【作者】 王勇；

【导师】 白解红；

【作者基本信息】 湖南师范大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2015， 博士

【摘要】 在现代语法研究中,动词因其在句子语义和句法结构中的特殊地位,尤其是对名词成分的制约和吸附作用,一直都是不同流派学者们研究的热点。纵观近期语言学研究,语法关系、句法结构、题元角色、论元结构构式、论元实现等有关事件及其参与者语言编码方式的语法研究全都涉及简单动词(simple verb or V)与名词或名词短语(noun phrase or NP)之间的复杂关系,经历了从语法结构描写到语义功能探索的发展过程。无论是结构主义对两者之间组合关系的描写,还是功能主义对其语义角色及关系的解释,抑或是认知主义对其句法结构与语义结构互动关系的探索,对动名复合形式的语法形态、句法属性、语义建构等问题都进行过深入系统的研究,成果颇丰。但对其词汇性地位的统一界定,尤其是动词类动名复合形式构建的论元实现问题研究,英语和汉语都存在描写充分但解释不足的问题。依赖概念语义的分析模式因忽视百科现实基础而无法提供满意的解决方案,无明显突破性进展。英语方面尤其薄弱,汉语研究也尚处于探索阶段,留有大量研究空间,亟待深入挖掘。本文以词汇性单位(周荐2003,2004)为基本标准,把英汉语言中都普遍存在的动词与名词复合形式,且为动词性的词汇性复合单位作为主要观察对象。涵盖了从词法地位典型的复合词到句法性突显的短语或固定搭配的所有动词性动名复合单位,将其统一界定为英汉动词性动名复合形式,标记为[V+NP]υ式。在认知构式语法框架下,英汉动词性动名复合形式作为形式与意义的匹配体,具备象征性符号单位的所有属性,是语言网络中的一种基本构式。据此,本研究试图在比较论述英汉动词性动名复合形式的形态特点、内在句法关系及其语义特质的基础上,运用Croft(2012)提出的有关论元实现的力动态致使理论(the force dynamic causal theory of argument realization),着重探讨制约这类词汇性单位构建的认知语义根源,概括其论元允准机制,论证英汉异同特征。主要研究问题包括:(1)英汉动词性动名复合形式呈现何种形态类型及特征?(2)英汉动词性动名复合形式的语义结构具有何种本质属性?(3)制约英汉动词性动名复合形式构建的论元允准结构和机制是什么?在认知语言学,尤其是认知构式语法理论框架下,本文综合运用语言符号编码的认知心理学感知符号系统观、原型范畴化理论以及论元实现的力动态致使理论,对英汉动词性动名复合形式的形态、句法语义及论元允准问题进行比较系统的认知研究。感知符号系统理论和原型范畴化理论侧重于对这类词汇性单位表征的语义建构基础与特征的认知阐释。论元实现的力动态致使理论则是一种融合了时间、质量与致使结构三维一体的事件结构模型(amodeloftemporal,qualitativeandcausalstructureofevents),建构了动词语义表征的体及力动态综合分析模式。借用认知语言学研究中的几何图形表征法,该理论形象描述了以致使及体结构为核心的动词语义结构对论元实现的根本性制约作用。从语义本质来讲,论元实现的核心参与者角色等级,包括主语、宾语和不同类型的旁格,既由事件的力动态致使结构决定,同时也受动词谓语体侧显的影响。体描述了事件随时间变化而呈现的质量状态及其展现方式,由时间(横轴)和质量(纵轴)维度共同界定,是一种二维直角几何维度。体不仅是事件的时间性呈现,也涉及呈现的方式,即事件随时间而变化的质量状态。事件随时间而呈现的时相(phase)顺序构成体轮廓(aspectualcontour),时体形式中特定谓词所指称的时相则成为侧显(profile)。致使结构作为第三维度,描述了参与者次事件作用于其他参与者次事件的力动态致使链关系,是一种非几何的、定向、非循环、非分支的曲线结构。力动态关系连接的不是,或者说,不只是这些次事件,而主要是不同参与者角色,同时决定它们的等级顺序。在致使及体的三维表征模型中,时间、质量和力动态致使特征体现人类对事件的不同认知识解操作,其结果即被编码为特定动词及其时体论元结构构式。croft(2012)依据以体及致使结构为特征的受影响度(affectedness)等级,总结了瞬时定向变化、结果行为(完成与未完成)、接触和追随(pursuit)共五类事件的受影响等级,对宾语论元实现做出了一致的认知解释,其较强的解释力和广泛的适用性也为本研究提供了重要理论依据。本研究主要采用定量统计与定性分析解释及英汉比较相结合的研究方法,以“thenewoxfordenglish-chinesedictionary”(《新牛津英汉双解大词典》)(2007年第1版)和《现代汉语词典》(2012年第6版)两本常用英汉词典为基础语料,穷尽式搜集整理出英语动词性动名复合形式1476个,汉语5858个。根据形态类型、内在句法结构及语义特质,本文首先对其进行了系统的定量统计与针对性的定性分析。研究发现:(1)英汉动词性动名复合形式的形态类型具有明显差异。英语动词性动名复合形式突出体现为名词语法属性的形态标记变化,具体标记为[v+n]υ类(21.16%)、[v+art+n]υ类(33.47%)、[v+pron+n]υ类(24.72%)和[v+n+prep]υ(20.89%)类四种。汉语则主要为音节或字组数的不同,标注为[v单+n单]υ类(92.11%)、[v单+n双]υ类(7.44%)与[v单+n多]υ类(0.44%)三种,双音化趋势明显。两者区别表明,在对动词与名词属性的认知识解方面,英语为“实现关系”,而汉语则为“构成关系”(沈家煊2007,2009)。依据认知语言学原型范畴化理论,英汉动词性动名复合形式是以[v+np]υ为抽象图式(schema),经由各不同次类原型样本,如[v+art+n]υ,[v单+n单]υ等,进一步精致化,并扩展为丰富多样的英汉动词性动名复合形式实例(instantiation),表现出原型范畴化特征。(2)英汉动词性动名复合形式的内部句法关系体现了相同的论元结构本质。尽管英汉动词性动名复合形式可以区分为“动+宾”、“动+状”、“动+补”及“主+谓”四种内在句法关系,但其本质实则为具有内在语义关系的论元结构或称述谓结构。对英汉动词性动名复合形式的论元结构进行分析,其任务主要涉及名词宾语论元的选择与实现问题。论元结构准确描述了英汉动词性动名复合形式的内在句法关系,体现了词法与句法结构的一致性,揭示了这类英汉词汇性单位在内部形式上的共性特征。(3)英汉动词性动名复合形式的语义特质突出了动词语义结构对其构建的制约作用。英汉动词性动名复合形式的内部语义关系,因论旨角色与谓词之间的论旨关系构主要成核心论元,体现了这类词汇性单位的不同及物性等级。英汉动词性动名复合形式中,后续名词性论元的受影响度等级都蕴含有力动态致使及体结构特征。其等级程度却呈现高低不一的多样化特点,证明其及物性等级都比较低,故而能够容纳各种不同语义类型的名词宾语论元。义项统计表明,英汉动词性动名复合形式的多义化倾向比较弱,平均义项数分别为1.03个与1.17个。这类词汇性单位的不同义项实际上体现了构成语素的语素义之间的多种复杂组构关系,表明语义结构是探究其生成的根本性决定因素。基于对英汉动词性动名复合形式的形态、句法与语义特征的系统探讨及其英汉异同比较分析,本文进一步探究了制约这类词汇性单位论元实现的认知语义问题。作为事件结构的主要语言符号编码方式,英汉动词性动名复合形式体现了人对外部客观事件或使用事件的认知加工过程及结果,解释了存在于其构建过程中处于词库与句法之间词汇概念层面的述谓结构关系,再次印证了其动词论元结构构式(verb’sargumentstructureconstruction)的本质属性。