On The Semantic Features And The Constructionalization Characteristics Of Composite Predicates

Composite predicate refers to Have/Take/Make/Give/Do+A+N_DEV,such as have a look,take a walk,make a tour,etc.The previous studies?Stein 1991;Algeo1995:204?argue that composite predicates serve the same syntactic-semantic functions as action verbs?such as look,walk,tour?do.Composite predicates belong to a type of verbs of semilexicolization-semigrammaticalization?Brinton 2008:33-53?.Composite predicates fulfill the grammatical function of markers characteristic of telic aspect?Traugott&Trausdale 2013:34-35?.However,there are some issues such as the construction meaning,metonymic meaning and the constructionalization characteristics,etc.left untouched concerning composite predicates.This study will deal with the following issues:?)What types of semantic functions do composite predicates fulfill?What are the syntactic-semantic features of composite predicates?And how they are different from previous studies??)Why do we say that composite predicates belong to double-level grammatical metonymies rather than single-level metonymies?What type of metonymic operation involved in composite predicates as grammatical metonymies??)Why do we say that composite predicates can be regarded as a type of constructions?What are the constructionalization characteristics of composite predicates?And what are the differences in the aspect of constructionalization degrees among the five composite predicates?The following methods are employed to explore the above issues:i)Documentary method.It is used to review the previous studies about the syntactic-semantic features of composite predicates.ii)Corpus method.BNC is used to collect data of the type constructs of the five composite predicates and their frequency of use.iii)Comparative method.It is adopted to explore the differences of the five composite predicates in the aspect of constructionalization degree.This study arrives at the following conclusions:?)Composite predicates fulfill the function of telicity and instant action function caused by their metonymic operation.Besides the causative meaning of the light verbs,the expressing of construction meaning of composite predicates and other constituents in composite predicates impose constraints on the N_DEVEV permitted into them.ii)Composite predicates work as a type of grammatical metonymy,which causes an“action”sentence to operate as an“action process”sentence,in which a double mapping operation is involved in the domain matrix.iii)Composite predicates are regarded as constructions because their meanings cannot be predicted from their parts fully and composite predicates are usage-based with a high frequency of use.?)The constructionalization degrees of the five composite predicates are as follows:a)The schematicity of the five composite predicates constitutes a hierarchy of Make+A+N_DEV>Have+A+N_DEV>Take+A+N_DEV>Give+A+N_DEV>Do+A+N_DEV.b)The productivity of the five composite predicates constitutes a hierarchy of:Make+A+N_DEV>Have+A+N_DEV>Take+A+N_DEV>Give+A+N_DEV>Do+A+N_DEV.c)The compositionality of the five composite predicates constitutes a hierarchy of Do+A+N_DEV>Give+A+N_DEV>Take+A+N_DEV>Have+A+N_DEV>Make+A+N_DEV.Composite predicates demonstrate obvious distinctions in the aspects of schematicity,productivity and compositionality.The compositionality of a composite predicate is negatively proportional to its schematicity and productivity:The schematicity and productivity of a composite predicate increase in agreement,whereas its compositionality decreases.