A Study On The Dynamic Relationship Between Grammaticalization And Lexicalization By Taking "Down" As An Example

It is well known that grammaticalization and lexicalization are two important ways of language development.During the language evolution,there are both grammaticalization and lexicalization.The evolution mechanisms of them are common,and they also have great consistency in macro motivation.Both grammaticalization and lexicalization are manifestations in the process of human cognition,especially whether they are interrelated and how they interact in the process of semantic evolution,which has attracted the attention of many linguists.The theory of categorization makes the study of semantics systematic,but most of them tend to study the static relationship between grammaticalization and lexicalization,ignoring the nature of grammaticalization and lexicalization from the perspective of diachronic.From the definition of grammaticalization and lexicalization,it can be seen that they all involve the diachronic evolution of semantics,which will be inevitably related to the dynamic categorization of semantics.In view of this,based on linguistic decategorization theory,this thesis takes"down" as a case study,and tries to make a thorough investigation on the process of decategorization and recategorization of "down" by using Google Books corpus.At the same time,the thesis also devotes to finding out the dynamic evolution process of"down",and constructing the dynamic relationship between grammaticalization and lexicalization.The following questions are addressed:(1)How does the decategorization and recategorization process of "down" evolve?(2)Why does"down" decategorize and recategorize,that is to say,what are the evolution mechanisms and motivations of "down"?(3)Based on the diachronic evolution of"down",how to construct the dynamic relationship between grammaticalization and lexicalization?The findings are as follows.First of all,the evolution of grammaticalization and lexicalization of "down"actually reflects the continuous transformation process of "categorization","decategorization" and "recategorization" in the process of human cognition.From a diachronic perspective,"down" evolves from a noun to a preposition and an adverb or an affix,and then from a preposition and affix to a verb,indicating the cognitive development law of "categorization→ decategorization→ recategorization" followed by human cognitive process.Each stage is the negation of the previous stage and the deepening of people’s understanding.Secondly,language change is a result of the interaction and integration of multiple factors.As for the evolution process of grammaticalization and lexicalization of "down",reanalysis and analogy as well as metonymy and metaphor have played an important role.In addition,subjectivity and subjectification run through the whole process of grammaticalization and lexicalization,which is a process from objective to subjective and also with a continuous enhancement of subjectification.Thirdly,grammaticalization and lexicalization have both generality and individuality in the process of language change.One is that grammaticalization and lexicalization have gradualness in the process of evolution.However,in the process of gradual process,grammaticalization is universal while lexicalization is particular.The other is that the mechanisms and motivations of grammaticalization are similar to that of lexicalization.Although the mechanisms and motivations of grammaticalization and lexicalization are similar,the process of grammaticalization is productive and the process of lexicalization is non-productive.Therefore,grammaticalization and lexicalization are different processes in the dynamic development of categories,which constructs a dynamic continuum relationship and constantly transforms.Under the framework of cognitive linguistics,this thesis uses corpus analysis approach to study the decategorization and recategorization of "down" on the basis of linguistic decategorization theory,which has certain theoretical value and practical significance.To start with,it is helpful to clarify the relationship between grammaticalization and lexicalization,and enrich the theoretical researches of grammaticalization and lexicalization.Besides,although "down" is a small part of vocabulary,the formation process of "down" has its own characteristics.It is undoubtedly beneficial for grammar and vocabulary teaching to find out the motivation and path of its formation,which will inevitably promote information processing.