在认知构式语法框架下,作为形义匹配的象征性符号单位,英汉动词性动名复合形式的构建主要依赖名词宾语论元的选择与实现,实际上就是探究事件参与者角色如何获得认知突显的过程,是对词汇概念(evans2006,2009,2010)本质特征及内容的探究。依据croft(2012)的力动态致使理论,本文把英汉动词性动名复合形式所编码的标准事件结构及其不同参与者关系概述为:(1)参与者1(p1,相当于初始力)对参与者2(p2,相当于终点力)施予一定的作用力使其经历某种定向状态变化;或者,(2)参与者1(p1)需通过或借助于参与者2(p2),并对其施加作用力,实现对参与者3(p3)的影响。一般情况下,p1与p2之间具有力动态致使关系,而p2与p3之间为非致使关系,表现为空间依存、接触等关系。事件参与者之间的力动态关系构成动词语义结构的核心内容,所体现的力传递关系可相应表述为:p1→【p2】或p1→【p2】-p3。可见,力动态致使关系体现了这类词汇性单位所蕴含的独特论元结构属性,是制约不同论元选择与实现的根本性语义决定因素。对英汉动词性动名复合形式的构建而言,名词宾语论元的选择与实现是作为终点力的次事件参与者受初始力参与者的力动态致使作用,发生定向状态变化的结果,是体和致使结构双重作用而致其受影响的体现。因而,动词体等级中终点力参与者的体类型位次最高,表征了整体事件的体类型特征,形成与力动态致使链上动词谓语一致的词汇概念,允准其实现为英汉动词性动名复合形式中的名词宾语论元。据此,论元允准结构可简要表述为:[v+p(终点力+受影响)]υ。因此,英汉动词性动名复合形式的论元实现,既是由力动态致使及体结构共同决定的,同时也受动词与名词的词汇概念及其词汇侧显之间的一致性匹配关系影响,是这些因素共同作用的结果。依据体及致使结构的制约作用,从力动态致使链上名词宾语的体特征角度,本文把英汉动词性动名复合形式的论元允准结构进一步细分为四类,其论元允准机制依此详细解释如下:(1)第i类瞬时定变成就类。在初始力参与者的力动态作用下,凡成为初始力的首要作用对象,经历瞬时性(punctual)状态定向变化(仅q质量维度),且不可逆的终点力参与者,(形成)具有与力动态致使链上动词谓语一致的词汇概念,都可以实现为名词宾语论元,生成英汉动词性动名复合形式。从名词类参与者的致使及体特征的受影响度等级来看,第i类英汉动词性动名复合形式体现了典型的及物致使结构,如“bareone’steeth”、“灭火”等,也是这类词汇性单位的最主要构建机制。(2)第ii类持续定变达成类。在初始力参与者的力动态作用下,凡成为初始力的首要作用对象,经历持续性状态定向变化(t时间维度和q质量维度),无论完成与否的终点力参与者,(形成)具有与力动态致使链上动词谓语一致的词汇概念,都可以实现为名词宾语论元,生成英汉动词性动名复合形式。语料统计表明,受致使结构及持续性增量达成体结构制约而构建的第ii类英汉动词性动名复合形式的数量众多,仅次于第i类,如“makeprogress”、“卷铺盖”等。(3)第iii类接触非定变状态类。在初始力参与者的力动态作用下,凡成为初始力的首要作用对象,与其产生某种瞬间或间歇性(pointorinterval)接触联系的终点力参与者,(形成)具有与力动态致使链上动词谓语一致的词汇概念。虽然不经历定向状态变化,但一般都突显事件对初始力参与者造成的影响作用,则亦可实现为名词宾语论元,生成英汉动词性动名复合形式。第iii类英汉动词性动名复合形式表现出独有的形义失谐的特点,如“cleanhouse”、“入席”等,是一种比较特殊的动名复合式词汇性单位。究其差异原因,本质上根源于人类在事件体验过程中,对事件结构及其参与者信息的不同认知识解操作,亦即本文重点探讨的致使及体结构上的认知识解差异。(4)第iv类追随非定变状态类。凡初始力被识解为有意愿性(volition)主体,并主动选择、控制及配合其首要力作用对象(虽无真正力动态作用),与之形成某种瞬间性或间歇性追随关系的终点力参与者,(形成)具有与力动态致使链上动词谓语一致的词汇概念。虽然不经历定向状态变化,但却突现了终点力参与者对初始力参与者的影响作用,则亦可实现为名词宾语论元,生成英汉动词性动名复合形式。语料统计表明,这类英汉动词性动名复合形式的数量最少,生成能力有限,处于边缘地带,如“follow one’s nose”、“烤火”等。第IV类与第I类和第II类中具有明显受事特征的名词宾语完全不一样,也不同于第III类中虽无强及物性却依然具有受事特征的名词宾语,因此需要单独分析处理。研究认为,作为形义匹配的象征性符号单位,英汉动词性动名复合形式的形态类型具有明显差异,但其内部句法关系则体现了相同的论元结构本质。以力动态致使和体结构为特征的动词语义结构是英汉动词性动名复合形式词汇概念的本质和核心内容,制约着这类词汇性单位构建的论元允准机制。有关英汉动词性动名复合形式论元实现的四种机制类型,从认知角度阐释了动词语义结构对其形态表征的根本性制约作用,体现了语言符号编码的感知符号基础,也印证了使用为基础的认知语言观有关语义决定句法、制约论元实现的重要论断。总体而言,英汉动词性动名复合形式在事件结构的语言编码或词汇化过程中呈现趋同特征,但是其具体形态方式却因英语的“实现关系”及汉语的“构成关系”(沈家煊2007,2009)而表现出截然不同的特征。本研究是对已有英汉词汇性单位的认知语义阐释,不仅是有关词汇性单位本体问题及英汉异同的研究,而且在很大程度上是对词汇性单位、思维与世界关系的认知探讨,是对语言本质问题的认知思考,对语言习得、自然语言处理都有一定的启发和借鉴作用。更多还原

【Abstract】 Verbs, with the special functions in semantics and syntactic structures of sentences and particularly their limitations and attachment to noun elements(or noun phrases), have always been the hot topic in the studies of modern grammar. In terms of linguistic studies, grammatical studies on language encoding of events and their participants, including grammatical relations, thematic roles, argument structure constructions and argument realizations, etc., involve the complex relations between verbs and nouns or noun phrases, undergoing an evolving progress from the description of grammatical construction to the exploration of semantic function. Be they the descriptions of their syntagmatic relations from the structural approach, the explanation of their semantic roles and relations from the functional approach, and the exploration of the interactions between their syntactic and semantic structures, the previous studies have