A Contrastive Study Of Grammaticalization Of Double-object Construction In English And Chinese

Double-object construction, as it contains two objects, has always been a significant issue in the field of grammar study. The previous cross-linguistic studies of double-object construction are confined in analyzing the grammaticalized structure, namely, the existing surface structure of the construction. However, as far as this thesis is concerned, the study of language should never be confined to the analysis of grammaticalized structure, but more importantly, it should investigate the mechanism motivating the realization of grammaticalization so as to find out the mechanism influencing the language operation. Based on the real corpora and under the guidance of the theory of grammaticalizaion, this thesis has described, analyzed and explained the similarities and differences in the process, manner, degree and form of grammaticalization of double-object construction between English and Chinese by means of quantitative statistics and qualitative analysis.First of all, this thesis has presented a relatively systematic and comprehensive introduction of grammaticalization. It refers to the process in which various factors determining the formation of grammar, mainly the related semantic content and pragmatic factors gradually solidify into grammatical content and grammatical structures. But with the development of the study on grammaticalization, expansion is also recognized as grammaticalization by some scholars.Then, based on the collected corpora, this thesis has made a contrastive study of the process, manner, degree and form of grammaticalization of double-object construction in English and Chinese. The result shows:(1) double-object construction in English and Chinese has the same process, manner and form of grammaticalization. From the analysis of the collected corpora, we have found that in the process of grammaticalization of double-object construction both in English and Chinese, there exist the solidification of semantic content into construction and the abstraction and expansion of patient; the manners of grammaticalization of double-object construction both in English and Chinese are the Manner of Construction and the Manner of Iconicity; and the form of grammaticalization of double-object construction both in English and Chinese is dominant.(2) Double-object construction in English and Chinese has different degrees of grammaticalization, and the form of grammaticalization of double-object construction in English and Chinese has different degrees of dominance. Specifically speaking, the degree of grammaticalization of double-object construction and the degree of dominance of the form of grammaticalization of double-object construction in English are higher than in Chinese. And the higher degree of grammaticalization of double-object construction in English is reflected in two aspects:the degree of the abstraction and expansion of direct object in double-object construction in English is higher than in Chinese, and secondly, the degree of the conventionalization and formation of double-object construction in English is higher than in Chinese.Based on the above results, this thesis has provided a detailed cognitive explanation for the existence of similarities and differences in the grammaticalization of double-object construction between English and Chinese. The existence of similarities has been examined from the motivations and mechanisms of grammaticalization. The result has shown that grammaticalization of double-object construction in English and Chinese shares the same motivations, including cognitive motivations (iconicity, categorization, and subjectification) and pragmatic motivations (repetition and the principle of economy) and the same mechanisms, including analogy, metaphor and metonymy. Therefore, the grammaticalization of double-object construction in English and Chinese has the same process, manner and form. As for the existence of differences in the grammaticalization of double-object construction between English and Chinese, they have been explored from two aspects: different thinking models between the Chinese and the westerners and different ways of conceptualization in English and Chinese. Chinese people’s understanding thinking model is a holistic thinking model, while the westerners’rational thinking model is an analytical thinking model. Differences in thinking models lead to the linguistic fact that English grammar attaches great importance to hypotaxis, while Chinese grammar to parataxis. As a result, the semantic boundary of direct object in double-object construction in English is much easier to be broken in the process of grammaticalization, which directly gives rise to the higher degree of the abstraction and expansion of direct object in double-object construction in English. And different ways of conceptualization for the same action result in the phenomenon that verbs entering the double-object construction in English and Chinese have different moving directions, as a result of which the degree of the conventionalization and formation of double-object construction and the degree of dominance of the form of grammaticalization of double-object construction in English are higher than in Chinese.So far, this thesis has strived to present a relatively systematic investigation of the grammaticalization of double-object construction in English and Chinese, which is of great importance to find out the commonalities and personalities of English and Chinese and to better understand the essence of language operation. Besides, it can also be of great reference value to the learning, teaching and translation of double-object construction in English and Chinese.