Potentials for grammaticalization

This paper discusses the grammaticalization of motion verbs in Mandarin. A class of motion verbs in Mandarin that regularly appears at either V1 or V2 position in the V1+V2 construction is only grammaticalized at the V2 position, where the verb becomes a directional complement. We provide a cognitive semantic account and propose a new hypothesis that we call the syntactic position and event type sensitivity hypothesis in grammaticalization. We analyze corpus data across five historical stages for 11 simplex directional complements. The analysis draws on Talmy’s macro-event theory and Lehmann’s grammaticalization parameters. It is concluded that motion verbs at the V1 position are most likely to have agentive subjects, which foregrounds the idea of motion in V1, while V2 focuses on the Agent’s purpose. Motion verbs at V2 are relatively more likely to have non-agentive subjects, which foregrounds the Path element in V2 and complements the action of V1, rather than the purpose of the Agent. What triggers the grammaticalization of the V2 is the foregrounding of the Path element in V2, which complements the action of V1, and its non-agentive subject.

The Study on the Teaching of the Basic Meaning of Chinese Directional Complement for Native English Speakers

Learning and mastering the basic meaning of the directional complement is an important content of Chinese language learning for native English speakers, and it is also an important basic knowledge for them to learn Chinese well. There exist two reasons why the directional complement is difficult to learn. On the one hand, the grammatical structure is complicated since it is not only necessary to consider whether there is an object behind the verb of the directional complement, but also the position of the object and the directional complement. On the other hand, the semantic relationship is complicated because the directional complement has both basic and extended meanings. As the most basic meaning of directional complement, it is shared by all directional complements. Therefore, we should teach the directional meaning of directional complement.

Multi-verb constructions in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese

Multiple verb constructions have been studied intensively in Chinese. However, given the typological differences between the Indo-European languages and Chinese, it is no surprise that the application of a ‘Western’ notion, namely ‘serial verb construction’ (SVC), has caused much debate. This study provides a working definition of ‘SVC’ in Old Chinese and then turns to diachronic issues, for example, the combinatorial possibilities of multiple verbs in Old Chinese, pre-Middle Chinese, and Middle Chinese, clarifying which kind of complex constructions may be regarded as verb serialising and which as verb compounding. With this in place, the study approaches an understanding of the evolution of multiple verb formations in Chinese. The finding reveals that multiple verbs in Old Chinese are combined via verb serialisation. Six combinatorial possibilities are confirmed: (a) unergative V + unergative V; (b) transitive V + unaccusative V; (c) unaccusative V + unaccusative V (change of state); (d) unergative V + unaccusative V; (e) transitive V + transitive V; (f) unaccusative V + unaccusative V (motion). These can be further classified into two groups: Group I: (a)–(d) are successive SVCs; Group II: (e)–(f) are coordinate SVCs. In pre-Middle Chinese, there are signs of verb compounding. The occurrence of disyllabic word roots in the Early Han Dynasty as well as (de)grammaticalisation may be responsible for this. In Middle Chinese, the grammaticalisation of transitive change-of-state verbs, and the degrammaticalisation of motion verbs, led to three different lexical categories: (a) partial intransitive change-of-state verbs turned into resultative complements (resulting in [transitive V + unaccusative V] SVC transiting into predicate-complement V-V (change-of-state)); (b) partial motion verbs degrammaticalised and turned into directional complements (resulting in [unergative V + unaccusative V] SVC transiting into predicate-complement V-V (motion)); and (c) the first verb in [coordinate SVC] receives preverbalisation (giving rise to modifier-predicate V-V).

KETEPATAN DAN VARIASI PENGGUNAAN PELENGKAP ARAH BAHASA MANDARIN DALAM KARANGAN PEMBELAJAR

This research aims at describing the correct use of directional complements and elaborating the diversity and meanings of compound directional complement (CDC) used in Mandarin learners' interlanguage. This research is a case study on the essay of Universitas Indonesia Chinese Study Program students. Results were obtained through qualitative data analysis method supported by simple calculation. Learners’ accuracy was reflected in identifying the direction of action, ordering the constituents in a sentence with directional complement, and selecting the motion verb. Meanwhile, inaccuracy appeared in four categories: misselection, misordering, overinclusion, and blends. On the other hand, the use of directional complements with literal meaning was very diverse, but not so for the metaphorical ones. Although the frequency of the metaphorical use of CDC was higher than the literal ones, there was a lack of the variation in the type of CDC used by the learners.

Extending the Talmyan typology: A case study of the macro-event as event integration and grammaticalization in Mandarin

The two-way typology proposed by Leonard Talmy has been extremely influential in the past few decades, and has led to a large number of publications. But while the majority of the literature is devoted to the identification of the verb-framed or satellite-framed status of individual languages, relatively little (if any) research focuses on the foundation of this theory. This article addresses the nature of the macro-event, a fundamental concept for the Talmyan two-way typology, proposing a diachronic aspect of the macro-event, an aspect that seems to be under-appreciated or even neglected. It argues that a macro-event results from the integration of two simpler events through grammaticalization in Mandarin. This hypothesis is supported by the behavior of directional complements in Mandarin Chinese in that these directional complements in combination with the main verbs can express all the five types of the macro-events that Talmy has analyzed to establish his typology, and that these macro-events themselves represent an integration of two simpler events and exhibit various degrees of grammaticalization. This study brings together two seemingly unrelated areas of research, that is, the area of event structure and that of grammaticalization, thus providing a new perspective on the Talmyan typological paradigm. The result, though supported by the data in Mandarin Chinese, might have universal value and implications for other languages as well.