analyzed in great detail such issues as grammatical structures, syntactic attributes, semantic construction etc. of V + NP constructions, leading to many fruitful discoveries. The universal definition of their lexical status, and in particular the issue of argument realization in constructing verbal V + NP constructions, however, are only adequately described, but inadequately explained in English or in Chinese. The analytic mode of conceptual semantics fails to offer a satisfactory solution due to the neglect of the encyclopedic basis, achieving no obvious breakthroughs. While studies in Chinese are just under way, those in English are particularly weak, leaving a large space for further exploration.According to the basic standard of lexical unit(Zhou 2003, 2004), this dissertation mainly observes the commonly-existing verbal constructions that are composed of verbal and NP morphemes and those whose parts of speech are primarily verbs, varying from compounds with the typical lexical status to phrases or fixed collocations with the prominent syntactic structures, and uniformly defines them as VIII verbal V + NP constructions, marked as [V + NP]υ. Within the framework of cognitive construction grammar, verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, as the form-meaning pairings, have all the attributes of symbolic units, forming one of the basic constructions in language. Accordingly analyzing their grammatical characteristics, internal syntactic relations and semantic attributes as well as the differences in English and Chinese, the study adopts the force dynamic causal theory of argument realization(Croft 2012) to discuss the cognitive semantic determinants for the formation of such lexical units, precisely summarizing their argument-licensing mechanisms while explicating the similar and different features in English and Chinese. The main research questions are as follows:(1) What morphological types and characteristics do verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese display?(2) What may be the essential attributes of semantic structures of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese?(3) What are the argument-licensing structures and mechanisms that determine the formation of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese?Within the theoretical framework of cognitive linguistics, especially within construction grammar, the dissertation, comprehensively adopting the perceptual symbol system theory in cognitive psychology that focuses on the encoding of linguistic signs, the prototype theory and the force dynamic causal theory, carries out a relatively systematic cognitive study of morphological, syntactic and semantic as well as argument-licensing issues of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. The perceptual symbol system theory and the prototype theory are mainly applied to cognitively expound the semantic construction basis and characteristics for the representation of such lexical units. The force dynamic causal theory is a model of temporal, qualitative and causal structure of events, constructing a comprehensive analytic mode about the force dynamics and aspect of verbal semantic representation. With the geometric-cum-graph structure representation of cognitive linguistics, the force