| Of the many gaps in linguistic research, an in-depth study of the core verbs in Chinese from a semantic perspective is one of them. One shared feature among studies on Chinese verbs so far is the dependence on syntax. Definitions of verbs from these studies usually rely so heavily on contextual clues that one feels hopeless without context. In terms of classification, the criterion is also of an extra-verbal nature, like the division of verbs according to the types of objects they take.; The present study is an effort to fill in this gap by examining a list of 73 core verbs in Chinese in light of case grammar theory. With objectivity as the aim, three steps are followed in selecting this list of most frequent verbs for the study. First, a preliminary list of verbs is obtained from textbooks. This list is then checked against the Vocabulary Guideline (1989) in the national standardized proficiency test of the Chinese language as used in China. Any verb not found in the Guideline is dropped. The remaining verbs are then checked against the Frequency Dictionary of Modern Chinese (1986) to find verbs with the highest frequency, to be included in the study.; All the verbs in the final list are analyzed with regard to the five key elements of case grammar theory as expounded by Cook (1989) and tabulated according to their types and semantic domains. The various applications of the study, which combines case grammar, frequency studies and Chinese verbs, are also explored.; Findings from the study prove the feasibility of an alternative approach to the study of Chinese verbs that (1) establishes the semantic priority of the verb and seeks to be independent of syntax; (2) defines verbs by their intrinsic semantic nature, not their syntactic associations; and (3) categorizes verbs based on their semantic quality, not their contextual clues. An action verb, for example, is one not because the noun associated with it is the doer of the action, but because the semantic domain of the verb requires such a noun in the first place. |
