A Cognitive Semantic Study On The Modern Japanese Container-oriented Verbs

The present study is a cognitive study of the semantic category of container-oriented verbs in modern Japanese.Container-oriented verbs are classified according to the cognitive experience of three-dimensional space and time dimension.They refer to verbs,such as????,?????,?????,?????,????,which have container-oriented semantic features and express events in and out of the container.Different from the other types of verbs in Japanese,container-oriented verbs have unique semantic features.This study consults the newest research results in Japanese linguistics research field and takes new linguistic theories and research methods.Based on the image schema theory,frame semantic theory,construction grammar theory and event structure theory,this study defines the category and the sub-classification of modern Japanese container-oriented verbs,and builds the theoretical framework and verb system of modern Japanese container-oriented verbs.Making use of Japanese corpora,description and explanation,induction and deduction,this dissertation analyzes the image schema features,semantic frame elements and structures,semantic features and syntactic representations of Japanese container-oriented verbs.It also summarizes the cognitive foundation of semantic generation of verbs and the general rules of semantic elements projecting onto syntax.This study comes to the following conclusions.By using the relative reference frame as the reference standard,and based on the position-relationship between the object and the container,modern Japanese container verbs express the different states when objects come in and go out of the container at different times.They have container-inside-oriented semantic features.In the language expression,people's perception of the event often follows the time and behavior development order.The selection of verbs and syntactic forms depends on the different aspects of the event that attract people,i.e.perspectives affect people's expression of states.�Destination-oriented container verbs� are used to describe the event that the speakers focus on the process of the object in and out of the container.They are verbs that describe the object's position change from the outside to the inside of the container under its own or external force,with the destination pointing to the inside and changing the inside state of the container.The semantic features of the verbs are boundedness,position and shape changes,with their destinations pointing to the container or its metaphoric object.The priority selection order of the case markers denoting destinations is???form >???form >????form.According to the nature of force,the verbs can be classified as self-moving agent verbs and causative moving patient verbs,with obvious position change of the moving objects.The changes of the inside state of the container are often implicit,and they can emerge in the sentence according to the need of context.�Inside-oriented container verbs� are used to describe the state of the focused objects when they are inside the container.They represent the change of state from non-existance to existance or from existance to non-existance,and the increase or decrease of the amount.The most obvious semantic characteristic of the verb is the quantitative characteristic,accroding to which verbs are divided into relatively static verbs and relatively dynamic verbs.The quantitative characteristic influences the structure of sentenses.When the amount of the inner objects reaches the maximum?full?or the minimum?none?,the container will be prominent and the nominal elements representing the container will be considered the subject of the sentence.When the amount of the inner objects is between the maximum and the minimum,the object inside the container will be prominent and the nominal elements representing the objects will be considered the subject of the sentence.�Origin-oriented container verbs� are used to describe the state of the focused objects when they move under their own force or the external force,from the inside of the container to the outside,with the inside as the starting point,thus changing the inside state of the container.The prominant properties of these verbs are the container or its metaphorical object as the starting point of motion,the change of location and the change of state.The priority case marker that expresses the starting point is the????form.According to the nature of the force and the causative semantic feature,verbs can be divided into causative motion verbs,causative change-of-state verbs,non-causative motion verbs and non-causative change-of-state verbs.The location change is obvious for the causative motion verbs and the non-causative motion verbs.There are case markers????form and???form in the sentence,representing the starting point and the ending point separately.The state change is obvious for the causative change-of-state verbs and non-causative change-of-state verbs,not highlighting motion.�Reflexive container-oriented verbs� have reflexive feature.Choosing???as the object can reflect the cycle of the energy transferred from the agent to the patient and then back to the agent.When the action involves two participants,the patient moves out of or into the agent.When the action involves one participant only,the patient is the product or the belongings of the agent,and it does not contain motion.Although the syntactic projection formats of the above two cases are the same,?^?/?^?V?,in the latter case,the nominal elements in???,with the verbs followed,often form closely related phrases or idioms.This study conducts a case study on the polysemous verb?????,demonstrating its semantic features of the container-inside-orientation and container-origin-orientation and its dynamic changes in the sentential types,and expounding the transformation of the structure?N₁+????+N₂?from the original structure?N₂?Y??/? N₁?X?? V?,and the changing process of the verb??????from the event category to the attribute category.At present,the semantic research into Japanese verbs based on container image schemas has not formed a perfect system.Although there are many case studies on verbs like????,there is still a long way to go.This study constructs the system framework of verbs that express events in and out of the container,trying to find the semantic features of verbs and their projection rules from people's cognitive experience,so as to supplement the present semantic theories of Japanese verbs.