Four Kinds Of V/Adj-direction Constructions And Motion Event

From the aspect of the motion event and eventual structure, this dissertation is designed to focus on four kinds of v/adj-direction constructions - v/adj+Shanglai, v/adj+Xialai, v/adj+Shangqu and v/adj+Xiaqu ,with the assistance of the theory of cognitive semantics.One aim of this dissertation is to analyze the conditionality of directional complement on the v/adj, that is, which kind of v/adj can have access to these v/adj-direction constructions, which kind of v/adj can not. The second aim is to analyze the meanings of all these constructions and find out how these different meanings are connected with one another. The third aim is to analyze the symmetry and dissymmetry within directional complements.The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction, where the object and scope of the research are defined, and several relevant concepts, such as event, eventual structure, motion and metaphor are also clarified.Based on the relationship of the open-class form and the closed-class form in a sentence, chapter 2 discusses the conditionality of directional complement on the predicate from the viewpoints of the motion direction and observation position. The results show that the v/adj will not suit the structure if it doesn't have the function of making a thing in motion or if the motion direction or observation position is in conflict with the directional complement.The following chapters from chapter 3 to chapter 6 are devoted to the detailed examination of these four different v/adj-direction constructions and the symmetry and dissymmetry of the related directional complements. The examination finds out that they all can express spatial motion and statal motion. Except for "v/adj+Shanglai" construction, the other three constructions can also express temporal motion. Although these kinds of motion events have their own specific characteristics, they are related to factive motion closely, for fictive motion, statal motion and temporal motion are all evolved from factive motion. Factive motion is more frequently seen than other motions in "v/adj+Shanglai","v/adj+Xialai" and "v/adj+Shangqu" except in the construction of "v/adj+Xiaqu". As for the symmetry and dissymmetry of directional complements, they have different presentation in different motions. The dissymmetry is related to the semantic feature of the predicate and the metaphor meaning of shang and xia.Chapter 7 is the conclusion. In this chapter, the main ideas and contribution of this dissertation is treated. The insufficiencies in this dissertation and the topics to be further discussed are also pointed out.