Research On The Quantitative Characteristics Of Modern Chinese Verbs

Quantity is an important semantic and grammatical category,its manifestations in the language are complex and diverse,and it has penetracted into all aspects of vocabulary,grammar,phonetics and pragmatics.This thesis mainly use the knowledge of quantity category,reveal an important feature of the modern Chinese verbs,that's the quantitative feature after analyzing a large amount of actual corpora,and explore some connection between these quantitative features and the syntax of verbs,then try to make a reasonable explanation of that.Specifically,including the introduction and conclusion,this paper is divided into seven chapters.Chapter one is introduction,which includes three aspects.Firstly,make clear the connotation and denotation of quantity category;secondly,make an overview on the references of the history and current situation;thirdly,introduce the significance of this research,the theoretical background and research methods used.Chapter two focuses on the classification of verbs'quantitative features.The quantities of verbs are expressed by the intensity of behavior,the range of activity,the times of behavior and the time of this event.It also includes the number of objects involved in the event and the class sequences of it.So the quantitative features of verbs are very rich and they can be reflected in all aspects of the action,such as the number of objects,the space of behavior,the times of action,the time of behavior,the intensity of behavior and class sequences of it.Correspondingly they are called as“volume”,“space”,“repetition”,“time”,“degree”and“sequence”.However,most verbs in modern Chinese do not exhibit their quantitative features,that's to say,the quantitative features of most verbs are recessive and uncertain.Such verbs we called“not-quantified verbs”;and a small amount of verbs show their quantitative features,that's to say,the quantitative features of those are dominant and determined.Such verbs we called“quantified verbs”.Obviously,these concepts are different with the“quantified verbs”and“not-quantified verbs”in quantity category.In addition,the usages of quantified verbs show some commonalities:firstly,they will not co-exist with the ways which show the same quantity;secondly,they can co-exist with the ways which show the different quantities;lastly,the syntactic functions of them show a certain“inertia”.Chapter three studies the means of quantification of non-quantified verbs,including morphological,syntactic,and pragmatic methods.Morphological methods mean the addition of a quantified-expressing element,which changes a non-quantified verbs into a quantified one.Syntactic methods mean the addition of some element before or after verbs,that also can make verbs quantified.Pragmatic methods mainly mean rhetorical devices and context.In these three methods,syntactic methods are used often.Generally speaking,the way that changes a non-quantified verbs into a quantified verbs is different,the type of quantitative feature is different.But sometimes one quantitative feature can use different ways to show.In addition,the quantitative features of verbs can be showed,mainly depend on the semantic and grammatical features of verbs.Chapter four discusses the relationship between the quantitative features of verbs and their aspect,but also with their negative expressions.The quantitative features is one of the most important semantic characteristics,so how does it impact aspect and negative expressions of verbs?The study shows that different quantities make different impacts on their aspect.In addition,the same quantity,but the way to highlight it is different,the impact on their aspect is different.Furthermore,we should pay more attention to distinguish whether a form can connect with“le”,“zhe”,or“guo”.In the negative expressions,most verbs which highlight their quantitative features haven't negative expressions.That's because in the cognitive,the more significant features of things,the less likely disappear.Therefore,they often used in the affirmative sentences,not in negative sentences.Chapter five studies the interaction between the verbs'quantity of degree and their syntactic functions.The degree quantity mainly refers to the intensity of behavior and the range of activity,etc.Here the“behavior or action”can refer to specific actions or abstract actions.“hen+VP”,“xiaoxiao+VP”and“X da fa le”constructions all show the degree of psychological action or behavior.Compare with the typical verbs,these three constructions are constrained on the syntactic functions,such as“aspect”,“reduplication”,“reference”,“negative expression”and so on.Moreover,in the effect of their expressions,three of them can express a kind of subjective evaluation,with a particular emotion from speakers.For example,“xiaoxiao+VP”generally reflects the emotional attitude of“humble”and“low-key”.These syntactic features and special expressions are related with their quantitative characteristics,namely,the degree of quantity will impact to the syntactic functions of verbs.Because they all emphasize some abstract meaning,rather than specific actions.Thus,the time and action of behavior are weak.Therefore,their syntactic functions are different with the typical verbs.Chapter six investigates the interaction between the verbs'quantity of repetition and their syntactic functions.The repetition mainly refers to the action happened repetitively.The construction of“yi V₁ yi V₂”and AABB both highlight the quantity of repetition,which make them have many similarities on syntactic and gragmatic performances.Syntactically,the construction of“yi V₁ yi V₂”and AABB both can act different syntactic elements,such as adverbial elements,predicate elements,attribute elements,complement and so on.Sometimes,they two can act as an independent clause.In the aspect of the semantic orientation,when they act as a predicate,their semantic orientations are simple,which usually point to the subject;when acting as adverbial,both of them are easy to form multi-semantic orientations.Moreover,they also are constrained on their“aspect”function.Furthermore,the“value”of AABB construction is different with its elements.In the pragmatic expression,the construction of“yi V₁ yi V₂”and AABB have a strong description,which mainly focus on describing the current state of things.Both of them highlight the dynamic and continual of actions'state.In this case,the construction of“yi V₁ yi V₂”and AABB have some functions which are similar to adjective functions.Chapter seven summarize the main contents of this thesis,and make clear the thesis's contributions.Shortcomings are also mentioned,which need further studies.