| The present dissertation examines the lexical causative in the Zuozhuan, which relates to many fields of linguistics including morphology, semantics, syntax, the interface between semantics and syntax, and so on. Moreover, the lexical causative is considered to be the direct source of the resultative verb compound---a frequently discussed issue in Chinese historical grammar. Most of the previous studies about the lexical causative only focus on one aspect or another, whereas this dissertation provides a comprehensive explanation for various aspects of the lexical causative in the Zuozhuan based on Construction Grammar. Observations from language typologists are also considered. It is shown that the lexical causative is the result of the "fusion" between the verb and two different constructions, Direct Causative Construction and Change Construction. The success of the fusion is determined by the semantic properties of constructions. A new markedness pattern based on Typological Markedness Theory (Greenberg 1966; Croft 1990, 2001) is set up to explain the relationships between verbs and the construction. This markedness pattern is supported, not only by data from the Zuozhuan, but also, by cross-linguistic survey. |
