英语同源宾语结构生成机制的认知语法研究.pdf

河南大学 硕士学位论文 英语同源宾语结构生成机制的认知语法研究 姓名：鞠瑞艳 申请学位级别：硕士 专业：英语语言文学 指导教师：刘辰诞 2011-03 iii 摘摘 要要 英语中存在一种特殊的语言现象，有些不及物动词后面可以接与其词形相似，词义 相同的名词作为宾语，这类结构在英语语法中被称作同源宾语结构。它们体现在如下例 句中： (1) bill sweats hard-earned sweat during the football game. (coca) (2)the teacher laughed many ridiculous laughs for kids. (coca) (3) mr. smith bleeds red blood in the accident. (coca) 国内外许多学者从多个角度对英语同源宾语结构的句法、 语义等方面的特征做了较 为细致的研究，但是，很少有人涉及对此结构的生成机制的研究。因此，本文试图在认 知语法的理论框架下，对同源宾语结构的生成机制进行研究。 本文首先对提取自 coca 的真实语料进行分析，总结出同源宾语所独有的认知特 征：归属性、依赖性、显著性, 抽象性和唯一性，同时又详细探讨了这些认知特征的应 用价值。这一研究可以帮助我们更好地界定同源宾语结构，以进一步明确我们的研究对 象。 在此基础上，本文指出，根据说话者概念化过程的差异，同源宾语既可以被识解为 动词所述的事件本身，也可以被识解为动作的结果。其中，事件性同源宾语是通过总体 扫描和凸显转换得来的，它凸显的是一个由动词所表过程的各个状态构成的有界实体， 而结果性同源宾语是在此基础上经过又一次凸显转换生成的， 它凸显的是该过程的最终 状态。二者之间存在整体和部分或转喻关系。 基于以上研究，本文对同源宾语结构中的不及物动词的概念内容进行分析，指出这 些动词本身只能凸显一个由主语对其进行详细化阐释的图式性次结构，即射体，而无界 标。但是，在动词和其同源宾语之间的因果关系的促动下，表达“致使-存在义”的单 宾语构式对这些动词进行范畴化，使其获得额外的“致使-存在义”，从而他们可以提 供一个由同源宾语的凸显对其进行详细化阐释的界标。这样，本文最终提出了英语同源 宾语结构的生成机制。随着频繁使用，这些动词可能会被赋予一个囊括了其原始义和由 单宾语构式提供的“致使-存在义”的扩展义。 本文从认知语法的角度尝试分析了英语同源宾语结构的生成机制。毫无疑问，本研 iv 究取得了一定的成果，但也不可避免地存在一些局限性。最后一章着重阐述了本文的主 要发现和局限性，并展望了后续研究可能采取的视角。 关键词：同源宾语结构，认知语法，认知特征，生成机制 i abstract in english, there exists a very special linguistic phenomenon, in which some intransitive verbs can take as objects some nouns which are morphologically related and semantically similar to them. such structure is referred to as the cognate object construction (coc) in english grammar, and it is exemplified by the following sentences: (1) bill sweats hard-earned sweat during the football game. (coca) (2) the teacher laughed many ridiculous laughs for kids. (coca) numerous scholars at home and abroad have made a careful study of the syntactic and semantic features of the coc from various perspectives. however, few scholars have touched upon its production mechanism. the present study, thereupon, attempts to make a tentative exploration of the production mechanism of the coc from the perspective of langackers cognitive grammar. based on the careful analysis of the real-life data extracted from the coca(corpus of contemporary american english), the present thesis first sums up the unique cognitive features of the coc, which include attributiveness, dependence, prominence, abstractness and uniqueness. meanwhile, the application value of these cognitive features is also discussed in greater detail. this study can help us to delimit the coc and further clarify our research object. in accordance with above observation, the present paper points out that cognate object (co) can be construed as either the event or the final state of the event specified by the verbal process, depending on speakers conceptualization. the eventive co profiles a bounded entity composed of the component states of the process through the cognitive processing activities of summary scanning and a shift in profile. the resultant co is captured through re-shifting ii the profile from the bounded event to the final state of the process. they stand in a part-whole or metonymic relationship. then, the present thesis analyzes the conceptual content of the intransitive verbs used in the coc, pointing out that originally they can only profile one schematic substructure, i.e., the trajector, which can only be elaborated by the profile of the subject. they cannot provide a landmark. however, motivated by the causal relationship between the intransitive verbs and their corresponding cos, these intransitive verbs are categorized by the monotransitive construction with a “cause-existence” meaning, and thereby they can be apprehended as verbs of “cause-existence”. the result is that they can provide a landmark, which is elaborated by the profile of co. in this way, the present thesis eventually comes up with the production mechanism of the coc. with repeated use, these intransitive verbs will be endowed with an extended meaning, which subsumes the content of both the construction and themselves. this paper has made a tentative study of the production mechanism of the coc in english from the perspective of cognitive grammar. no doubt, it has yielded many fruitful results, but unavoidably it also has many limitations. the last chapter will discuss the findings and limitations of the present research, and at the same time, suggest some possible perspectives for future study. key words: english cognate object construction, cognitive grammar, cognitive features, production mechanism ix list of figures figure 2-117 figure 2-2.19 figure 2-3.20 figure 3-1.25 figure 3-2.27 figure 3-3.29 figure 3-4.32 figure 5-1.49 figure 5-2.49 figure 5-3.51 figure 5-4.59 figure 5-5.61 figure 5-6.63 figure 5-7.63 figure 5-8.65 关于学位论文独创声明和学术诚信承诺 本人向河南大学提出硕士学位申请。