A Study Of The Chinese NNV Construction From The Perspective Of Cognitive Linguistics

This thesis makes an attempt to approach the Chinese NNVby a combination of qualitative and quantitative research from the perspectiveof Construction Grammar.The Chinese NNV is regarded as an S+O-fronted peculiar pattern derived out of the S+V+O frame that is pervasively available in Chinese,and it is revealed that the S+O-fronted peculiar patternhas been one of the heatedly-discussed topics in the field of linguistics,especially cognitive linguistics.Considering that the Chinese S+O-fronted peculiar patternfinds its unique semantic feature in a pairing of form and meaning,it is probable that Construction Grammar will shed light on its cognitive mechanism.Thus,it is renamed as the Chinese NNV Construction for the convenience's sake in the research.Accordingly,the target of research aims at the constructional meaning and functions of the Chinese NNV Construction.To approach the Chinese NNV Construction,the research questions are addressed as follows:(1)What is characterized by the Chinese NNV Construction?(2)What arethe governingfunctions by the two entities in form of NPsin the Chinese NNV Construction?(3)What cognitive constraints are set on the Chinese NNV Construction?In order to answer the research questions stated above,the theoretical analysis is based on Construction Grammar,the form-meaning pairing of the Chinese NNV Construction,and the data is mainly excerpted from two online corpora.Besides,a questionnaire is conducted to explore the status quo of the NNV Construction.The research reaches the major findings as follows: First,the constructional meaning of the Chinese NNV Construction is “an animate agent deliberately acts on a patient under a special circumstance”.Second,the Chinese NNV Construction is equipped with an integrated function of cohesion,topicalization,and subjectivity.The function of cohesion makes it serve as a conjunct in a context.Besides,the topicalization of the construction is primed and the relevant topic is projected onto other clauses within the topic chain.In addition,the fronted NPs within the NNV Construction signifies a speaker's subjectivity,namely his/her comment on the relevant clauses accordingly.Third,both agentivity and affectedness with the Chinese NNV Construction are constrained by animacy that is embodied in the related two NP entities.In conclusion,the research findings are of both implications and help to both language studies and teaching.First,it is of much help to the studies concerning similar Chinese constructions.Furthermore,the research outcomes also lend support to language acquisition,teaching Chinese as a foreign language and translation studies.The various so-called idiosyncratic structures such asthe NNVConstructions are unavoidably encountered in learning and teaching,especially in the process of Chinese-English translation.More often than not,its pairing of form and meaning/function is inadvertently ignored in the teaching and learning that take place in the Chinese classroom setting.Only access to the cognitive mechanism underlying such constructions can it be likely to arrive at a good understanding of its connotation and pragmatic use accordingly.Last but not least,the research results shed light on the pedagogical possibility of integrating cognitive linguistics into teaching methods,especially teaching many so-called idiosyncratic linguistic structures from the perspective of Construction Grammar.