Coercion Mechanism In Ditransitive Construction

Coercion is originally used in computational linguistics to mean co-occurrence of words. Then, it is introduced into cognitive linguistics as a mechanism to resolve semantic conflicts between words and constructions. There are two types of coercion that receives public commitment. One type is construction coercion. It refers to the case that construction meaning coerces word meaning when they are in semantic conflict. Goldberg is the advocate of this type of coercion. The other type of coercion is lexicon coercion. It refers to the case that word meaning coerces construction meaning when they are in semantic conflict. Panther&Thornberg are the advocates of this type of coercion. Either construction coercion or lexicon coercion only reflects one side of the coin. Each type overemphasizes one aspect and neglects the other. Thus, Construction and Lexicon Coercion Mechanism is proposed in which the third type of coercion, namely, accommodation coercion is included. It refers to the semantic accommodation between construction and words. The three types of coercion do not take place at the same time, but continuously. Specifically, construction coercion occurs first; if it fails, lexicon coercion occurs; if neither construction coercion nor lexicon coercion succeed, then accommodation occurs.Construction and Lexicon Coercion Mechanism is applied to illustrate the generation of these related six senses of ditransitive construction, namely, X causes Y to successfully receive Z;(Conditions of satisfaction imply that) X causes Y to receive Z; X causes Y to receive Z at some future point in time; X enables Y to receive Z; X intends to cause Y to receive Z; X causes Y not to receive Z.Construction coercion entrusts additional semantic and participant roles to the verbs occurred in it, therefore generates the prototypical sense of the construction. In the sentence Mary kicked Joe a ball, ditransitive construction entrusts additional meaning---successfully transfer, to the verb "kick", so that the typical meaning of the verb in this sentence should be "to hit something with your foot to successfully transfer it to sb" and "to move your legs as if you were kicking something to successfully transfer it to sb"In lexicon coercion, the semantic of the verb dominates the semantic of the construction, and the meaning of the sentence is mainly determined by this verb. In sentence Mary denied Joe an apple, lexicon coercion occurs after construction coercion fails. The semantic of the verb "deny" dominates the semantic of ditransitive construction, and the meaning of the sentence is mainly determined by this verb. Although the sentence Mary denied Joe an apple is a ditransitive construction, it does not necessarily mean "Mary transfers Joe an apple." Instead, it means Mary refuses the transfer of apple to Joe.Accommodation coercion refers to the case in which construction and lexicon maintain their own semantic property while shift to certain extent to accommodate each other in order to resolve semantic conflict.The meaning of the sentence Mary promised Joe a bike is neither Mary transfers a bike to Joe nor simply Joe receives a bike. In contrast, it combines the construction meaning of transfer and the lexicon meaning of "something would happen if the condition is satisfied" to express a potential transfer, in other words, it means When condition is satisfied, Joe will receive a bike.In addition, accommodation coercion also generates other three senses of ditransitive construction. In Mary allocated Joe an apple, the semantic of this sentence is neither Mary transfers an apple to Joe nor simply Joe will have an apple. In contrast, it combines the construction meaning of transfer and the lexicon meaning---to allow something to happen, to express a potential transfer, in other words, it means Mary causes Joe to receive an apple at some future point in time.In Mary permitted Joe a promotion. The semantic of this sentence is neither Mary transfers a promotion to Joe nor simply Joe will have a promotion. In contrast, it combines the construction meaning of transfer and the lexicon meaning---arrange something to a particular person, to express a potential transfer, in other words, it means Mary enables Joe to receive a promotion.In Mary baked Joe a cake. The verb bake means creation of something. The prototypical meaning of ditransitive construction is transfer. The semantic of this sentence is neither Mary transfers a cake to John nor simply Mary creates a cake. In contrast, it combines the construction meaning of transfer and the lexicon meaning of creation to express a precondition for transfer, in other words, it means Mary creates a cake with the purpose of transfer it to John. Obviously, the semantic generation of this sentence is not simply attributed to construction or lexicon, but accommodation of the two.