A Study Of English Middle Construction From A Construction Grammar Viewpoint

Since English middle construction involves complex interaction between its syntactic structure and semantic features, it has become one of the hottest topics in linguistic study today. The characteristic of active form in syntax and passive reading in semantics has been the essential property of English middle construction. Syntactically, the internal argument of the verb is the grammatical subject of the construction and usually an adverbial is required in the construction; semantically, it is interpreted as non-eventive, generic and model reading, and there are some constraints on the constituents of the construction. A general agreement has been reached on the above-mentioned feature of this construction in the linguistic field but disagreements exist here and there mainly concerning the formation of this construction on which different researchers have different interpretations. Most of the previous studies on the middle formation were made under the framework of generative grammar which can be classified into two groups: the syntactic approach and lexical approach. There appear other approaches to the formation of English middle construction such as from the perspective of cognitive grammar.The thesis takes constructional approach toward the specific construction whose purpose is to try to propose a new analysis of English middle construction. This analysis is couched within argument structure, valence requirements, information structure-based framework of construction grammar.This thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction, which mainly makes a brief introduction to English middle construction and traces back its history development. After making a brief summary of the previous studies on this construction, the chapter points out the great significance of the analysis on English middle construction from construction grammar angle.The second part is the main body, which is made up of four chapters:Chapter One first introduces in detail the essential properties of English middle construction including the definitions of the construction. Then different approaches to the derivation of the construction is introduced and analyzed in detail as well as the shortcomings of them on this issue. Then the major aim of the current research is pointed out which is to combine the syntax and semantics aspects of the construction together with pragmatic factors to get a reasonable account for it. Next, the theory of Construction Grammar was expatiated in detail as theoretical framework of the thesis.Chapter Two analyzes English middle construction based on the theory of Construction Grammar. First, the reason why English middle construction can exist as an independent construction is given. The conflict of meanings between the middle verbs and English middle construction indicates that the meaning of the construction cannot be derived from the meaning of the verb in it. In addition, the meaning of the construction cannot be derived from other lexical items nor could it be derived from other constructions such as actives and passives, which adds more weight to the independence of English middle construction. This chapter argues that we cannot understand English middle construction properly if we only focus on the meaning of its constituents instead of regarding it as a whole because of the non-derivation characteristic of the construction. Next, from the perspective of inheritance theory, we can see some relations between English middle construction and other constructions.Chapter Three mainly demonstrates the interaction between the middle verbs and English middle construction from Construction Grammar perspective in order to explain how the conflicts between them are solved. According to argument structure theory, the meaning of the verb must be integrated into the meaning of the construction and it is the combination of the two that determine the form and interpretation of sentence patterns. English middle construction has only one profiled argument role while the verb in the construction has two profile roles. And the English middle construction cut one role of the middle verb out of the picture. That is why there is no object appearing after the transitive verb in the English middle construction. The distinction between the verb participant roles and construction argument roles provides us a reasonable account for the problem of semantic transitivity and syntactic intransitivity of English middle construction. Next, according to valence theory, the chapter explains that not only does the valence requirement of the verb play a role in the construction, but so does the valence requirement of the construction itself. As to English middle construction, the valence requirement of the verb is two, but the valence requirement of the construction limits the requirements of the verb and has a valence requirement of one. The mismatch between the valence requirement of the verb and the valence requirement of the construction causes English middle construction a specific construction: Syntactically, English middle construction is simply one-participant; semantically, it is indeed two-participant structures. This chapter argues that it is the semantic valence and not the syntactic valence that is of importance in determining the right interpretation of English middle construction.Chapter Four considers the pragmatic factor involved in the construction. Through the introduction of information structure theory, we have known that it is up to the speaker to choose to form a sentence and decide in which way the lexical and propositional content is transmitted. In English middle construction, the agent is absent, and the passive participant is selected as subject but the predicate in active form, and there always been an adverb which implies the invariant properties of the patient-subject independent of any specific agent. In this case, it is easy for hears to think that the patient is highly responsible for the act compared with the agent and to interpret the understood subject (agent) as"people in general".The last part is conclusion, which makes a summary. This study on English middle construction explains why it can be viewed as an independent construction of form-meaning correspondence and indicates it is the product of the speaker's creating use of language. Like other independent constructions, English middle construction is also a pairing of form with function: syntactically, it is Subject + Predicate in form; semantically, it is in fact Patient-subject + Predicate in meaning; functionally, it can be interpreted as (the properties) of X cause the V-ing (of X) to be Adjective. It is formed by selecting linguistic structure and semantic feature to meet the needs of its communicative function, whose form is compatible to the meaning it intends to express.