The Multi-functions And Semantic Maps Of Qù ‘Go’ In Modern Chinese

Previous studies on qù‘go’in modern Chinese mainly focus on two aspects:one is the static description of its grammar and semantics;the other is the discussion of its grammatical paths,motivations and mechanisms.Few studies have explored the universality and specialty of qù‘go’as a directional verb in modern Chinese or world languages from a cross-dialectal or cross-linguistic perspective.The recent emergence of lexical typology,semantic map and Database of Cross-linguistic Colexifications~3(CLICS~3)has provided new accesses for the cross-linguistic and cross-dialectal research of qù‘go’.With these theories and methods,this thesis first explores the lexical-semantic and grammatical functions of qù‘go’in modern Chinese and then analyzes the colexifications of qù‘go’across Chinese dialects and the concept“GO”in world languages from which the corresponding semantic maps are drawn.This thesis particularly concentrates on three research questions:(1)What are the lexical-semantic functions and grammatical functions of qù‘go’in modern Chinese?(2)How are the conceptual space and semantic maps of qù‘go’constructed in modern Chinese?(3)What are the mechanisms for lexical-semantic extensions of qù‘go’?The findings are given as follows:First,this study explores the cross-linguistic features of the lexical concept GO based on CLICS~3.The result shows that some concepts of GO in different languages,such as COME BACK,have cross-linguistic universality.In contrast,the specialties that qù‘go’reflects in modern Chinese are more ubiquitous.For example,the colexification of the two concepts of ADD and ARRIVE can be found in more than two kinds of Chinese dialects.Based on this,this study constructs the colexification network of the concept of GO in modern Chinese.According to the distribution of the lexical-semantic functions of qù‘go’in each dialect,14 lexical-semantic functions are summarized,such as‘leave the speaker’s location or a specific reference point’,‘remove’and‘lose’,etc.Moreover,four semantic chains are extracted,including(i)‘leave the speaker’s location or a specific reference point’>‘arrive’>‘distance’;(ii)‘leave the speaker’s location or a specific reference point’>‘remove>‘lose’;(iii)‘leave the speaker’s location or a specific reference point’>‘backward reference point’>‘state change’;(iv)‘leave the speaker’s location or a specific reference point’>‘backward reference point’>‘get’.Finally,the conceptual space of the lexical-semantic functions of qù‘go’is constructed.Second,this study summarizes 12 grammatical functions of qù‘go’repeatedly appearing in Mandarin and Chinese dialects,such as the directional complement,the phase complement,the dummy potential complement,etc.,and describes the implicational relationships among different grammatical functions by their conceptual space.Additionally,combining the previous research on the grammatical function of qù‘go’in some dialects with the related achievements of the grammatical change of directional verbs,this thesis constructs a dynamic conceptual space and semantic m.Then it summarizes the grammatical functions of qù‘go’in cross-dialectal change path.Third,using the semantic maps of qù‘go’,this study proposes that the semantic change of qù‘go’across dialects is not chaotic,but driven by cognitive mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy.The metaphorical projection follows the“space>time>state”order and metonymy is realized by profiling different elements in the path schema of qù‘go’.Specifically,the metaphorical extensions of qù‘go’in the spatial domain can be summarized as‘from existence to none’,involving three sub-chains of‘from near to far’,‘from appearance to nothing’and‘from nothing to possession’;the metaphorical extension in the time domain is‘moving time’;the metaphorical extension in the state domain can be summarized as‘entering a new state’.The metonymic extension of qù‘go’involves the fourth chain of its lexical-semantic functions,summarized as‘the profiling of the path schema’.According to the profiled elements of each lexical-semantic function,this study divides the lexical-semantic functions of qù‘go’into five types:source-prominent of qù‘go’event,goal-prominent of qù‘go’event,path-prominent of qù‘go’event,direction-prominent of qù‘go’event and figure-prominent of qù‘go’event.This thesis examines the grammatical and lexical-semantic functions of Chinese directional verbs using lexical typology and the semantic maps model,along with cross-linguistic and cross-dialectal research and analyzes the semantic extensions that lead to these lexical-semantic extensions from the perspectives of conceptual metaphor,metonymy,and image schema.It is of significance for further research on the mechanisms for the development of Chinese directional verbs.