A Study On The Semantic Changes Of English Body Part Off/Out Construction From The Perspective Of Constructional Change

English Body Part Off/Out Construction(BPOC)is a special kind of idiomatic construction,syntactically expressed as [NPi V [NP onei’s body part] off/out].It shares the same configuration with Resultative Construction(RC)but a different constructional meaning.Instead of denoting the result state,BPOC focuses on denoting intensity.The mismatch between the lexical meaning and constructional meaning of BPOC has attracted linguists’ wide attention at home and abroad.Researchers have discussed its syntax,semantics,aspectual property,cognitive interpretation and pragmatic functions in detail,most of which focus on synchronic analysis but lack comprehensive knowledge of why and how BPOC makes it possible to change from denoting result state to denoting intensity.As is known to us,our body is the most important and direct medium for perceiving the external world.Since language is usage-based,the apparent feature of BPOC associated with the body involves complex cognitive processes and pragmatic choices,determining that it is inseparable from the changes in the use of language.Therefore,diachronically,this study tends to trace the path of semantic changes of BPOC together with motivations and mechanisms based on a usage-based model from the perspective of constructional change.This study specifically aims to answer the following three questions:(1)What are the verbs that enter the verb slot of BPOC and how many time periods can they be clustered?(2)What are the semantic characteristics of verb collexemes in different time periods?(3)What are the motivations and mechanisms of the semantic changes of BPOC?In order to answer the above questions,we use Corpus of Contemporary American English(COCA)and Corpus of History American English(COHA)as the data source to exhaustively retrieve BPOC both synchronically and diachronically.To analyze the semantic characteristics of BPOC,we conduct variability-based neighbor clustering(VNC)analysis and diachronic distinctive collexeme analysis with the help of R software and then dissect different time periods of two sub-constructions of BPOC,characteristics of the semantic changes of verb collexemes,as well as motivations and mechanisms of changes.Specifically,first we exhaustively retrieve and pick out the target construction by manual screening.The token frequency of off-construction and out-construction is 2905 and 1632 respectively,in which the corresponding type frequencies of verbs are 82 and 56.Given the relatively limited number of body part nouns,nouns in the noun slot of BPOC are regarded as node words and BPOC is exhaustively retrieved in COHA for all the verb collexemes.On the basis of obtaining available data,VNC analysis is conducted in R studio for diachronic data to get clustered time periods.Then by diachronic distinctive collexeme analysis,the association strength of verb collexemes with their periods is calculated.After acquiring strongly attracted collexemes,this thesis summarizes the classification and distribution of verbs and then analyzes patterns and path of semantic changes of BPOC.Finally,together with contextual information from COHA,motivations and mechanisms of semantic changes are elucidated.Major findings are as follows:(1)The type frequency of off-construction and out-construction is 82 and 56.The two sub-constructions of BPOC are clustered into different time periods: the off-construction is clustered into four periods: 1820s-1920 s,1930s-1990 s,2000s and2010s;and the out-construction is clustered into three periods: 1820s-1880 s,1890s-1920 s and 1930s-2010 s.(2)Different time periods attract various verb collexemes.The semantic changes of off-construction demonstrate the following characteristics: in 1820s-1920 s the semantics of verbs are well distributed in three categories: expressing changes of place or distance,manner of social interaction,and denoting activity or state;in 1930s-1990 s,semantics focus on various manners of communication during social interaction;and the last two independent periods witness the shift of dominant meaning from expressing concrete activity to denoting intensity abstractly.Meanwhile,more subclasses of verbs enter the verb slot.In the three time periods of out-construction,semantic changes undergo the following development: in 1820s-1880 s,the distinctive collexemes are mainly verbs denoting hurt and manners of communication in social interaction;but in1890s-1920 s,the meaning of verbs shifts to denoting activities as those in the third period of off-construction.In the recent period 1930s-2010 s,the semantics of construction again serve for social interaction to denote hurt and impoliteness,indicating that the semantic changes of verbs in out-construction mainly revolve around denoting social interaction and activities(core semantics),two core semantics of out-construction interacting and alternating in the development.Although the two sub-constructions of BPOC don’t change at the same pace as each other,their semantic changes reflect the convergent development,which shows a shift from simple activity-interpretation to intensity-interpretation.And it is by certain cognitive mechanisms that the construal for literal meaning to be abstractly understood can be realized.(3)The semantic changes of BPOC are driven by both external impetus and internal mechanisms of the language system.Language is context-based,and the demand for communication in a specific context leads to semantic changes.Context refers to certain language occasions,changes of which enable BPOC to evolve into a new independent construction from Resultative Construction;at the same time,based on the effect of frequency,specific semantics of a construct are gradually entrenched to be a prototype in repeated use.While coming across a similar expression,people will draw pragmatic inferences to understand it,driving the extension of semantics and increasing productivity.On the other hand,the constructional meaning of BPOC makes sense by coercion whose important interpretation mechanisms contain metonymy.Therefore,there is no doubt metonymy functions during semantic changes.In addition,together with metonymy,conceptual metaphor also facilitates the formation of new semantics.Another two important mechanisms are analogization and neoanalysis which operate in many cognitive processes,contributing to generating new meaning and attracting more verbs,which further increases the productivity of BPOC.This study combines diachronic analysis with synchronic description to examine the path of semantic changes with motivations and mechanisms of BPOC and dissect the origin of the special constructional meaning of BPOC,further confirming its independent constructional status and providing quantitative empirical support and methodological reference for more studies on constructions.The findings not only promote language learners’ knowledge of this construction and similar constructions but also offer implications for learning and teaching construction.