dynamic causal theory vividly depicts the causal and aspectual structures as the core of verbal semantic structures as well their critical roles in accounting for IX argument realizations. In terms of semantic essence, the ranking of core participant roles in argument realizations, including Subject, Object and various Obliques, is determined by the force dynamic causal structure of events and meantime affected by the verbal predicate’s aspectual profile. Aspect represents the qualitative states and unfolding manners as events unfold over time, which is defined by both time dimension(x axis) and qualitative state dimension(y axis) as a two-dimensional geometric representation. It displays the evolving trends and types of qualitative states over time. While representing the temporal phases of events, aspect also involves the unfolding manners, i.e., changing qualitative states of events over time. A temporally ordered sequence of phases in events constitutes the aspectual contour while the profiled phase is represented or denoted by a predicator in the specific tense-aspect construction. The aspectual model of two-dimensional geometric representation is essentially a frame-semantic representation, displaying the different profiles of certain concept in the whole aspectual contour. Causal structure, as the third dimension, defines a causal chain of force dynamic transmission as one participant’s subevent acting upon the other participant’s subevent, which is not a geometric dimension, but a directed, acyclic and nonbranching graph structure. The causal chain of force transmission links, not or not only those subevents, but mainly the different participant roles and determines their ordering sequence. In the three-dimensional model of causal and aspectual structure, the temporal, qualitative state and fore dynamic structure reflect the different types of cognitive construals on events, which are encoded in certain verbs and their tense-aspect constructions. Croft(2012) holds that affectedness featuring causal and aspectual structure plays a role in accounting for the uniformity in realization of noun or noun phrase as Object argument, and summarizes the hierarchy of event types for affectedness as effected action(result attained), effected action(result unattained), contact and pursuit, along with the transitive event prototype. These types of affectedness are of great explanatory power and wide applicability, providing the theoretical foundation for analyzing argument realizations of forming verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese.The major research methods adopted in the dissertation include quantitative statistics, qualitative interpretations, comparative analyses. The New Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary(1st edition in 2007) and Xiandai Hanyu Cidian(6th edition in 2012) are regarded as the main sources of data collection, from which 1476 units in English and 5858 ones in Chinese of verbal V + NP constructions are exhaustively collected. According to the morphological types, internal syntactic structure and semantic quality, the dissertation carries out systematic quantitative statistics and relevant qualitative analyses. The study shows:(1)There exist obvious differences in the morphological types of