standards, the study detects the total ba-constructions appearing in the three novels of People in Their Middle Age, Family, and A Dream of Red Mansions, and establishes their prototypicality on the different scales of a hierarchy. On this basis, we characterize the network of ba-construction's grammatical knowledge. This network is dynamic in that it resides in neurological activity of human beings, and it is shaped, maintained, and modified by language use.On the different scales of the network, the relationship between the different members is that of prototypical and nonprototypical ones, and the nonprototypical members'extension from prototypical ones is motivated by their commonality or association.Chapter Seven is the application of ba-construction's grammatical knowledge, mainly in respect of the distribution of VP in, and the subjectivity of, ba-construction. The study holds that the sanction of VP is determined by the speaker's use of the corresponding constructional schema in ba-construction's grammatical knowledge network to code the conceptual content based on the event type represented by the post-ba verb. The speaker's expressive intention determines the choice of a ba-construction schema, while the constructional schema makes the requirements for the conceptual content of the event represented by the verb, and the correspondence of conceptual content coded by the ba-construction to that of the event represented by the verb motivates the emergence of a particular ba-construction. The representation of VP is determined not only by the construction's requirements, but also by the semantic features of the verb itself.The nature of subjectivity of a language is a matter of vantage point and role of the conceptualizer in a construal relationship. If the conceptualizer is both the subject and object of concept in a construal relationship, the object of conception, ie. what the linguistic expression designates, is said to be subjective. The subjectivity of ba-construction is generalized as"the speaker conceives of A handling B". The subjectivity is determined by the fact that the vantage point and role that the speaker adjusts in the construal relationship is compatible with ba's attenuated semantics. If the speaker construes the relationship between A and B as that of the handler and the handlee embodied by ba-construction, ba-construction is said to be subjective in terms of the speaker's epistemology.Chapter Eight reaches the conclusion of the dissertation, including the main findings of the study and an outlook for further study.The main findings are reported in five respects. First, ba is a handling verb both substantive and schematic in meaning, whose function is to derive from post-ba verb the clausal head (ba(V)). Second, ba-construction's semantics is represented as a continuum from central to peripheral, with the meaning of result as central. Third, ba-construction's grammatical knowledge is represented as a network comprising the ba-construction's schemas which differ in prototypicality and schematicity. Fourth, the sanction of VP in ba-construction is determined by the construction's communicative function and the semantic features of post-ba verb. Fifth, the subjectivity of ba-construction results from the fact that the vantage point and role the speaker adjusts in the construal relationship is compatible with ba's bleached semantics.The theoretical significance of the study is represented as follows: first, a valuable attempt is made to research into clausal constructions and some inspirations are provided; second, the question concerning ba-construction's semantics and other related questions are handled successfully; third, our understanding is deepened of ba-construction's grammatical knowledge as well as its application.The study is made with its limitations and this plays a role in further research. First, the data coverage needs expanding. Second, a more precise description of grammatical knowledge is expected. Third, a need has not been met for a general and systematic description of the regularities of ba's use from the perspective of cognition.