Prototype Category Of Dummy Verbs In Modern Chinese And Their Evolution Mechanism

Dummy verbs is a special type in the category of verbs.Its main grammatical features are as follows.First of all,they can take disyllable transitive verbs as their objects,meanwhile,the patients of disyllable transitive verbs combined with some preposition would distribute before the dummy verb.This is the key difference between dummy verbs and other special types of verbs such as pro-verbs,general verbs and para-predicate object verbs.Disyllable transitive verbs lose their some features of verbs and realize referentiating when they are objects of dummy verbs,and they become bounded constituents.As the result,a variety of modifying constituents can be added to the objects of dummy verbs.So,the amount of information of disyllable verbs increases if they were the objects of dummy verbs.It is worth noting that although the meaning of dummy verbs is not very concrete,bleached to some degree,they still have lexical meanings which influence their selection of objects.For the scope and classification of dummy verbs,scholars adopt the paradigm of structuralist linguistics.They use grammatical functions as an entry point,ignoring the attributes of other aspects,and come up with classic categories that do not fully reflect language facts.This paper reviews formal verbs by using the prototype category theory of cognitive linguistics to describe and explain the differences in typology among its members.We believe that dummy verbs include 30 members and can be divided into 3 sub-categories and 8 sub-categories.There are antagonistic and complementary relationships between dummy verbs in different sub-categories in terms of grammatical expression and expression efficacy,which has enriched our means of expression.Different dummy verbs have different tendencies in choosing object verbs.At the same time,if different dummy verbs carry the same verb as an object,they often highlight the different meanings of the same verb.For the source of dummy verbs,most researchers have noticed the problems of lexicalization and grammaticalization of Jiayi(??),and have ignored the evolution of other members.In fact,most dummy verbs have gone through the process of lexicalization or grammaticalization,and some of them are still in the process of lexicalization or grammaticalization.The key point of these phrases,non-syntactic structures,or ordinary verbs that can evolve into dummy verbs through lexicalization or grammaticalization lies in the gradual expansion of the object range.The ability to carry double syllables and physical verbs as objects is why they can accomplish lexicalization and grammaticalization.The final syntactic environment,Metaphor plays an important role.This article is divided into eight chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces the research object,content,theoretical foundation,research method,research goal and innovation.We combed out the research status and existing problems of dummy verbs.From the case studies of Jinxing(??)and Jiayi(??)in the 1950s and 1960s to the systematic studies begun in the 1980s,the domestic research on dummy verbs is relatively rich.Lu Shuxiang,Zhu Dexi,Gong Qianyan,and Xing Fuyi have all studied dummy verbs,keeping the study of dummy verbs at a higher level.However,there are still many issues that merit further study.The main manifestation is that the scope,classification,and evolution mechanism of dummy verbs must be discussed.The second chapter discusses the relationship between dummy verbs and related categories.In this part,we first sort out the relationship between dummy verbs and quasi-predicate verbs,and then we compare dummy verbs with substitute verbs and generalized verbs.These concepts and dummy verbs are different in terms of connotation and extension.But at present,there is obvious confusion in the use of these terms,which hinders the understanding of formal verbs.The third chapter describes the ideal cognitive model of dummy verbs.The ideal cognitive model of dummy verbs is a cluster model,including semantic feature models,object nature models,syntactic distribution position models,stylistic feature models,and discourse feature models.Different researchers pay attention to these models when they recognize dummy verbs.This leads to differences in the understanding of dummy verbs.Typical dummy verbs should match these cognitive models at the same time.The fourth,fifth and sixth chapters are the main parts of this article.The fourth chapter discusses the scope and classification of dummy verbs.At present,the classification of dummy verbs adopts the dichotomy method,which is generally divided into Jinxing(??)type and(??)type.The subcategories obtained by the dichotomy are the most ideal contradictions between the two.However,there are entanglement between the Jinxing(??)type,Jiayi(??)type.This division has obvious limitations.Dummy verbs constitutes a prototype category which includes both typical members and atypical members.This paper regarded 30 verbs as dummy verbs and divided them into three types:(1)18 behavioral dummy verbs,they select verbs referring to actions as their objects,they are divided to four subtypes according to their lexical meaning and matching objects,i.e.Jinxing(??)type,Jiayi(??)type,Zuo(?/?)type,Jiyu(??)Type;(2)6 psychological dummy verbs,they are Biaoshi(??),Tichu(??),Zhiyi(??),Fachu(??),Geichu(??),Gandao(??),they select verbs referring to emotion or attitude,and they are divided to two subtypes according to their usage;(3)6 existential dummy verbs,they combine with their objects to refer to a judgement of speakers,they are You(?),Cunzai(??),Chansheng(??),Goucheng(??),Zaocheng(??),Xingcheng(??).Three types of dummy verbs are both contradictory and complementary in grammatical and expression function.Different dummy verbs are inclined to select different verbs of semantic type.If different dummy verbs select the same verbs as objects,they would make different profiles of a verb salient.Traditional research divided dummy verbs to 2 subtypes:Jinxing(??)type and Jiayi(??)type,neglecting some atypical dummy verbs.The fifth chapter proves the atypical dummy verbs.They have syntactic expressions similar to typical dummy verbs,but they also have grammatical features that typical dummy verbs do not have,so they are both opposing and complementary.Chapter 6 discusses the evolution mechanism of dummy verbs.Most of dummy verbs experienced or are experiencing the process of lexicalization or grammaticalization.Originally,they are phrases,non-syntactic structures or common verbs.The key of transformation to dummy verbs through lexicalization or grammaticalization is their objects expand to include disyllable verbs.Because this transformation provides the final context.In this process,metaphor plays an important role.Chapter 7 discusses the expression effect of formal verbs.Through discussion,we believe that dummy verbs can enhance or change the style of the sentence,making the sentence appear solemn and serious.At the same time,dummy verbs can add up to the sentence structure and have the function of finishing sentences.In addition,dummy verbs can mark or change sentence focus.From the arrangement point of view of the item,compared with the SVO word order,the dummy verb makes the verb no longer at the same level as its receiving NP,and the distance becomes farther.This structural difference has caused a certain degree of semantic consequences.That is,the dummy verb structure often represents the indirect implementation of a certain behavior.Chapter 8 is the conclusion part,which explains the final understanding of this chapter.