A Cognitive Study Of The "V_chi + X" Construction In Modern Chinese

The Chinese culture of “? chi” is extensive and profound,which makes the Chinese expressions about “ ? chi” colorful.The “V_chi + X” structure is common in Chinese expressions.There are plenty of domestic researches on this phenomenon,which are mainly based on syntax,pragmatics,and cognitive linguistics.Furthermore,previous studies focused on the components of the verb “? chi” or object in this construction.But they ignore the interactions between the verb and the whole construction as well as the deep meanings of the construction.With the development and maturity of Construction Grammar Theory,researches on language structures based on Goldberg's construction grammar theory are in full swing.This theory makes up for the deficiencies in the relationship between the verb and the construction in previous studies,and focuses on the analysis and interpretations that regard this language pattern as a whole.Based on the Goldberg's construction grammar theory,this study mainly discusses and explores the “V_chi + X” construction around the following four research questions:Firstly,according to the data collection and analysis of “V_chi + X” construction,the prototypical meaning and its constructional meanings of the target construction will be concluded.Secondly,how is the verb “? chi” interacted with the “V_chi + X” construction? And how are the semantic relations constructed between the two components of this target construction?Thirdly,how is polysemy demonstrated in “V_chi + X” construction based on the semanticcharacteristics between the four constructional meanings?Fourthly,what are the cognitive mechanism and motivations underlying the “V_chi + X”construction?The data of this study is collected from BCC.It retrieves the data by inputting the keyword “? chi”,and manually selects 5173 eligible data.Through the analysis of data,the percentage of “X” that refers to foods or the edible things is more than 70%,while the percentage of “X” that stands for some other things unrelated to foods is about 30%.Therefore,the prototypical meaning of this construction is “put food into mouth,after chewing and absorbing,then swallowing it”.In addition,the constructional meanings of “V_chi+ X” are divided into typical meanings and other three types of atypical meanings.The various atypical meanings also reveal the polysemy inheritance links between the various components of the target construction.Meanwhile,Goldberg advocates that the verb plays an important role in the whole construction,and this study will analyze the interrelationships between the “V_chi” and “V_chi +X” construction,including elaborations,force-dynamic relations,preconditions and co-occurring activity.What's more,the series of “V_chi” action could be divided into three stages based on the theory of Argument Structure: the motion of “V_chi”;the process of“Digestion” and the state of “V_chi”,which demonstrate the semantic relations between the verb “ ? chi” and the target construction.According to the deconstruction of semantic relations,its universal constructional meaning could be abstracted as: the “V_chi + X” structure is a Cause-act construction and the component “X” also profiles various semantic characteristics influenced by the action of “? chi”.At the same time,due to existing as a unity,the “V_chi + X” construction must possesssome semantic characteristics.Because of the complexity of this construction influenced by its productivity,thus this study will attempt to set up a semantic network of the target construction through the polysemous links of the inheritance relation.It proves that the“central sense” of this construction is the typical meaning: the object “X” of “V_chi” refers to foods or some kinds of edible things,while the three other “extended senses” from its “central sense” contains its other constructional meanings: 1.The construction profiles some relevant elements in the semantic framework of “V_chi”(“X” indicates the instrument used for the action “V_chi”,the location in which the action “V_chi” occurs,the source for the object of “V_chi”,etc.);2.This construction profiles the experience and feelings caused by the action “V_chi”(“X” indicates some unpleasant feelings or experiences due to the action “V_chi”);3.This construction is a co-occurrence activity of “V_chi” and “X” components(“V_chi” and “X” appear at some particular situations simultaneously).Finally,the cognitive mechanism has been explained specifically and clearly based on the Construction Coercion.Goldberg has put forward that coercion will exert its influence on constructions which require particular interpretations.It is true of the “V_chi + X” construction.Without interaction,coercion cannot come into play.The construction and its components are interacted in two aspects: roles interaction between the argument roles of the construction and the participant roles of the verb as well as the semantic interaction between the constructional meaning and the lexical meaning.In addition,coercion wields its influence through these two aspects.Because of coercion,the participant role of the verb is coerced by the construction to be “cut” directly and the semantic meanings of “V_chi + X” are coerced to be compatible with the constructional meaning.And this research also proposes that the productivity of Chinese“? chi”,argument co-occurrence,cultural background,and the unique cognitive construal of“V_chi + X” construction are the main motivations.This research analyzes the typical language phenomenon of “V_chi + X” construction and its data collected from the authoritative corpus BCC,which makes up for the deficiency of previous researches lacking of abundant data.In addition,this study explicates the constructional meanings and the interactive relationships between “V_chi” and “V_chi + X”construction.Taking the instances of this construction as a whole,it provides a clear and comprehensive understanding for the “V_chi + X” construction.