| The arguments of deverbal nouns in English can be syntactically realized to varying degrees in nominal phrase constructions such as N1’s DN,DN of N1,and N1’s DN of N2.There are many constraints on the realization of these arguments in the above-mentioned phrase constructions,due to semantic characteristics of the source verbs.In the semantic structure of the verb destroy,for example,the patient is saliently profiled,and accordingly its deverbal noun appear with the patient rather than the agent normally in the N1’s DN construction.It’s found that the semantic constraints of the N1’s DN construction are directly related to the way the verb profiles its semantic roles,while the DN of N1 and N1’s DN of N2 constructions are more susceptible to the causation type the verb encodes.Existing studies,especially those by generative linguists,mainly focus on the grammatical nature of deverbal nouns,lacking in the analysis on the distribution and constraints of the various types of deverbal nouns in these nominal phrase constructions.The mechanism of argument realization for these deverbal nouns also awaits further explanation.Besides,only a small number of deverbal nouns are analysed by existing studies and thus it’s doubtful whether their findings are generally applicable.In view of the neglected parts by existing studies,the present study is conducted to analyze and answer the following three questions:1.What’s the distribution pattern of deverbal nouns of various semantic types in the N1’s DN,DN of N1 and N1’s DN of N2 constructions?What constraints do these constructions have on the verbs appearing in them?2.How do deverbal nouns of the various types get their arguments realized in these constructions?What mechanism works behind the argument realization of deverbal nouns?3.What role does the above-mentioned mechanism play in the semantic formation of atypical deverbal nouns?Based on the mass-scale linguistic data of COCA corpus,the present study sums up the distribution patterns of deverbal nouns in the nominal phrase constructions and the constraints they bear,analyzes the semantic interaction between the constructions and deverbal nouns and the mechanism for the realization of the arguments of deverbal nouns.Then,based on Talmy’s Force Dynamics and Croft’s Causal Order Hypothesis,the Force Transmission Templates Hypothesis is proposed.Under the framework of Cognitive Construction Grammar,we establish an analytical framework for the mechanism of argument realization for deverbal nouns.Under this framework,and based on the Force Transmission Templates Hypothesis,we set to analyze the aforementioned constraints and the cognitive motivation driving the mechanism of argument realization of deverbal nouns in these constructions.Our analysis reveals the semantic constraints of these nominal constructions on deverbal nouns.Event-denoting deverbal nouns are relational nouns that interact semantically with nominal constructions they appear in.Verbs profile their semantic roles in different ways,constraining syntactic behaviors of their deverbal nouns,especially when they appear in a nominal construction.The N1’s DN construction is a type of Reference-Point construction that identifies an event with the help of a participant role as the reference point.For this function,the participant role saliently profiled by the verb would be selected,allowing the deverbal noun to appear in the construction.The DN of N1 construction is used to specify the event the deverbal noun describes with the help of the object role,and nouns derived from verbs with causative meanings are more compatible.N1’s DN of N2 is compatible with nouns derived from transitive verbs with animate agents.In the process of a deverbal noun joining into the construction,constructional coercion and participant role profiling by the deverbal noun play their constraints by stages.In the event described by the deverbal noun,the salience of a participant role is a reflection of the semantic type of the deverbal noun and the mode of force transmission between the roles.The way a participant is profiled determines if the corresponding argument can be realized in the construction.Thus,destruction,a deverbal noun of the Causation force transmission mode,realizes its patient argument rather than the agent in the N1’s DN construction.This study also gives a detailed analysis of how the various force transmission modes determines the way arguments of the deverbal nouns are realized,and the mechanism for the realization of a single and two arguments of the deverbal noun.This study further reveals that the arguments of the deverbal noun can be syntactically realized by atypical deverbal nouns,in addition to its realization as a component noun of nominal phrase constructions.An atypical deverbal noun designates a thing rather than an event,but their designation is not arbitrary.They only designate roles on the force transmission chain that is not easily designated.The peculiar way the deverbal noun gets its arguments syntactically realized is also determined by the force transmission the deverbal noun encodes,driven by pragmatic factors.This chapter analyzes this mode of participant role representation and the relevant mechanism.This study explains the mechanism for argument realization of deverbal nouns in the cognitive linguistic approach.Supported firstly by mass-scale linguistic corpus data,the research questions are analyzed for both the deverbal noun aspect and the construction aspect.Explanation is given for the constraints nominal phrase constructions have on deverbal nouns,the mechanism of argument realization of deverbal nouns,and the motivation behind based on Force Dynamics.In this way,this study deepens our understanding on the mechanism of argument realization of deverbal nouns,and can be of reference for future research. |
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