An Investigation Of Chinese Four-character Idioms Via Construction Grammar

Construction Grammar has recently evolved into the most crucial theoretical framework across formal and cognitive linguistics,whose research scope covers such dimensions as formal,cognitive and functional.Moreover,it brings forth innovative angles of vision into cross-linguistic constructions.Chinese idioms are considered not only a cultural heritage of 5,000 years of the Chinese history,but also one of its most fascinating sectors in the Chinese language.The idioms come in different forms(from three to sixteen characters in length)amongst which this study should focus only on the four-character ones with particular respect to the ‘two-plus-two’ constructions(2+2C,each ‘2’ standing for 2 characters as a unit)as they are the most widely distributed instances in current corpora and daily discourse.Confined to a limited number of four characters,the idioms are nevertheless capable of carrying rich information in a concise fashion.To ensure an insightful exposition of the various relationships between the two units of the 2+2 constructions in typical Chinese four-character idioms,this thesis examines the relationships based on Goldberg’s Construction Grammar by looking at such linguistic dimensions as formal,cognitive,and functional.Syntactical features of the two units,semantic relations of the two units,and pragmatics not only determine the phrasing sequence of the two units in a four-character idiom,but also specify the logic behind such phrasing order,that is,whether the two units can be inter-switched,and whether such a switch may cause semantic drift.By inspecting the Chinese four-character idioms from cognitive perspectives,this thesis argues that syntax,semantics,and pragmatics should be taken into consideration in interpreting Chinese four-character idioms.Also proposed is that a four-character idiom can be further divided into two component structures and that cognitive and functional perspectives must be sufficiently consulted before a thorough understanding of the idiom can be achieved.It studies the patterns of the idioms in terms of order and semantic domains.It advocates the value of traditional Chinese culture and provides the reader with a new perspective to do research with Chinese idioms.It will arouse people’s awareness of traditional culture,and help teachers to illustrate those idioms accurately.Values and logic behind the idioms can be found after the discussion,and people will gain a thorough understanding of idioms,which will promote the use of the idioms.Lastly,it also provides foreigners with a scientific method of learning Chinese four-character idioms.Besides,the 2+2 constructions have the attributes of parsimony,image schema,productivity,and processability.