Lexicalisation: A Study Of Military-themed Chengyu

Military-themed chengyu,being a subcategory of Chinese chengyu,are not only an indication of the uniqueness of the Chinese language,but also a reflection of the influence of military affairs as a distinctive sphere of human activities on language.This thesis constitutes a thorough study of military-themed chengyu from morphological,semantic and cognitive perspectives and proposes the two stages concerning the lexicalisation of military-themed chengyu.Military hardware,military thoughts,military allusions and former non-military-themed chengyu,in the first stage,evolved into military-themed lexical units which,in the second stage,developed into lexical items that can be employed in non-military-themed texts.Phrase structure grammar is employed to investigate inner structures of military-themed chengyu,and cognitive grammar is referred to in such a way that mechanisms for construing militarythemed chengyu and motivations for the occurrence of the second stage of lexicalisation can be elucidated.Meanwhile,along with the research it has been found that grammaticalization has occurred in this lexicalisation process.The research of militarythemed chengyu constitutes an ontological study of the Chinese language and is subsumed under the study of Chinese lexicology.This thesis explores various aspects of chengyu covering their origins,emergence,evolution,structures and meanings.The research findings of this thesis are thus expected to be significant in deepening the knowledge in the study of Chinese lexicology.Military-themed chengyu are refined crystallisations of the influence of military hardware,military thoughts and military allusions on a language.The study of lexicalisation of military-themed chengyu,in the context of Chinese military history and classical military theories,is contributory to the revelation of the workings behind how military elements exert influence on a language,how people make use of military elements to transform their language and how people construe military elements in their language.The research findings of this thesis would,therefore,have applications in the fields of sociolinguistics and cognitive linguistics.It is beyond any doubt that the learner of the Chinese language would encounter numerous chengyu in their learning process.The employment of military-themed chengyu in texts,especially in non-military-themed texts,has a tendency to mislead the learner into a belief that the texts feature militariness.The study of the lexicalisation of militarythemed chengyu contributes to the elimination of such misunderstandings and is of help for the learner of the Chinese language in understanding structures and meanings of military-themed chengyu and their historical,cultural and cognitive relevance.This thesis,therefore,from a constructivist perspective,explores ways to translate the theory concerning the lexicalisation of military-themed chengyu into practical methodologies to be applied to the learning and translation of military-themed chengyu.