本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文是本人在导 师的指导下独立完成的， 对所研究的课题有新的见解。 据我所知， 除文中特别加以说明、 标注和致谢的地方外，论文中不包括其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果，也不包括其 他人为获得任何教育、科研机构的学位或证书而使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同事对 本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。 在此本人郑重承诺：所呈交的学位论文不存在舞弊作伪行为，文责自负。 学位申请人（学位论文作者）签名： 201 年 月 日 关于学位论文著作权使用授权书 本人经河南大学审核批准授予硕士学位。作为学位论文的作者，本人完全了解并同 意河南大学有关保留、使用学位论文的要求，即河南大学有权向国家图书馆、科研信息 机构、数据收集机构和本校图书馆等提供学位论文（纸质文本和电子文本）以供公众检 索、查阅。本人授权河南大学出于宣扬、展览学校学术发展和进行学术交流等目的，可 以采取影印、 缩印、 扫描和拷贝等复制手段保存、 汇编学位论文 （纸质文本和电子文本） 。 （涉及保密内容的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书） 学位获得者（学位论文作者）签名： 201 年 月 日 学位论文指导教师签名： 201 年 月 日 chapter one introduction 1 chapter one introduction 1.1 research orientation the present thesis aims to make a tentative exploration of the production mechanism of the english cognate object construction (hereafter coc) from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. cognitive linguistics holds that meaning is conceptualization instead of being purely truth-functional. the production or understanding of any linguistic expression is closely related to the conceptualization of the conceived situation or the construal operations employed to describe and portray that situation. various construal operations have been identified by cognitive linguists and other linguists who have taken a conceptualist approach to semantics as well, among whom langackers analyses are most comprehensive. in addition, cognitive grammar also claims that it is by virtue of the correspondences or the conceptual overlaps between their component structures that they can be integrated to form a coherent and more elaborate composite structure. with this belief as a guideline, the present paper intends to provide a workable account of the production mechanism of the coc by spelling out the construal operations involved and elaborating the corresponding relationships among its component structures in greater detail. it is hoped that not only can our exploration of the production mechanism of the coc deepen our understanding of the very linguistic phenomenon per se, but also can promote our application of it in daily communication and literary writing. it is also hoped that the present research will bring a tide of interest in the comparative study of other linguistic phenomena such as the light-verb construction and the verb-adverbial construction, which are generally regarded as semantically equivalent to the the production mechanism of english cognate object construction：a cognitive grammar approach 2 coc by many traditional linguists at home and abroad. to start off, a brief introduction about the coc is provided for the convenience of future research. the coc first came into appearance in the 19th century and it exists in many languages such as arabic, chichewa, english, german, hebrew, chinese, russian and icelandic. since its first appearance, various names have been given to define it by numerous scholars. for example, in latin, it is termed as figura etymologica, and in some grammar books, it is sometimes referred to as cognate accusative or internal object. massam (1993) defines it as thematic object and grammar researcher levin (1993) points out that it could be regarded as the cognate prepositional phrase construction. whats more, other scholars such as quirk (1985), rice (1987) have also given definitions to cognate object (co). although these definitions differ from one another in one way or another, the true essence, that is, the object is morphologically and semantically cognate with the verb has never been overlooked. without any doubt, the word cognate spells out vividly the semantic and morphological relations between co and its corresponding verb. cognateness is one of the main criteria for us to distinguish the coc from other similar constructions. as one of the most complicated and labyrinthine linguistic phenomena ever existing in the english language, the coc is exemplified by the following sentences: (1) a. john smiled a happy smile. b. bob died a sudden death. c. they