The "X Shi X" Construction:A Cognitive Approach

The “X shi X” construction seems to be an unnecessary repetition of meaning outwardly,while it carries abundant semantic as well as pragmatic functions.Since the 1980 s,the “X shi X” construction has raised broad concerns among scholars,who earned remarkable achievement on its semantic features,format descriptions,pragmatic functions,and rhetoric effects.While they treat the “X shi X” construction as a subcategory of tautology,and lack investigation of the “X shi X” construction in one specific syntactical structure with the application of Construction Grammar.The “X shi X” construction can be followed by a complex sentence of concessions(the monomial “X shi X” construction),and it also can be double applied within complex sentences(the parallel “X shi X” construction).The “X shi X” construction may mean differently in these two occasions.Therefore,this thesis is going to explore the “X shi X” construction’s meaning generating mechanisms when it is followed by a concession,and how it manifests meaning when it is double applied.Since the 1980 s,Construction Grammar has been developed by linguists Charles Fillmore,Paul Kay,George Lakoff and Adele Goldberg.This thesis mainly adopts Goldberg’s theory of Construction Grammar,which central assumption is that sentence-level constructions “themselves carry meaning,independent of the words in the sentence”(Goldberg,1995).Based on this assumption,this thesis first examines the syntactic,semantic and pragmatic features that qualify the “X shi X” construction,and then attempts to posit the semantic and syntactic properties which are not strictly predictable from the lexical items of the “X shi X” construction in complex sentences.The research results turn out that the monomial “X shi X” construction is most generally applied in making a partial agreement with concession and it cannot function as an independent sentence.The parallel “X shi X” constructions can function as an independent sentence and occur in a complex sentence.When it functions as an independent sentence,its meaning is conventionalized.When it occurs in a complex sentence,it is used to make a contrast or enumeration.According to the specific semantic properties which cannot be predicted,this thesis tests the central sense of this construction and distinguishes the syntactic frame that identifies “X shi X” construction.Based on that,the “X shi X” construction used in complex sentence is differentiated from tautology.This is followed by proving that the meaning of “X shi X” derives from the properties of the construction rather its components.In all,this thesis gives a cognitive interpretation of “X shi X” construction’s meaning generation by applying Construction Grammar and foreground/background theory which are fully usage-based.The major findings of this thesis are the following points:First,the monomial and parallel “X shi X” occurred in complex sentence are proved to be constructions rather than tautologies;Second,the syntactic,semantic,and pragmatic properties of the “X shi X” construction come from the construction itself rather than its components;Third,the foreground/background theory,from the perspective of human cognition,can be applied in explaining the meaning generating mechanisms of “X shi X” construction.