A Study Of Action Verbs And Patient-subject Sentences In Modern Chinese

The action of the different action verbs varies in strength. The action characteristic of an action verb will be strengthened or weakened when the verb is combined with other words. This case directly affects the semantic roles labeling of the related nominal components, even affects the analysis of the sentence semantic types.This dissertation researches the action verbs and their action expressions in modern Chinese. The analysis of the patients and the patient-subject sentences is a sample on how the action variation of the verbs affects the semantic roles labeling and the analysis of the sentence semantic types.This dissertation includes two parts: the analysis of the action verbs(Chapter 1, Chapter 2) and the analysis of the patient and the patient-subject sentences.Chapter 1 describes the semantic features of the "action", explain the main grammar features of the action verbs, make an action verbs list in modern Chinese; analyze the basic action verbs, and the other action verbs which develop on this foundation, extend the meanings, and vary in strength.Chapter 2 points out the action degree of an action verb is different in practical use. The combinations of the verb and its pre-components or post-components could activate or cover the action of the verb in verb structures. The verbs and the verb structures also vary their capacities to express the action meanings in different contexts and different combination conditions.Chapter 3 convinces that the patient role is assigned by an action verb and an action verb or a strong-action verb structure is the condition to determine a patient role. So the analyses about the patient and the patient-subject sentences in some works have no sufficient reasons and need to be reinterpreted, because the action of the related verb structures has been weakened or lost. Chapter 3 insists the view of the Case grammar that every case relation appears only once in a simple sentence, and chapter 3 does not support the opinion of expanding the extension of the patient.Chapter 4 tries to reinterpret and reclassify the Chinese sentences( including the patient-subject sentences) according to the statements about the event, the fact and the mind in the philosophy of language and the semantics, and according to the meaning-expression functions of the sentences.It is worth noting in every chapter:Chapter 1, verbs or verb structures are the key to determine patient roles. The action of the different verbs is either strong or weak. The movements of the limbs or body are the basic movements, then the movements extend to the following movements: the expanding movements with tools, methods and materials, the coordination movements with the different limbs or several agents, the combined movements with the several actions in succession, integrated movements with the several synchronous actions, and general movements of the abstract meaning in the further.In Grammar, relating to the agent, the action verbs possess the autonomous controllable characteristics. The action verbs can bring in the instruments, ways and methods, they can be combined with the nouns that mean patient, materials or result. A few of them can be reduplicated, used in a imperative sentence, and linked to the different tenses.Time is the key to decide the action of a verb is strong or not. The typical action verbs can be limited by "zai, zheng, zhengzai". The action of a present continuous activities is the strongest. As a natural language, "now" in modern Chinese may be the short moment(3 seconds) by Ernst Poppel, a German psychologist, also may last a time duration, even a period. Generally speaking, the shorter the activity lasts, the stronger the action is. There are two persistent statuses of the actions: some activities last in time, and the instantaneous actions repeated multiple times.Chapter 2, the action of the verbs varies in practice use. On the one hand, a verb deviates from its dictionary definition and show a relatively broad, metaphorical and abstract usage in the context; even these cases also impact on the show of the action of the verb that the verb is combined with different nouns, or the nouns in this combination appears in different positions. On the other hand, the action degrees of a V and its VP probably are not the same. Ding Shengshu etc.(1961) pointed out that the predicates in patient-subject sentences are not only a verb, there are some other parts in front and behind usually. The statements were quoted in recent years, but didn’t have a due conclusion: the action of the verb structures are strengthened or weakened by the influences of the pre-components or post-components of the verb. It’s VP to assign the noun at the beginning sentence to the patient role when VP act as the predicate, not V. So in "N+VP" "N1+N2+VP", the patient membership degrees of N, N1 or N2 vary when the action of the VP is weaker than V, in this case, it requires careful consideration that "N+VP" "N1+N2+VP" are patient-subject sentences.Chapter 3, Mr. Lu Shuxiang is the first man who analyzed the patient role in Chinese. Mr. Ding Shengshu gave clear opinion of patient-subject sentences. Now, the research of the patient and the patient-subject sentence have new perspectives under the influence of Fillmore and Dowty etc, and encounter some questions to explore further. For example, 1.What assigns the patient role? Is the reason strong enough when we consider a subject-predicate sentence as a patient-subject sentence which predicate isn’t an action verb, or is an action verb with seriously weakened action(even vanished completely)? 2. How to define the scope of "patient" ? The semantic roles, such as result, dative, instrumental, locative, source, destination, could be regarded as the "broad patients" ? This paper proposes that the scope of patient could not be broadened, a subject-predicate sentence with non-verb predicate could not be regarded as a patient-subject sentence; and the reason is not strong enough when we consider a subject-predicate sentence as a patient-subject sentence which the action of VP in predicate has weakened seriously.Lu Jianming(2004) summarized 4 groups of 8 sentences(including some patient-subject sentences) as the structure "carrying capacity—carrying ways—carried capacity", which sentences have the similar structure and the different semantic roles of nouns in the same position. This conclusion brings the discussion that how to classify sentences including patient-subject sentences. We should follow Mr. Lu, and do some adjustment.Chapter 4, focus on the relationship between "events, facts and minds" and the high-level semantics by Zhu Dexi(1990b). The statements by philosophers and semanticists are more general, grammarians pay attention to the structures of sentences. Both of them could be united: events are in progress, facts are done, minds have no relation to a certain tense, from tenses perspective.Hierarchical types are important to determine the types of sentences. We should determine the highly general types firstly, then sub-types, and basic types finally. Lu Jianming(2004) summarized 4 groups of 8 sentences as one type. In fact, 3 groups of 6 sentences among them are one type(verbs are passive tense), the other 1 group of 2 sentences is one type(verbs is not a certain tense). The structure "carrying capacity—carrying ways—carried capacity" expresses the evaluation of capacity. It is a lower type in "mind sentences". The 1 group of 2 sentences in no certain tense should be in "mind sentences"(evaluation sentences of capacity, in further), the 3 groups of 6 sentences in passive tense should be in "fact sentences".The conclusion is the extraction and supplement of the whole dissertation. The action of the different verbs varies in strength. The action of verbs could be activated or covered in contexts. The Case grammar insists on researching propositions, verbs and nouns in different cases excluding modalities. In fact, quite a few modalities influence on the action of the verbs, and then limit the verb ability to assign a noun to the patient role. So modalities should not be excluded.The deficiencies of the dissertation are pointed out at the end of the conclusion. There are two points. The research of this dissertation is insufficient and need to be studied deeply, because we have to try to have a discussion according to the typical action verbs,since we cannot have a clear outside boundary of action verbs. The transitional zone has yet to be supplemented which is from "event sentences, fact sentences and mind sentences" to particular grammatical types of sentences by grammarians. We collected more than 500 patient-subject sentences, and classified them in their types. It proves it is feasible to have a hierarchical types. But the classification is yet a enumerative way. How to build middle types and more concrete types, it is expecting for further research.