On the principled polysemy of -kai in Chinese resultative verbs
The present study sets out to construct a semantic network for -kai in Chinese resultative verbs based on the framework of Principled Polysemy. Our analysis concerning the cognitive-pragmatic motivations for the meaning extensions of postverbal -kai pinpoints the significance of perspective-taking and real-world force dynamics in the conceptual structure of Chinese resultative verbs. With the aid of corpus data, we further demonstrate how pertinent textual cues help to disambiguate polysemous V-kai complex verbs and evoke metaphorical readings of the gestalt V–V constructions, hinting at the distributed and context-sensitive nature of the meaning construction of Chinese resultative verbs.
References (32)
Croft, Williams, and D. Alan Cruse. 2004. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Evans, Vyvyan. 2005. “The Meaning of Time: Polysemy, the Lexicon and Conceptual Structure.” Journal of Linguistics 41 (1): 33–75. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Evans, Vyvyan, and Melanie Green. 2006. Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy. 1979. “From Discourse to Syntax: Grammar as a Processing Strategy.” In Syntax and Semantics, vol.121, ed. by Talmy Givón, 81–112. New York: Academic Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goldberg, Adele E., and Ray Jackendoff. 2004. “The English Resultative as a Family of Constructions.” Language 80 (3): 532–568. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hopper, Paul, and Elizabeth C. Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Huang, Chu-Ren, and Shen-Min Chang. 1996. “Metaphor, Metaphorical Extension, and Grammaticalization: A Study of Mandarin Chinese –qilai
.” In Conceptual Structure, Discourse, and Language, ed. by Adele Goldberg, 201–216. Stanford: CSLI.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Huang, Su-miao, and Ching-yu Hsieh. 2008. “Grammaticalization of Directional Complements in Mandarin Chinese.” Language and Linguistics 9 (1): 49–68.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Johnson, Mark. 1987. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Langacker, Ronald W. 1987. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, vol.11. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Langacker, Ronald W. 1999. Grammar and Conceptualization. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Liu, Mei-chun. 1997. “Conceptual Basis and Categorial Structure: A Study of Mandarin V-R Compounds as a Radial Category.” In Chinese Languages and Linguistics IV: Typological Studies of Languages in China, ed. by Chiu-yu Tseng, 462–473. Taipei: Academia Sinica.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Liu, Yuehua, Wenyu Pan, and Hua Gu. 2004. Shiyong xiandai hanyu yufa [Practical Modern Chinese Grammar] (Revised and enlarged edition). Beijing: The Commercial Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lü, Louis Wei-lun. 2001. “Metaphorical Transfer and Pragmatic Strengthening: On the Development of V-diao in Mandarin.” Computational Linguistics and Chinese Language Processing 6 (2): 1–10.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Packard, Jerome L. 2000. The Morphology of Chinese: A Linguistic and Cognitive Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Palmer, Martha. 2000. “Consistent Criteria for Sense Distinctions.” Computers and the Humanities 341: 217–222. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Peña, Sandra Cervel. 1999. “Subsidiarity Relationships Between Image-schemas: An Approach to the Force Schema.” Journal of English Studies 11: 187–207. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ross, Claudia. 1990. “Resultative Verb Compounds.” Journal of the Chinese Language Teacher’s Association 25 (3): 61–83.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sandra, Dominiek. 1998. “What Linguists Can and Can’t Tell you about the Human Mind: A Reply to Croft.” Cognitive Linguistics 9 (4): 361–378. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sweetser, Eve. 1990. From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantics Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Taylor, John R. 2003. Linguistic Categorization (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Teng, Shou-hsin. 1977. “A Grammar of Verb-particle in Chinese.” Journal of Chinese Linguistics 51: 1–25.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Thompson, Sandra A. 1973. “Resultative Verb Compounds in Mandarin Chinese: A Case for Lexical Rules.” Language 49 (2): 361–379. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Traugott, Elizabeth C. 1989. “On the Rise of Epistemic Meanings in English: An Example of Subjectification in Semantic Change.” Language 65 (1): 31–55. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tyler, Andrea, and Vyvyan Evans. 2001. “Reconsidering Prepositional Polysemy Networks: The Case of over
.” Language 77 (4): 724–765. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tyler, Andrea, and Vyvyan Evans. 2003. The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wang, Ben Pin-Yun. 2012. “Usage Effects on the Cognitive Routinization of Chinese Resultative Verbs.” Research in Language 10 (4): 405–422. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Lu, Wei-lun
2022.
A Conceptual Exploration of Polysemy: A Case Study of [V] – [UP] and [V] – [SHANG],
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 august 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.