Subjectification And Syntax-Semantics Interface In Near-Synonymous Constructions In Modern Mandarin

Pairs of near-synonymous constructions,which differ slightly on their syntactic forms,prevail in all human languages such as the dative alternation in English,the left-dislocation vs.topical sentences in Mandarin,and etc.Vast research have been carried out under different theoretical framework of linguistics:Generative Linguists show much interest in formal features of two near-synonymous constructions and intend to uncover which construction is much closer to the deep structure through efforts in capturing the semantic structure of a verb;linguists on Function-discourse analysis work primarily on pragmatic differences in near-synonymous pairs,with a special focus on the way that information are packed and delivered in each construction.Despite valuable research on those pairs in different languages,a systematic analysis to the overall image is by far an urgent task.In line with Langacker's approach to subjectification in the theoretic framework of Cognitive Linguistics,this study sets out to explore the cognitive mechanism behind the dynamicity of conceptual structures that found in near-synonymous pairs.Cognitive Linguists view language as a basic cognitive faculty among human being,take not only interior but also exterior factors of language use into consideration,and never stop exploring what works behind similar uses.It needs to be mentioned as a crucial point in Cognitive framework that in which natural languages,in their structure and their normal manner of operation,a speaker is always provided with some 'tools' to express himself and of his own attitudes and beliefs.This is why subjectivity and subjectification in language has drawn much attention so far and it is very likely to be a possible solution to all near-synonymous pairs in human language.Under two theoretical frameworks of Cognitive Linguistics and Construction Grammar,this thesis aims at an objective description with a thorough analysis of near-synonymous constructions in modern Mandarin.Four research questions are addressed as follows:1)Research question 1:What can be told about conceptual structures when one of two synonymous constructions with slightly different syntactic forms is preferred in given contexts?2)Research question 2:How does the dynamicity in conceptualization affect the performance of syntactic elements in each synonymous pair in general?3)Research question 3:How to analyze self-imprint in the selected construction from a speaker's choice between a near-synonymous pair?4)Research question 4:Is there any contributions after studies from this thesis to the current theory?Four pairs of near-synonyms in modern Mandarin have been investigated in this thesis which are:form-function(mis)match of adjectives used as modifiers,jiang-Construction vs.ba-Construction,ba-Construction vs.ba-ge Construction,lian-X-ye-Y Construction vs.lian-X-dou-Y Construction.Two syntactic features that considered as representation of flexibitily of Mandarin are to be observed among these four pairs of near-synoymous constructions,which are the change of syntactic order and the change of grammatical particles.Despite of chapter 3 in which findings are based on introspection,the other three studies in this thesis are all corpus-based that set its analysis on both theoretical reasoning and quantitative data from two corpora:CNCORPUS and LCMC.Results from four pairs of near-synonymous constructions show that the viewing arrangement in construal process undergoes re-adjustment when the conceptualizer moves from offstage situation to onstage situation;hence the object of conception by the conceptualizer is subjectively construed,which resides in syntax in various ways.Speakers' selection of one construction over the other in near-synonymous pairs reveals that the object of conception is construed differently in the degree of subjectivity/objectivity.Such subtle change in construal under the working mechanism of subjectification is exemplified in four case studies in this paper:Chapter 3 studies the form-function mismatch of adjectives.Such mismatch construction represents the speaker's shift in the way of construal of the construed,which will bring about a change of adjectives' meanings from static to dynamic and from constant to temporal.This change result from a shift from either summary scanning to sequential scanning,or a reversal of figure and ground,or prominence of the speakers,or a change in perspective.Chapter 4 compares a synonymous pair in Disposal construction.Jiang-Construction and ba-Construction share the basic meaning of Disposal while contrasting in terms of subjectivity and objectivity due to re-adjustment of viewing arrangement.The former is syntactically appropriate for expressing objective disposal while the function of the latter is extended from objectivity to subjectivity.Chapter 5 presents that the Disposal system has undergone divisions with the objectively construed meaning being attenuated and the subjectively construed elements therefore immanent in the conceptualization.Results from contrasting the ba-Construction and the ba-ge Construction indicate that the former depicts disposal events,while the latter depicts speaker's modality.Chapter 6 analyzes the lian-Construction which is referred as to establish the correlativity among things and ascertain hierarchy to arrange them sequentially.This will be construed in different ways when the viewing arrangement undergoes re-adjustment and different particles of dou and ye will be chosen as a syntactic strategy:the focal in lian-X-do.u-Y Construction is transitive objects which activate the sequence of ordered nouns,therefore it is construed objectively;while the lian-X-ye-Y Construction tends to focalize intransitive subjects and a sequential order is set among non-ordered nouns by referring to speakers' epistemic modality,therefore it is subjectively construed.These four case studies provides with a glimpse of how subjectification works as a common cognitive ability from a synchronic perspective.Subjectification operates in our brains on the viewing arrangement of a concept and then on the utterance of a selected word order.It also encodes semantic change in the process of conceptualization with syntactic changes.What's more,a quantitative method presented from this thesis sets an example for a more effective and scientific way to approach the abstract and subtle working mechanism of subjectification in language use,making the intangible tangible.