The Cross-Level Study Of Serial Verb Constructions In Modern Chinese

The study on Serial Verb Constructions(SVCs)in modern Chinese started in the1950 s.In the past 70 years,fruitful research results have been achieved but some problems still exist.For example,the very notion and the definite scope of SVCs are not so clear,and whether it is necessary to study the construction as an independent grammatical structure is still hotly debated.Based on the systematic review of the studies on SVCs at home and abroad,this paper describes and explains SVCs in Chinese vocabulary and syntax in great detail under the framework of formal linguistics.With the help of grammaticalization theory,this paper explores the dynamic grammaticalization process of SVCs in different grammatical levels.In addition,it analyzes the relationship between SVCs and other approximate structures,so as to find out the grammatical position of SVCs.At last,the paper discusses the application value of the study from two aspects: Teaching Chinese as a foreign language and compiling Chinese dictionaries.This dissertation has been divided into six chapters.Chapter 1: Introduction.Three parts are included in this Chapter.The first part combs the previous studies of SVCs at home and abroad and introduces various research methods.Some problems in the study of SVCs in modern Chinese are clarified.The second part analyzes the relationship between lexical structure and syntactic structure in Modern Chinese,which proves the feasibility of the cross-level study of SVCs.On this basis,the object,method and significance of this study are illustrated.The third part introduces the source of the corpus and some important terms are defined.Chapter 2: SVCs in Chinese Vocabulary.This chapter describes the formal,semantic and phonological characteristics of SVCs and its generation in Chinese vocabulary.It is found that SVCs in Chinese vocabulary have unique structural features that other structures do not have.For example,the disyllabic serial verbs are not only determined by the composition,but also the agreement on the assignment of stress.There are a few trisyllabic seral verbs in which the strong pattern is 2+1 form.Four basic forms and different sources of seral verb idioms are demonstrated,in which V1σV2σis the dominant mode.This chapter describes the subcategories of SVCs,hoping to reveal the whole face of SVCs in Chinese vocabulary as carefully as possible.Through carelly description and comparison,it is found that SVCs in Chinese vocabulary are similar with the counterparts in coordinations.For example,SVCs and coordinative constructions have 1+1 and 2+2 collocations,but there are a lot of 1+2 and 2+1 collocations in predicate-complement constructions,and modifier-head constructions,etc.The generation of the disyllabic serial verbs is similar to that of coordinative compounds,which is determined by the disyllabic prosodic word template and the meaning of words,while the generation of subject-predicate,predicate-complement,and predicate-object are determined by the prosodic word template and the root of the syllable.Most of the four-syllable idioms can be in reverse order,while the structure and function change after the order is reversed.However,the coordinative idioms‘ structure and function are not changed when the order reversed,so the structure is more stable than that of subject-predicate,predicate-complement,and predicate-object constructions.Serial verb idioms and coordination can be divided into two parts,which are symmetrical in structure,and there are a lot of asymmetric phenomena in predicate-complement,predicate-object and modifier-head idioms.Chapter 3: SVCs in Chinese Syntax.The distinction between the phrase(single sentence)level and the complex sentence(discourse)level are made in this Chapter.SVCs in the phrase level refers to SVCs which stands on the non-predicate position in single sentences.SVCs in the complex sentence level refers to the sentences in which SVCs are the predicates.In the framework of generative grammar,this chapter describes and explains the features and generative process of SVCs in Chinese syntax.The main findings are as follows: 1)The generation of SVCs in the phrase(single sentence)level is the result of lexicalization of phrase structure caused by the syntactic position.SVCs in the phrase level look like words,which are actually phrases,occupying a position on the syntactic node.Through the comparison with some similar structures,the grammatical position of SVCs in Chinese syntax is clarified;2)The typical serial verb sentences are close to coordination which are generated from the DP deletion;3)Through the comparison with the approximate structures,it is pointed out that the typical serial verb sentences are not single sentences,but complex sentences.Chapter 4: SVCs‘ Grammaticalization.The dynamic grammaticalization of SVCs is revealed in this chapter.It is found that: 1)The most typical serial verb sentences are still kept in the complex sentence level as a text organization form in modern Chinese;2)With the decrease of verbs or verb phrases,namely changing the multi-verb phrases into the double verb phrases,sub-typical serial verb sentences enter the interface of complex sentence and single sentence.Finally,the sub-typical serial verb sentences look like single sentences,but still remain complex sentence level;3)In the atypical serial verb sentences,the sentences with ―zhe‖(着)change into single sentences accompanied by the diachronic grammaticalization of "zhe",while the sentences with directional verbs accompanied by the synchronic grammaticalization of directional verbs.When analyzing the lexicalization of SVCs,it is found that: 1)There are two ways of lexicalization: discourse > vocabulary,discourse > syntax > vocabulary;2)Based on the degree of lexicalization,SVCs in Chinese vocabulary can be divided into strong lexicalized SVCs and weak lexicalized SVCs;3)The word class change and semantic transfer in some SVCs‘lexicalization are demonstrated.Chapter 5: Applied Value of the Study.The fifth chapter mainly talks about the applied value of studies on SVCs from the perspectives of TCFL and Chinese dictionary compilation.This chapter combs systematically SVCs in HSK Standard Course(level 1 to level 6),published by CTI and Beijing Language and Culture University Press and had authorization from Confucius Institute Headquarters(Hanban).The distribution rule of SVCs and some mistakes in the coursebook are found out.Some suggestions are put forward from the perspective of textbook compilation and classroom teaching.As for the dictionary compilation,this paper summarizes the definition of Serial Verbs(SVs)in Modern Chinese Dictionary(the7th edition).It is found that there are six ways to interpret SVs in Modern Chinese Dictionary.Some flaws are pointed out and suggestions for revision are given.Chapter 6: Conclusion.This chapter summarizes the main ideas,the limits and the innovation of this dissertation.It also clarifies the future research directions.