fought a heroic fought. (iwasaki 2007: 1) as can be observed from above examples, in the coc, a typically intransitive verb takes as its object a nominal phrase whose head is lexically and semantically cognate with the verb and the head of the nominal phrase is referred to as co in general. for example, in sentence (1-a), the co smile shares the same form and meaning with the verb smile, and this also holds chapter one introduction 3 true for sentences like (1-b) and (1-c). in other words, co is lexically cognate with its corresponding verb and it also tends to repeat its meaning. some scholars also claim that above examples can be paraphrased respectively as: (2) a. john smiled happily. b. bob died suddenly. c. they fought heroically. in accordance with above discussions, the present thesis proposes a tentative definition of the coc as following: the coc is a construction, in which the object is lexically and semantically cognate with its corresponding verb. specifically speaking, verbs used in the coc are commonly intransitive, and co is simply the noun form of its corresponding verb. although such a brief introduction and definition of the coc are far from perfect, it is of the essence for us to pin down the research object at the very beginning. additional descriptions about the coc will be provided in the following chapters. 1.2 research motivations research motivations of the present study are discussed in terms of its practical and theoretical significances. as one of the most complicated and labyrinthine constructions, english coc has aroused the interest of a great number of scholars at home and abroad since its first appearance in the 19th century. according to the related literature that has been collected, numerous scholars have studied the coc from the descriptive, generative and functional perspectives. their major focus has been put upon the definition and description of its syntactic and semantic features, which do help to deepen our understanding of the coc and lay a solid foundation for future research as well. although descriptive linguists have realized the production mechanism of english cognate object construction：a cognitive grammar approach 4 that most of the verbs used in the coc are intransitive in nature, which indicates that they can only take one argument, that is, the subject, they have sacrificed no time and energy to explain why these intransitive verbs can be used as transitive verbs and take more than one argument. researchers from the generative camp have touched upon this question slightly, but they mainly concentrate on the modification and perfection of the already-existing rules and principles of generative grammar so as to meet the syntactic requirements displayed in the coc. in addition, as a major representative linguist from the functional school, halliday has also studied the coc, but he mainly focuses his attention on the analysis of the social interactive function it serves. in other words, most of the previous studies have stopped at the superficial level and they have paid little attention to the underlying production mechanism of the coc. whats more, with the development of modern society, the english language has also undergone great changes, so has the coc. all of these newly-born characteristics need to be explicated clearly and adequately. to sum up, the practical significance of the present research lies in two aspects: one is the drawback of previous studies; the other is the complexity of the coc. the theoretical significance of the present study is discussed in the following. cognitive linguistics, as a counter-revolution to the chomskyan revolution, has proved to be a powerful and convenient theoretical tool in explaining all the existing language phenomena for it has absorbed and drawn upon fruits of the latest development of psychology, philosophy and linguistic theory. however, few studies have been done from this perspective. this apparent “blank area” is one of the major motivations for the present research. the present thesis thereupon attempts to apply one of the theories in cognitive linguistics, especially cognitive grammar to the study of the production mechanism of the coc in english. chapter one introduction 5 1.3 theoretical basis the present research is going to be conducted within the theoretical framework of langackers cognitive grammar. to be specific, the fundamental theoretical