A Cognitive Study Of English Ditransitive Verb Phrases

This thesis endeavors to conduct a cognitive study of English ditransitive verb phrases, with an attempt to explore their construals. In cognitive grammar, meaning variation of a linguistic unit resides in not only the entity it designates but also the construals imposed on the conceived situation.A ditransitive verb involving two participants in object position can appear in such two syntactic forms as"Tom gives a bunch of roses to Mary"and"Tom gives Mary a bunch of roses". The syntax of a linguistic unit represents the specific construal adopted as well as its conceptual organization.Based on Langacker's Profile/Base Theory, this thesis will study English ditransitive verb phrases by means of qualitative analysis. The construal of a ditransitive verb phrase is against a certain cognitive matrix within which a particular entity is selected for designation. The designated is defined as a profile and the undesignated as a base. The semantic value of a ditransitive verb phrase rests upon the dynamic combination of its profile and base.