Phenomenon And Manifestation Of Dummy Verbs Decategorization In Modern Chinese

Dummy verb is a special linguistic phenomenon in Chinese. They are common in ourdaily life, in term of quantity, dummy verbs in Chinese only accounts for a small part, butit is widely and frequently used in almost all situations. The meanings of dummy verbs areweakened and nearly vanished in actual use. On most occasions, they are only used assentence structures or figure of speech. In broad sense, all verbs that have beendelexicalized can be listed as dummy verbs. In narrow sense, dummy verbs only refer tothe verbs that can form verb-object structure with another verb. The thesis mainlydiscusses dummy verbs in their narrow sense, namely, they are followed by verbs to formverb-object phrases. The meanings of dummy verbs fall on their subsequent verbs, forexample,“进行”，“从事”，“加以”and so on.The thesis firstly retrospects the domestic and foreign studies on dummy verbs anddecategorization in a diachronic and synchronic way, and then, it respectively discusses thegenesis of decategorization theory, the relationship between the categorization anddecategorization of dummy verbs, as well as the features and significance ofdecategorization. Then, the relevant theories about dummy verbs are briefly reviewed,including their address, concept, scope and the criteria that determine the scope of dummyverbs. On this basis, this author introduces the decategorization of dummy verbs in modernChinese, namely, the shift from verbs to nouns, adverbs and prepositions. To illustrate thedecategorization of dummy verbs, the author takes “进行”，“从事”，“做”and“作”，“加以”and“给予”for example making a diachronic investigation into dummy verbs andanalyzes their usage. Under the Influences of syntax and discourse, we can see that thefunctions of dummy verbs may be weakened, amplified or shifted. Finally, this authorillustrates the manifestation of decategorization in dummy verbs.In modern Chinese, with the method of combination of research of dummy verbs anddecategorization, the author found that the decategorization of dummy verbs mainlyreflected in the loss of the attribute of verb and its function transferring to adverbs, nounsand prepositions. Due to the weakness of semantics of verb, which really expresses themeaning is the following verb. And in modern Chinese, dummy verbs are characterized bydiversity and versatility. Meanwhile, it is often manifested in pragmatics, semantics and syntax. In pragmatics, the functions of verbs are extended. Their categories are shifted. Insemantics, their meanings are lost, transferred, which become abstract and generalized. Insyntax, verbs act as predicate with their subsequent verbs, or act as attribute. Yet theattribute function tends to be weakened. From the perspective of theory, the thesis is basedon the decategorization theory in cognitive grammar to describe characteristics and usageof dummy verb in modern Chinese, and then discusses the causes, mechanisms and itsconstraints of dummy verb. It enables us to verify the possibility of application of dummyverbs into modern Chinese grammar, thereby, to further the theory of dummy verb.Dummy verb is s subject that worth delving into, the author makes a comparison ofmeaning, sentence structure and discourse between pre-decategorization andpost-decategorization. Figuring out the feature and usage of dummy verbs can not onlyenrich the use of language, but also promote the development of the discipline; meanwhile,this thesis has made necessary contributions to the development of modern Chinesegrammar and the studies of standardization of speech. It will also serve as a modest spur toinduce people to come forward with valuable contributions to the development of thissubject.