constructs adopted to explain the production mechanism of the coc include (1) conceptualization, (2) the a/d alignment model established by professor niu baoyi on the basis of langackers analyses of valence relations and (3) the theory of linguistic categorization. cognitive linguistics emerged in the 1970s and has developed into a popular and promising school in the field of linguistics. the three major hypotheses that cognitive linguistics has laid particular emphasis upon are: (a) language is not an autonomous cognitive faculty (b) grammar is conceptualization (c) knowledge of language emerges from language use (croft second, in actual speech, co is obligatorily modified for otherwise it adds nothing new to the verb; third, he points out that co exists to satisfy the expressive needs of speakers because sometimes it is impossible for it to add a descriptive element to the verb in the form of an adjunct; lastly, the coc is more frequently used by the upper class and in literary writing, while its adverbial equivalent is often found in the language of lower class and daily communication. quirk and his colleagues (1985) classify object phrases into the following types in terms of their semantic roles, namely, affected participant, locative object, resultant object, eventive object, instrumental object and cognate object. it can be inferred from the classification that co is in parallel with other object types. however, the word cognate merely reveals the morphological and semantic relations between the verb and its corresponding co, but has nothing to do with the semantic role that co plays in a particular clause. therefore, to some extent, this classification lacks validity. they also claim that co is semantically and morphologically related to its corresponding verb and conveys a rather orotund style. in most cases, co is modified, and its adjective modifying element can be converted into its corresponding adverbial which modifies the verb. in consequence, they tend to exclude co from the participant category. as regards what category co belongs to, they do not give any suggestion. in china, the coc has also interested a great number of scholars, but most of their observations are similar to those made by western scholars. the present section will only chapter three theoretical framework 11 explore some of the representatives for the sake of time and space. for example, as regards the verb type that can be used in the coc, zhang daozhen (1982) doubts the validity of the statement that only intransitive verbs can take co. li baozhong (2004) further classifies the coc into several types on the basis of the different morphological and semantic relations between co and its corresponding verb. furthermore, he claims that co is not a real object, but syntactically an attribute and conceptually an adverbial. song fei (2008) maintains that the coc can be used freely in various literary styles so as to achieve such stylistic effects as intensification, humor, clarity and so on. in summary, the descriptive studies at home and abroad have offered a comparatively detailed exploration of the morphological, semantic and syntactic characteristics of the coc. but their flaws are also easy to identify. firstly, the coc is not clearly defined. secondly, these descriptions are mainly based on researchers intuition and introspection, thus a little subjective. thirdly, the production mechanism underlying the coc remains untouched. 2.3 generative approach as a highly formalized approach to language emerging in the 1950s and flourishing to today, generative grammar views language as an innate cognitive faculty and it is mainly concerned with the study of a set of rules and principles that are employed to generate language. studies of the coc from this perspective have yielded the most influential and systemic achievements, but most of them have mainly focused upon the syntactic status of co. 2.3.1 cognate object as adjunct jones (1988: 89-107) defines the coc as “constructions in which a normally intransitive verb occurs with what appears to be a direct object np, whose head noun is the event or state nominalization of the verb”. based on this definition, he further argues that the coc is the production mechanism of english cognate object construction：a cognitive grammar approach 12 anything rather than homogeneous. he claims that only those sentences such as john di