| The subjective maximum construction,one of the emerging constructions of degree and scale in modern Chinese,refers to a kind of construction that speakers use the maximum expression to deliver their exclamation and evaluation of an object that varies in character,degree or scale.Its concise and novel sentence patterns,rich semantic connotations and unique emotional expression have attracted the attention of scholars.Among them,the bu neng geng x construction not only meets the language expression needs of “New New Generation”,but also reflects people’s deep understanding of the change of linguistic quantity category.At present,only a few domestic scholars have explored the causes and the triggering mechanism of its maximum semantics from the pragmatic level,without independent and closed corpus statistics as support.Besides,few scholars probe into the construction process of the subjective maximum semantics of bu neng geng x construction from the language category itself or from the cognitive level.From the perspective of dynamic categorization theory,this paper takes 441 effective instances retrieved from the Beijing Language and Culture University Corpus(BCC)and Sina Weibo corpora as the research object.By means of qualitative and quantitative methods,together with synchronic description and diachronic analysis,the author examines the semantic features of the bu neng geng x,and tries to expound the construction process of the subjective maximum semantics of each component of bu neng geng x construction as well as the whole construction.The findings are shown as follows:1.The bu neng geng x construction consists of four parts,namely,the fixed terms bu(不),neng(能),geng(更)as well as the variable term x.Among them,geng(更)is a polar degree adverb,which belongs to the“intensifier”of degree;neng(能)is epistemic modality,which means cognitive possibility,while bu neng(不能)refers to subjective evaluation in way that denies the possibility of existence of comparative degree.As for the variable term x,corpus analysis shows that the x that can enters bu neng geng x includes adjectives,psychological verbs,action verbs and a few verb phrases,nouns with prominent connotations as well as few homophones,accounting for 61.7%,9.7%,27.7%and 0.9%of the corpus respectively.Compared with the conventional declarative sentence that expresses the semantics of“having no ability or condition to achieve continuous increment”,the usage of bu neng geng x construction gets rid of the conventional rules of Chinese grammar.It is the unique usage of“using the structure of comparative degree represents the semantics of superlative degree”in modern Chinese,which denotes the highest quantity.In brief,its semantics basically corresponds to“zui(最)x”and“x ji le(极了)”.2.Through the analysis of the semantic features of bu neng geng x construction,it finds that the construction process of its subjective maximum semantics includes the triggering of the maximum semantics,the semantic interaction of each component and the overall construction changes in the combination path of syntactic structure.Firstly,we find that the key trigger condition of the maximum semantics is that neng(能)denoting “objective ability/possibility” is transformed into neng(能)expressing“cognitive possibility or epistemic possibility”.Secondly,with the aid of the four working mechanisms of dynamic categorization theory: metaphor,metonymy,coercion and base/profile,the dynamic evolution of the neng(能)and geng(更)from the diachronic angle,the con-categorization of x as adjectives,the decategorization and trans-categorization of nouns,as well as the decategorization and re-categorization of verbs,combined with the highly aggregation in the whole combination path of syntactic structure,the subjective maximum semantic of bu neng geng x construction is finally generated.The significance of this thesis is mainly embodied in the following four aspects:Firstly,based on the deficiencies of previous studies,this thesis systematically and deeply analyzes the construction process of its semantics from the linguistic category itself and from the cognitive level,it fleshes out bu neng geng x construction.Secondly,by exploring the unconventional rules of modern Chinese that the structure of comparative degree represents the semantics of superlative degree,the credibility and explanatory power of dynamic categorization theory are enhanced.Thirdly,previous studies on quantity category have mainly centered on the study of words,quantifiers and adverbs.In addition,the research on construction,a special quantity category,needs to be further improved.To some extent,it also provides a new perspective for the research of quantity category.Finally,it also offers a reference for the compilation of modern Chinese dictionaries in the future. |
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