title: Resultative constructions in Mandarin Chinese from the perspective of
      construction grammar
title: a cognitive-typological view
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Yu, Shuo
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2018
Subjects: Resultative constructions
The Ba-construction
Magnitude estimation
construction grammar
Cognitive linguistics

description: This thesis provides a study of resultative constructions in Mandarin
      Chinese in line with construction grammar from a cognitive-typological
      perspective. Mainly focusing on the acceptability of Chinese resultatives
      formed as [subject + verb + (object) + result XP + (aspect marker 了 le)],
      the research consists of a corpus study and acceptability judgements via
      questionnaire surveys. As some Chinese resultatives are more acceptable
      with the 把 ba-construction whereas others are not, the questionnaires also
      investigate combinations of 把 ba and resultatives.
      
      In the corpus study of Chinese resultatives, data are collected from the
      Lancaster Corpus of Mandarin Chinese (LCMC) based on the result XPs listed
      in the Online Database on Verb-Resultative Constructions in Contemporary
      Chinese (ODVRC). A result XP refers to a change of state or location of a
      referent of an NP caused by an action denoted by the verb, based on which
      two tests are proposed to identify Chinese resultatives. The tests also
      distinguish marginal and prototypical resultatives in Chinese. A
      descriptive analysis of Chinese resultatives is presented in terms of type
      and token frequency with regard to different classifications, namely
      subject- versus object-oriented, transitive- versus intransitive-based,
      and weak versus strong versus spurious. I propose a distinction among
      agent- versus patient- versus location-oriented resultatives to fully
      account for the properties of Chinese resultatives. In addition, the
      results suggest that Chinese belongs to the same type as English,
      permitting both strong and weak resultatives. This is different from
      languages which only allow weak ones (e.g. Japanese, French and Italian).
      
      Two questionnaire surveys among Chinese college students are carried out
      to test the acceptability of subject- and object-oriented resultatives, as
      well as combinations with the 把 ba-construction. Magnitude estimation is
      adopted as a judging technique, which can detect subtle but significant
      differences in acceptability. The results suggest that the acceptability
      of subject- and object-oriented resultatives depends on whether there
      could be a postverbal NP in the sentence. The conditions that determine
      acceptability in the two types vary phonologically, syntactically and
      semantically.
      
      The acceptability of 把 ba + resultatives forms a continuum, especially for
      把 ba + subject-oriented patterns with significant differences. The
      acceptability of 把 ba + resultative depends on the degree of semantic
      transitivity expressed by a sentence. Generally, resultatives construed as
      having a high degree of semantic transitivity are more acceptable with 把
      ba. The cognitive explanation I propose is that high transitivity
      expressed by the sentence is compatible with the function of 把 ba as a
      marker of the high transitivity. This also sheds light on the discussion
      of the function of the 把 ba-construction in scholarship for viewing it as
      a marker of high transitivity rather than expressing disposal or
      causativity.