1887
Volume 42, Issue 4
  • ISSN 0378-4177
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9978
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This paper investigates the process of constructionalization and constructional change of apparently noncanonical yet highly frequent V-NP expressions in Mandarin Chinese, which exist in other languages as well (e.g., Southeast Asian languages and African languages). A corpus-based survey of 20 frequently used monosyllabic verbs shows that both the token and the type frequency of the noncanonical V-NP expressions have on the whole been increasing throughout the history of the Chinese language. From a constructional perspective, it is proposed that the noncanonical V-NP structure has gone through a process of grammatical constructionalization and constructional change (Traugott & Trousdale 2013), which involves diachronic changes in productivity, schematicity and compositionality and which is manifested in the increasing number of the semantic types of postverbal NPs.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/sl.17001.li
2019-02-04
2025-02-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y., R. M. W. Dixon & Masayuki Onishi
    (eds.) 2001Non-Canonical Marking of Subjects and Objects. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/tsl.46
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.46 [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersson, Peter
    2014 The fast case: Constructionalization of a Swedish concessive. Nordic Association of Linguistics37(2). 141–167. doi:  10.1017/S033258651400016X
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S033258651400016X [Google Scholar]
  3. Arbib, Michael A.
    2012 Compositionality and beyond: Embodied meaning in language and protolanguage. InMarkus Werning, Wolfram Hinzen & Edouard Machery (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Compositionality, 475–492. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Barðdal, Jóhanna
    2008Productivity: Evidence from Case and Argument Structure in Icelandic. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/cal.8
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.8 [Google Scholar]
  5. Bergs, Alexander & Gabriele Diewald
    2008 Introduction: Constructions and Language Change. InAlexander Bergs & Gabriele Diewald (eds.), Constructions and Language Change, 1–21. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110211757.1
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110211757.1 [Google Scholar]
  6. Bisang, Walter
    2008 Precategoriality and syntax-based parts of speech: The case of Late Archaic Chinese. Studies in Language32(3). 568–589. doi:  10.1075/sl.32.3.05bis
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.32.3.05bis [Google Scholar]
  7. Bybee, Joan & Sandra Thompson
    1997 Three frequency effects in syntax. Berkeley Linguistic Society23. 378–88. 10.3765/bls.v23i1.1293
    https://doi.org/10.3765/bls.v23i1.1293 [Google Scholar]
  8. Campbell, Lyle
    2001 What’s wrong with grammaticalization?. Language Sciences23. 113–161. 10.1016/S0388‑0001(00)00019‑X
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0388-0001(00)00019-X [Google Scholar]
  9. Chen, Changlai & Jianfeng Hu
    2003 Dai shoushi chengfen de bujiwu dongci de kaocha [Investigation of intransitive verbs capable of having a patient]. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies] 3. 63–72.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Clausner, Timothy C. & William Croft
    1997 Productivity and schematicity in metaphors. Cognitive Science21(3). 247–282. 10.1207/s15516709cog2103_1
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog2103_1 [Google Scholar]
  11. Croft, William
    2001Radical Construction Grammar: Syntactic Theory in Typological Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299554.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299554.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  12. Diewald, Gabriele
    2002 A model for relevant types of contexts in grammaticalization. InIlse Wischer & Gabriele Diewald (eds.), New Reflections of Grammaticalization, 103–120. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/tsl.49.09die
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.49.09die [Google Scholar]
  13. Fischer, Olga, Muriel Norde & Harry Perridon
    2004Up and Down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/tsl.59
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.59 [Google Scholar]
  14. Fried, Mirjam
    2008 Constructions and constructs: Mapping a shift between predication and attribution. InAlexander Bergs & Gabriele Diewald (eds.), Constructions and Language Change, 47–79. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Goldberg, Adele E.
    1995Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. 2004 Pragmatics and argument structure. InLaurence R. Horn & Gregory Ward (eds.), The Handbook of Pragmatics, 427–441. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. 2006Constructions at Work. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Goldberg, Adele E. & Ray Jackendoff
    2004 The English resultative as a family of constructions. Language80(3). 532–568. doi:  10.1353/lan.2004.0129
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2004.0129 [Google Scholar]
  19. Guo, Jimao
    1999 Shi tan “fei Shanghai” deng bu jiwu dongci dai binyu xianxiang [On the phenomenon of intransitive verb taking object: The case of fei Shanghai]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language] 5. 337–346.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Hilpert, Martin
    2008Germanic Future Constructions: A Usage-based Approach to Language Change. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/cal.7
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.7 [Google Scholar]
