Sentence Patterns And Valency Of Longhui Xiang Dialect

Applying valency theory of sentence patterns to the study of Longhui dialect of Hunan province, this dissertation attempts to give a systematic description and explanation of some common sentence patterns in Longhui dialect. Valency theory of sentence patterns, which regards construction meaning and sentence arguments as attributes of sentence patterns and emphasizes the controlling force of construction meaning upon the valency of sentence patterns, is based on human cognition and universally significant. It is adopted by current cognitive grammarians to study valency.Chapter 1 introduces two orientations/ tendencies in present valency theory: verb valency and sentence pattern valency, with emphasis on the latter, holding that the latter is compatible with our Chinese tradition of stressing sentence pattern study and holistic construction study. Chapter 2 to Chapter 7 analyze in a successive way the following sentence patterns in Longhui dialect: double-object sentences, giving-type sentences, locating-type sentences "chi" sentence, "be? sentences and non-volitional sentences, showing how construction meaning and sentence pattern condition the selection of verbs and sentence arguments.Chapter 2 deals with double-object sentences in Longhui dialect and concludes that the core meaning of this sentence pattern is "getting" instead of "giving1. This meaning is related to the speaker subject. Verbs that can be used in a double-object sentence, are in a semantic continuum, with "getting" in the middle, "giving1 at one end and "losing" at the other. In a typical double-object sentence, the subject has causative characteristic, the patient has quantitative tendency and the dative is the provider.Chapter 3 states that a typical giving-type sentence in Longhui dialect is one in which a prepositional object works as the complement. The action and transference expressed expressed in such sentences are two separate processes. The core meaning of this sentence pattern is"giving" or "transferring". The patient has classifying function and the characteristic of displacement and independent. The dative has the characteristic of volition.Chapter 4 analyzes locating-type sentences: S+V+N+有+L, whose core meaning is "locative/ located existence". In a locating-type sentence where a non-locating verb is used, the location argument cannot be inferred from the verb argument, it is to be generated only through the construction meaning of this sentence pattern. The patient has the characteristic of individualization and the scope of the location word affects the acceptability of the sentence and the selection of the verb.Chapter 5 analyzes chi-type sentences: N,+吃+N2+VP, whose core meaning is "being affected". The semantic category of the subject is to be generalized from construction meaning and sentence arguments. The two sentence arguments in chi-type sentences can be generalized as "affected" argument and "causer" argument. They are related to the speaker subject and the "Idealized Cognitive Model" of the verb, which indicate that the meaning of this sentence pattern is subjective.Chapter 6 analyzes the sentence pattern of "S+把+N+VP", including disposal "ba" sentences and cause "ba" sentences. Formal opposition and connection can be found between them and they are closely related to the volition modality of the verb. In a disposal "ba" sentence, the noun after "ba" can be generalized as "deposed-of". In a cause "ba" sentence, the noun after "ba" can be generalized as "causee", the noun before "ba" as"causer".Chapter 7 holds that the category of volitionality should be studied in combination with sentence patterns. In Longhui dialect, "N+有滴+VP" is a non-volitional sentence pattern whose core meaning is "out of control". It is mono-valence and its sentence argument can be generalized as non-volition argument.Construction meaning plays an important role in sentence pattern analysis and its valency. In comparison with verb argument, sentence argument covers a wider range. All its characteristics result fr...