A Cognitive Approach To The Formation Mechanisms Of Temporal-Subject Construction In Mandarin Chinese

Within the framework of cognitive linguistics, this thesis attempts to investigate the formation mechanisms underpinning Chinese temporal-subject constructions(CSTC henceforth), specifically based on conceptual metaphor theory and some notions in Cognitive Grammar.CSTC in Mandarin Chinese is the construction in which the temporal word as the subject not only specifies the participant in the relationship designated by the verb, but also signifies the temporal setting for the whole occurrence designated by the construction. The syntactic structure of CSTC can be abstracted as “temporal word + verb +(other grammatical elements)”. In light of different archetype roles of the temporal subject, CSTC can be classified into four types on basis of the collected data. They are CSTC with subject as both agent and temporal setting, CSTC with subject as both causer and temporal setting, CSTC with subject as both experiencer and temporal setting and CSTC with subject as both mover and temporal setting.It is argued that the formation of CSTC is made possible by the event-reference-point model mechanism and the conceptual metaphorical coordination mechanism. The eventreference-point model mechanism enables the conceptualizer to establish mental contact with the target of time, one of the components of the event designated by the construction, by virtue of the entire event as the reference point. Due to the dynamic aspect of the reference point and the cognitive salience of the target, the conceptualizer’s primary focus is shifted from the event to the time. The cognitive salience is manifested by the structural salience. Hence, the temporal word that designates temporal setting takes up the starting point of the linguistic structure, namely, the subject position of structural salience.Then, the conceptual metaphorical coordination mechanism coordinates the semantic conflict between the profile of the temporal word and the schematic trajector required by the verb via the cognitive operations of personification, metonymy, or metaphor. This mechanism is further divided into three subtypes, namely, the personification-coordination mechanism, the metonymy-coordination mechanism and the metaphor-coordination mechanism. The first mechanism is involved in CSTC with subject as both agent and temporal setting and CSTC with subject as experiencer and temporal setting, while the latter two are involved in the CSTC with subject as causer and temporal setting and CSTC with subject as mover and temporal setting respectively. With these subtypes of conceptual metaphorical coordination mechanism, correspondence is established between the specification of the temporal word and the schematic trajector of the verb, resulting in their integration. Thus, the temporal word can take part in the relationship designated by the verb and play different archetype roles in different types of CSTC.These two cognitive mechanisms are closely related and work together one after the other, and they have eventually rendered the temporal words with the status as both the clause-level temporal setting and the verb-level participant. As a result, the CSTC is finally formed as a kind of marked coding.