  21. Himmelmann, Nikolaus P.
    2004 Lexicalization and grammaticalization: Opposite or orthogonal?. InWalter Bisang, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann & Björn Wiemer (eds), What Makes Grammaticalization?: A Look from Its Fringes and Its Components, 21–42. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hoffmann, Thomas & Graeme Trousdale
    2011 Variation, change and constructions in English. Cognitive Linguistics22(1). 1–23. doi:  10.1515/cogl.2011.001
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cogl.2011.001 [Google Scholar]
  23. Holvoet, Axel & Nicole Nau
    2014 Argument marking and grammatical relations in Baltic. InAxel Holvoet & Nicole Nau (eds), Grammatical relations and their non-canonical encoding in Baltic, 1–41. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/vargreb.1.01hol
    https://doi.org/10.1075/vargreb.1.01hol [Google Scholar]
  24. Hopper, Paul J. & Elizabeth C. Traugott
    2003Grammaticalization (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139165525
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139165525 [Google Scholar]
  25. Huening, Matthias & Geert Booij
    2014 From compounding to derivation: The emergence of derivational affixes through constructionalization. Folia Linguistica48(2). 579–604. doi:  10.1515/flin.2014.019
    https://doi.org/10.1515/flin.2014.019 [Google Scholar]
  26. Kittilä, Seppo
    2010 Transitivity typology. InJae Jung Song (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Typology, 346–367. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:  10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199281251.013.0018
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199281251.013.0018 [Google Scholar]
  27. Lehmann, Christian
    2002Thoughts on Grammaticalization (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Li, Yanzhi
    2015Constructionalization and Constructional Objects in Chinese. Zhejiang: Zhejiang University Doctoral dissertation.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Li, Yanzhi & Wu Yicheng
    2014 The semantics and pragmatics of the CHI+NON-FOOD NP construction. Intercultural Pragmatics11(2). 279–300. doi:  10.1515/ip‑2014‑0012
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2014-0012 [Google Scholar]
  30. 2018 [Chi/Shui + fei shoushi NP] biaodashi de goushi yanbian [On the evolution of [‘eat/sleep’ + Non-patient NP] constructions in Chinese]. Xiandai Waiyu [Modern Foreign Languages] 2. 147–160.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Liu, Meichun
    2005 Lexical information and beyond: Meaning coercion and constructional inference of the mandarin verb GAN. Journal of Chinese Linguistics33(2). 310–332.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Liu, Tanzhou
    2009 Yiyuan feizuoge dongci dai binyu xianxiang [The phenomenon of un-ergative intransitive verbs taking objects]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of The Chinese Language] 2. 110–119.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Liu, Xiaolin
    2004 Ye tan bujiwu dongci dai binyu de wenti [A further exploration into the isse of intransitive verbs taking objects]. Waiguo Yu [Joural of Foreign Languages] 1:33–39.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. 2007 Ye tan “Wang Mian sile fuqin” de shengcheng fangshi [On the generation of Wang Mian sile fuqin]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of The Chinese Language] 5. 440–443.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Lu, Bingfu
    2001 Cong binyu biaoji de fenbu kan yuyan leixingxue de gongneng fenxi [On Linguistic functional analysis from the perspective of object marker distribution]. Dangdai Yuyanxue [Contemporary Linguistics] 4. 253–263.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Næss, Åshild
    2007Prototypical Transitivity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/tsl.72
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.72 [Google Scholar]
  37. Noël, Dirk
    2007 Diachronic construction grammar and grammaticalization theory. Functions of Language14(2). 177–202. 10.1075/fol.14.2.04noe
    https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.14.2.04noe [Google Scholar]
  38. Recanati, François
    2012 Compositionality, flexibility, and context dependence. InM. Werning, W. Hinzen & E. Machery (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Compositionality, 175–191. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Shen, Jiaxuan
    2006 “‘Wang Mian sile fuqin’ de shengcheng fangshi [On generation of Wang Mian sile fuqin]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of The Chinese Language] 4. 291–300.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Traugott, Elizabeth C. & Graeme Trousdale
    2013Constructionalization and Constructional Changes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679898.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679898.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  41. Trousdale, Graeme
    2013 Multiple inheritance and constructional change. Studies in Language37(3). 491–514. doi:  10.1075/sl.37.3.02tro
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.37.3.02tro [Google Scholar]
  42. Trousdale, Graeme & Muriel Norde
    2012 Degrammaticalization and constructionalization: Two case studies. Language Sciences36. 32–46. 10.1016/j.langsci.2012.03.018
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2012.03.018 [Google Scholar]
  43. Wang, Weihui
    2000Donghan-Suitang Changyongci Yanbian Yanjiu [On the evolution of common words from Eastern Han Dynasty to Sui-Tang Dynasties]. Nanjing: Nanjing University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. 2011 Guren ruhe chifan [How the ancients eat]. Yuyan Wenzi Zhoubao [Language Weekly] 1(19). 4.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Williams, Kemp
    1991 Radial structuring in the Hausa lexicon: A prototype analysis of Hausa ‘eat’ and ‘drink’. Lingua85. 321–340. 10.1016/0024‑3841(91)90002‑M
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3841(91)90002-M [Google Scholar]
  46. Wu, Yicheng & Yanzhi Li
    2014 Yuyan jiwuxing de goushi yanjiu [Transitivity in the constructional perspective]. Waiguo Yu [Journal of Foreign Languages] 37(3). 41–48.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Xiong, Xueliang
    2012 A cultural-pragmatic account of the ‘CHI+NP’ expressions in Chinese. Intercultural Pragmatics9(2). 225–243. doi:  10.1515/ip‑2012‑0013
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2012-0013 [Google Scholar]
  48. Yu, Liming & Lü Jianjun
    2011 “Wang Mian sile fuqin” de lishi kaocha [The historical development of the construction as represented by the sentence Wang Mian si-le fuqin]. Zhonguo Yuwen [Studies of The Chinese Language] 1. 32–42.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Zhan, Fangqiong & Elizabeth C. Traugott
    2015 The constructionalization of the Chinese cleft construction. Studies in Language39(2). 459–491. doi:  10.1075/sl.39.2.06zha
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.39.2.06zha [Google Scholar]
  50. Zhang, Cheng
    2002Hanyu jieci cizu cixu de jufa yanbain [The Historical Evolution of the Word-order of Prepositional Phrases in Chinese]. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Zipf, K. George
    1935The Psycho-biology of Language: An Introduction to Dynamic Philology. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. 1949Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to Human Ecology. Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Press.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.17001.li
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.17001.li
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error