The Decategorization Of V/A + Si + Le Construction

As one of the most frequently used constructions in oral Chinese,"V/A + si + le"construction is able to express several meanings vividly. Therefore, it has aroused many scholars'interest. However, their studies mainly focus on its semantic, pragmatic or grammaticalization features, that is, they are still limited to static description level. Yet, the present thesis goes beyond the border and digs out the cognitive mechanism for its meaning development.Having found out 202 characters and 84 two-character words that fit into the construction, this paper systematically analyzes it from static and dynamic perspectives, namely, construction and decategorization. According to cognitive semantics, the construction is divided into three variants: variant A indicating result only; variant B both result and degree; and variant C the highest degree only. Based on in-depth analysis of its grammatical, phonological, semantic, and pragmatic features, it is found that decategorization is the right cognitive mechanism for the meaning development. By decategorization, we mean the continuous peripherization process of prototype member(s), which is characterized by semantic abstraction and generalization; disappearance of formal features; transference of functions and category shift and motivated by metaphor.The major findings of the thesis are as follows:1. Finding out the exact number of Chinese characters and words that fit into the construction.2. Going beyond the border of description and dug out the cognitive mechanism for the meaning development.