The Investigations Of Evolution Of The Quasi Causaitivity Of Chinese Preposition “由(by)”

This thesis applies the methods of syntactic-semantic analysis to investigate the three syntactic structures of "由(by)" as a quasi-causative preposition introducing causee from a diachronic perspective,that is,Weakly-autonomous Causee,Partially-Autonomous Causee,Strongly-autonomous Causee.By using the theories of Grammaticalization and Semantic Map Model,this thesis analyzes the semantic development track of "由(by)",and draws the conceptual space of " 由(by)" based on previous research results,and puts the causative constructions of "由(by)" in its overall conceptual space,showing the semantic connection and unity of "由(by)".The thesis mainly includes the following sections.1.It is explained what the current research status is,and how this research is conducted.2.Sorting out the language data of "由(by)" in Ancient Times and analyzing the three syntactic structures of the Weakly-autonomous Causee,Partially-Autonomous Causee,Strongly-autonomous Causee.Analyze the semantic development track of "由(by)",and find evidence on the semantic map that has been proved to be tenable,establish the functional node of "由(by)",and construct the conceptual space of "由(by)" in Ancient Times.3.Sorting out the language data of "由(by)" in Medieval Times and analyzing the three syntactic structures.It summarizes the similarities and differences in semantics and grammar of "由(by)" between the Medieval Times and the Ancient Times.The differences in semantics are mainly reflected in the number and specific content of meaning items,while the differences in grammar are mainly reflected in the syntactic structure and collocation objects.On this basis,the conceptual space of "由(by)" in the Medieval Times was constructed.4.Sorting out the language data of "由(by)" in Modern Chinese Times and analyzing the three syntactic structures.It summarizes the similarities and differences in semantics and grammar of " 由(by)" between the Modern Chinese Times and the Medieval Times.The differences in semantics are mainly reflected in the number of items,the degree of virtualization and the introduction of the syntactic components,while the differences in grammar are mainly reflected in the syntactic structure and collocation objects.On this basis,the conceptual space of "由(by)" in the Modern Chinese Times was constructed.5.Combine the conceptual space of "由(by)" in the above three periods,and draw the diachronic conceptual space and semantic map of Chinese of "由(by)" in one map,and mark the sub-conceptual space of the causative constructions of " 由(by)" on the basis of this map.Discussed the causativity of "由(by)" and the relationship between the semantics of "由(by)" from the perspective of semantic classification.6.This chapter summarizes the general situation of the causative constructions of " 由(by)" and the diachronic conceptual space of "由(by)" in the three periods,and summarizes the shortcomings of this thesis.