A Cognitive Study Of English Middle Construction

English middle construction has become one of the hottest topics in linguistic study because of the complex interaction between its syntactic structure and semantic features. The essential property of English middle construction is that it has an active form in syntax, yet a passive reading in semantics. Syntactically, the grammatical subject of the construction is the internal argument of the verb. Usually, there is an adverbial in the construction. Semantically, it has a non-eventive, generic and modal reading, and the constituents of the construction have some semantic constraints. There is no disagreement concerning the above-mentioned features of this construction in the linguistic field. However, concerning the formation of this construction, different researchers have different interpretations. Most of these studies are based on the framework of generative linguistics, which can be classified into two groups: the syntactic approach and the lexical approach. There are also some scholars trying to analyze English middle construction from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.This thesis tries to reanalyze English middle construction within the framework of Construction Grammar of Goldberg by using both top-down and bottom-up approaches. And the thesis states that the formation of English middle construction is- the result of grammaticalization.The thesis considers English middle construction as an independent construction, which has its own constructional meaning. The meaning of English middle construction is not derived from the meaning of the lexical items instantiating it or from the meaning of any other established construction. Its meaning results from the integration of the specific meaning that this kind of construction possesses and the meaning of the constituents of this construction. That is, when middle verbs are used in this kind of construction, there is a force-dynamic relation of manner between the verbs and English middle construction. The verb in this construction can not define the meaning of the construction, but it states how to achieve such a result contained in the construction. There are also some semantic restrictions related to the verbs used in this construction so that the verbs will reduce or increase some semantic features in order to accord with the required features of English middle construction. Besides, the patient-subject also plays a leading role in English middle construction. Concerning the formation of English middle construction, this thesis states that, like other constructions, English middle construction is the linguistic reflection of a kind of stereotypical relations between things, and is the result of the grammaticalization of the related semantic and pragmatic factors.