Dynamic And Displacement Event Expression

Taking departure as the vector of Verb Directional Construction (VDC) patternV[LEAVING], this present study aims to discuss a series of issues on the relationshipbetween VDC and dynamic events, especially the motion events, in Modern Chinese;and aims to explore semantic evolution of the directional complements in differentVDC patterns drawing on Talmy’s Framing-Event theory. Discussion mainly involvesthe following aspects:1) distinctive features and differential event structures oftypical and atypical motion expressions;2) categories of motions events on the basisof characteristics of the motion path;3) different verb types as event constitutes inmotion events;4) windowing of attention in motion event frame;5) aspectualfeatures and meanings in motion events;6) the relationship between directionalcomplements and different motion events;7) the selection-restriction mechanism ofpredicate verbs in different motion expressions.This paper includes eight chapters:Chapter One offers a brief introduction to the whole study.Chapter Two presents a global review of previous theories and assumptions onModern Chinese spatial motion expressions in order to clarity the relatedcontroversial problems and puts forward the following ideas:1) Using the viewpointof continuum to deal with the expressions of space-shifting movement events;2)Examining the differences of motion expressions in the way of dividing languageconstructions into different types in motion event frame rather than regarding thestudied language as a whole;3) Formulating a modal of motion expressions includingthe motion events, constitutes and parameters, the window of attention in a motionevent frame and the perspective point in a motion event frame in accordance withthe Talmy’s Cognitive Semantics.4) Distinguishing the types of motion events, such asshifting and non-shifting, real and virtual, internal dynamics and external dynamics,automatic and non-automatic (autonomous and non-autonomous), telic and atelic,boundary-crossing and non boundary-crossing;5) Dividing Chinese motion verbs intothree categories: the path verb, the direction verb and the causal verb and establishing the correspondence between the verb patterns and the displacement ofsubject/object in motion events.Chapter Three focuses on the study of VDC pattern V[CHU] in motion eventframe adopting Prototype Theory and Talmy’s Core Schema Theory. The expressionsof V[CHU] pattern are classified into three categories and five sub-categories inmotion event frame; and the subtle differences of V[CHU] pattern are analyzed interms of syntactic, semantic, cognitive and information conveying aspects. Roughly,V[CHU] pattern can be identified as typical modal and atypical modal. And furtherthe semantic marker of [CHU] in V[CHU] pattern can be explained at the startingpoint, or the ending point, or any processing point of the continuum.Chapter Four discusses the types of VDC pattern V[CHU] in motion event frameand the syntactic feature of the directional complement [CHU] in V[CHU] pattern. Inthe light of Prototype Theory, a motion event, as a prototype, is hierarchical. Fromthe perspective of cognitive semantics, the shifting event and the realization eventshould be put on the two poles of event continuum and the changing event be put inthe transitional zone of the continuum. Therefore, the trace of semantic evolutionand the selection-restriction mechanism of the directional complement [CHU] inV[CHU] pattern are respectively acquired.Chapter Five summarizes the syntactic characteristics of [QILAI] in differenttypes of VDC pattern V[QILAI] on the basis of Talmy’s Event Synthesis Theory, andcompares the situational features of predicate verb V in VDC pattern V[QILAI] bycontemporary Situational Feature theories.Chapter Six, on the basis of previous studies, is concerned with the event typesand the traces of semantic evolution of Modern Chinese VDC pattern V[KAI]. Themajor findings are (1) the directional complement [KAI] has the feature of vectordeparture and its semantic meaning of [KAI] is just “leaving” without any underlinedmeaning of directions;(2) the perspective point could be the stating point or theending point of the scene in motion event frame of V[KAI] pattern;(3) syntacticfeatures of different types of V[KAI] pattern are closely related with the semantictraces of VDC pattern V[KAI];(4) the selection-restriction mechanism of predicate verb V in V[KAI] pattern is described in terms of its natural semantic feature andsituational type.Chapter Seven analyzes the vector departure in VDC V [CHU], V [QILAI], and V[KAI]; discusses the differences of the three motion patterns in the eventconstruction and event types; and explores the semantic traces of the threedirectional complements:[CHU],[QILAI],[KAI]. The focus lies in the specificdistinctions of the three VDC patterns in expressing the shifting event and therealization event.Chapter Eight is the conclusion of the present study. Limitations and suggestionsfor future researches will be pointed out.