A Construction Grammar Approach To "Bei+X" Construction

"Bei+X"construction (BXC) is a newly produced construction in Chinese in recent years. It looks rather similar to the traditional bei-sentence(被字句) apparently, but examined in detail, it is quite different from bei-sentence either in form or meaning. Therefore, it has attracted many scholars'attention in the last few years. In previous studies, most linguists have adopted a traditional structuralistic approach to BXC, and their studies are only limited to descriptive level. With structuralistic approach, we can only describe the superficial features of BXC, but cannot disclose its intrinsic regulations. In addition, the traditional linguistic theories are designed for normal and regular language phenomenon, but for those new and irregular ones, they seem to be helpless to some extent. For example, under the theoretical framework of structuralism, the dispute on whether BXC belongs to lexical level or syntactic level can not be solved. Therefore, studying BXC with structuralistic approach itself has some limitations.In the present research, we study BXC with the cognitive approach and under the framework of construction grammar; in this way, many unsolved problems can be settled. The objective of the present research is to find out the common rule and intrinsic relations of different BXC instances, and offer a unified explanation for all BXC expressions.Under the framework of Goldberg's construction grammar, the present research firstly extracts the core construction meaning of BXC from its concrete instances in context and analyzes its semantic structure with the argument structure analytical approach. Then, the author researches on the semantic interaction between BXC and the key word bei and other words in it. Three conclusions are drawn from the research: Firstly, BXC is a"force-result"construction whose core construction meaning is that A is"forced"to take certain action or be in certain state. The construction can be analyzed in two parts: the process of"force"and the result of "force". Secondly, the main semantic roles of BXC are"forcee"(who is forced),"forcer"(who forces),"force"(the process) and"result"(of the process of"force"). The"forcer"is usually in the dominant position over"forcee". The process of"force"is a rather abstract process which can be realized in many ways. And the result of"force"can be a action or a state (real or unreal). Thirdly, there are semantic interactions between the construction of BXC and words entering it.Although this research reveals some intrinsic regulations of BXC, it is still rather limited. As a new construction, BXC is still in rapid development, and many of its features are in a constant changing situation. We should continue observing its development and carry out further research on it.