Study On "X+N_causee" Causative Compounds In Modern Chinese

In "X+N_causee" causative compounds which have not obtained enough attention, X and N_causee have an unusual causative semantic relation, compared with other verb-object compoundsthat usually show governing semantic relation. Previous studies on causative category weremainly from the syntactic perspective, and this doctoral dissertation, based on ConstructionTheory, will research "X+N_causee" causative compounds from the perspective of syntax, lexicaland semantic & diachronic and synchronic.This doctoral dissertation takes "X + N_causee" causative compounds as the "X +N_causee"-causative-compound construction in modern Chinese for four reasons:â‘ "X+N_causee"causative compounds are form-meaning pairs,â‘¡the semantic relation between X and N_causee isunpredictable from the meaning of component parts,â‘¢the semantic relation between X andN_causee is also unpredictable from other previously established constructions,â‘£"X+N_causee"causative compounds are productive. The research on "X+N_causee" causative compounds willexpand the application space of Construction Theory in Chinese.The main conclusion of this doctoral dissertation on the "X+N_causee"-causative-compoundconstruction are as following:1.The "X+N_causee"-causative-compound construction is analyzed in three sides: the structure,the construction meaning and the required conditions. The viewpoint that the "X +N_causee"-causative-compound construction comes from the causative construction in ancientChinese has been proved.2.According to the grammatical feature of X, the "X + N_causee"-causative-compoundconstruction can be classified into three types as "X_vt+N_causee", "X_vi+N_causee" and "Xadj+N_causee", and they build a semantic net, the center of which is "making N_causee change to X". Inaddition, the meaning of the "X+N_causee"-causative-compound construction and its constituentsare interactive. 3.The influence of the "X+N_causee"-causative-compound construction lies on two levels: onthe diachronic level, the "X + N_causee"-causative-compound construction has enriched themeanings of X and reinforced the transitivity of X; on the synchronic level, the "X +N_causee"-causative-compound construction has made the number of "X + N_causee" causativecompounds increase rapidly and also made the "X+N_causee" causative compounds be used mainlyin the fields such as treatment and medicine, cosmetic advertisement and health care. As result ofthe functions of the "X+N_causee"-causative-compound construction, the "X+N_causee" causativecompounds have become a prototype category.4.The factors influencing the typical/marginal status of a "X+N_causee" causative compoundinclude:â‘ the grammatical and semantic features of "X+N_causee" causative compounds includingthe word-class, the quality of separation between X and N_causee, and the degree of abstraction ofthe word meaning;â‘¡the grammatical and semantic features of X and N_causee: the syntacticindependence of X or N_causee, the change of X in [+action] and [+state], and the animate hierarchyof N_causee.The research on "X+N_causee" causative compounds was triggered by the misunderstanding ofsome words in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. I hope that the research will providesome reference and directions for the vocabulary teaching in Teaching Chinese as a SecondLanguage.