| The category of spatial relations is the meta-category of all semantic categories,and it is one of the most basic cognitive categories of human cognition.The “V + spatial words” constructions can represent the basic motion events.At present,researches on spatial relations mainly focus on the exploration of their syntactic patterns or semantic features,and thus interpreting spatial relations at the interface of syntax and semantics will provide a complete investigation of spatial constructions.Based on previous studies on spatial constructions,this study collects “V + in” and “V + out” constructions which are the first 100 frequently used in spoken corpus of the Corpus of Contemporary American English,attempting to combine Talmy’s motion event-frames with Goldberg’s Construction Grammar Theory to explore the meanings of “V + in/out”constructions by referring to Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary and then explain the cognitive mechanisms underlying meaning extensions.By adopting introspective method and corpus-based approach,this study aims to provide cognitive interpretation for spatial constructions that represent motion events,and thus to answer the following three research questions:1.What are the experiential groundings of “V + in/out” constructions?2.What are the central meanings and extended meanings of “V + in” and “V +out” construction respectively?3.How do constructional meanings of “V + in” and “V + out” extend?On further analysis of selected data,it is found that:1.By introducing image schemas,the concept of trajector and landmark,it is concluded that the experiential groundings of “V + in/out” constructions are intimately related to our own body.2.Combining the central image schema for “in” and “out” with semantic analysis of verb features in constructions,this study concludes the central senses and extended senses of “V + in/out” constructions.More specifically,the extended meanings of “V +in” construction are formed based on the central sense being located in the landmark.According to Tyler’s exploration to semantics of “in”,this study concludes six types of extended meanings of “V + in” construction,namely,the in situ sense,the arrival sense,the activity sense,the state sense,the disappearance sense and the reflexive sense.Parallel with the analysis of “V + in” construction,the central sense and extended senses of “V + out” construction are concluded.The central sense of “V + out” construction is not being located in the landmark;and the extended meanings are listed as follows: the not in situ sense,the appearance sense,the knowing sense,the completion sense,the activity sense,the no more sense and the reflexive sense.Furthermore,the impact of verb semantic features on constructional meanings of “V + spatial words” is investigated.It is found that verbs influence the number of extended meanings in that verbs contain the manner of motion tend to have less extended meanings because this semantic component constrains the usage of verbs in different contexts.3.In the analysis of constructional meaning extensions,it is noticed that some cognitive mechanisms play significant roles.The principle of prominence contributes to the attention distribution and salience of trajectors or landmarks.Conceptual metaphors and metonymies make describing events across and within cognitive domains possible.Specifically,the CONTAINER metaphor and metonymies related to events play vital roles in constructional meaning extensions.To conclude,this study is of significance in theoretical enrichment and practical employment.Theoretically,it enriches the cognitive analysis of syntactic representation of motion events and contributes to the combination of motion event-frames and Construction Grammar Theory.Practically,it may provide some guidance for second language teachers and learners in the teaching and acquisition of verb-particle constructions. |
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