Edited by Dingfang Shu, Hui Zhang and Lifei Zhang
[Human Cognitive Processing 67] 2019
► pp. 73–94
The productive schema of a grammatical construction allows speakers to produce creative utterances. However, the fact that constructions tend to be partially but not fully productive has puzzled scholars for decades. This chapter analyzes the partial productivity of a highly productive construction – the Chinese zhe Existential Construction, in particular the collostructional strength (Stefanowitsch and Gries 2003) between verbs and this construction. Findings suggest that there is a blending of scenes in the use of transitive verbs in this construction and the semantic constraints limiting new instances lie in the relative salience of the following participant roles in verb semantics – theme, patient and location. Verbs with the profiled role of agent or experiencer are not compatible with this construction.