| As a sentence pattern frequently used in Mandarin,dependent change construction(hereinafter abbreviated as DCC)“yuč(?)X yuč(?)Y”is of great concern to scholars devoted to the research of Chinese grammar.Both synchronic and diachronic studies have been conducted,which provided inspiration and laid a foundation for the present study.However,there have been some problems in previous research which demand prompt solution.First,the cognitive basis for the syntactic productivity and restrictions of DCC has not been revealed.Second,the cognitive evidence for how the four different meanings,i.e.,change,dependent change,comparison and correlation,are related in one and the same DCC has not been explained.Third,the motivation for the grammaticalization of the marker“yuč”,the fixed constituent“lái(?)”and“yučlái yučY(???Y)”has not been tracked.This paper,taking qualitative method and logical reasoning as the main research method,attempts to resolve the problems raised above by constructing an analytical framework called Motional Reference Cognition Model(hereinafter abbreviated as MRCM)on the basis of spatial cognition,reference cognition and comparison cognition proposed by Cognitive Grammar,and uses it to explore the conceptualization process of dependent change relations manifested in DCC,with the perspective focused on quantity categories,including physical quantity,action quantity,time quantity,spatial quantity and degree quantity.With the help of this analytical tool,the cognitive basis of syntactic and semantic features of DCC is uncovered and the cognitive motivation for the grammaticalization of “yuč”,“lái” and “yuč lái yuč Y” is explained by combining MRCM with Cognitive Grammar theories of subjectivity,subjectification and bounding.The main findings of the dissertation are as follows:First,the conceptualization of dependent change relations of quantity categories is realized through motional reference cognition.MRCM is a cognitive model in which the “reference point-target” chain relations are constructed on multiple dimensions.MRCM and Reference Point Chain Cognition Model proposed in Cognitive Grammar are powerfully explanatory in characterizing dynamic construction of reference-target relation,with the latter focusing upon the shifts between the reference point and the target in one dimension and the former upon multiple dimensions.Second,the conceptualizing process of dependent change relations between different quantity categories is manifested as such:(1)the conceptualizer exploits comparison cognition to continuously construct “standard-target” relations between different quantity values,so as to achieve the conceptualization of magnitude changes and gross quantity changes;(2)reference cognition is exploited to continuously construct “reference point-target” relations between magnitude changes and gross quantity changes,through which the conceptualization of dependent change relations is realized;(3)spatial cognition is finally employed to convert magnitude changes and gross quantity changes into motional relations.Third,the exploitation of spatial cognition,reference cognition and comparison cognition exerts remarkable effects on the syntactic and semantic features of DCC.The exploitation of spatial cognition and reference cognition promotes its syntactic productivity,for the conceptualizer can exploit spatial cognition to convert physical quantity changes,time quantity changes or degree quantity changes into spatial quantity changes.By employing reference cognition,the conceptualizer manages to coordinate quantity value changes via the application of different types of “reference point-target” alignments(hereinafter abbreviated as RPTA),such as canonic RPTA,chain RPTA,radial RPTA,convergent RPTA and embedded RPTA,and then encode them into such constructions as monocycle DCC “yuč X yuč Y”,interlinking DCC “yuč X yuč Y yuč Z” or reversal DCC “yuč X yuč Y,yuč Y yuč X”.The exploitation of comparison cognition imposes some syntactic restrictions on the component structures of DCC,because the feature of the unbounded quantity,which results from the continuous construction of “standard-target” relations,hinders the structures to be accepted by DCC.Fourth,the coexistence of the multiple meanings of change,dependent change,comparison and correlation in DCC is closely related to the exploitation of comparison cognition and reference cognition in the conceptualization of dependent change relations.Among them,the meanings of comparison and change are the result of the construction of the “standard-target” relations,helping realize the conceptualization of magnitude changes and gross quantity changes.The meanings of dependent change and correlation are ascribed to the construction of the “reference point-target” relations,helping realize the conceptualization of dependent change relations which portrays the co-variations of quantity x and quantity y.Finally,the grammaticalization of “yuč”,“lái” and “yuč lái yuč Y” could be ascribed to subjectivity,i.e.,the spatial motion relation controlled by the mover is converted into a mental scanning relation controlled by the conceptualizer,which then constitutes the profile of the structures.In the first place,the grammaticalization of the marker “yuč” from the motion verb “yuč” is induced by the gross quantity change which emerges when the conceptualizer operates mental scanning along the fictive path of different values,with the gross quantity of the current scanning exceeding that of the previous one.“Yuč” in the linear sequence of “yuč + verb / adjective / noun / preposition / subject-predicate structure” has been recategorized from a verb to an adverb modifying predicates,as a result of the atemporalization caused by the fact that the subjective mental scanning overrides the objective spatial motion and becomes the prominent conceptual component.In the second place,the semantic bleaching of the constituent “lái” is motivated by a subjective factor.The verb “lái” profiles the motion representing a mover moving along a physical path and approaching a spatial position of the conceptualizer.In the profile,the spatial motion is foregrounded,whereas the mental scanning is backgrounded.The constituent “lái” in “yuč lái yuč Y” profiles the mental scanning of the conceptualizer who “moves” along the fictive path composed of time quantity and approaches the speech time.In the profile,the motion retreats to the background while the scanning becomes foregrounded.Finally,the grammaticalization of “yuč lái yuč Y” is the result of the boundary move at the phonological pole caused by the boundary move at the conceptual pole.The conceptual boundary move involves the realignment from the spatial motion to the mental scanning,and from the physical path composed of spatial locations to the fictive path composed of time quantity values.The phonological boundary move is reflected in the structural variation from “yuč lái|yuč Y” to “yuč lái yuč|Y”,which results from the structural fusion of “yuč” and “lái” because of their syntactic adjacency and weakened function as predicates.In summary,DCC is explored in this paper with MRCM as the primary analytical framework from the perspective of quantity categories.An effective explanatory instrument is offered for the problems unsolved by previous studies.Besides,the findings of the present study can be applied to teaching Chinese as a foreign language and textbook compilation,as well as providing some theoretical insights for the construction of the Chinese grammar system. |
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