verbal V+NP constructions in English and Chinese.Verbal V+NP constructions in English particularly feature the changes in the morphological markers of the nouns’grammatical attributes,whose specific forms vary from[V+N]υ(21.16%),[V+ART+N]υ(33.47%),[V+PRON+N]υ(24.72%)to[V+N+PREP]υ(20.89%).Those in Chinese differ in the number of syllables or Chinese characters,which can be represented as[Vsingle+Nsingle]υ(92.11%),[Vsingle+Ndouble]υ(7.44%)and[Vsingle+Nmultiple]υ(0.44%),showing the obvious trend of double syllables.The morphological distinction between verbal V+NP constructions in English and Chinese indicates that,in terms of the construal of the attributes of verbs and nouns or noun phrases,English is constitutive while Chinese is realizational(沈家煊2007,2009).According to the prototype theory in cognitive linguistics,[V+NP]υis the abstract schema for verbal V+NP constructions in English and Chinese,from which derive the various prototypes,such as[V+ART+N]υ,[V+PRON+N]υ,[Vsingle+Nsingle]υand so on.The further elaboration of prototypes will be extended as the rich and various instances of verbal V+NP constructions.From the schema to prototype and instance exhibit the features of prototypical categorization.(2) The internal syntactic relation shows the same argument structure in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. While verbal V + NP constructions can be distinguished into “verb object”, “verb adverbial”, “verb complement” and “subject predicate” in terms of their internal syntactic relations, the essence of syntactic relations is in fact the argument structure or predication structure. The key to analyzing argument structure of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese involves the selection and realization of nominal arguments. Argument structure precisely defines the internal syntactic relation of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, displaying the uniformity in the lexical and syntactic structure while disclosing the common features in terms of the internal forms of such lexical units in English and Chinese.(3) The semantic attributes of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese highlight the determinants of verbal semantic structures for their formations. The internal semantic relations in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, with the relations between the thematic roles and predicates mainly consisting of internal(core) arguments, which also reflect the varying degrees of transitivity within such lexical units. The hierarchy of affectedness of subsequent nominal arguments, which features the force-dynamic causal and aspectual structures, varies a great deal in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, indicating the low degree of transitivity in such lexical units. Therefore, the nominal objects with the various kinds of semantic types are permitted and realized as the arguments in such constructions. The statistics about the number of semantic items shows the weak tendency of polysemy in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, with the average number of semantic items being 1.03 in English and 1.17 in Chinese. The semantic items display the multiple types of complex compositionality among the constitutive morphemes, which indicates that the semantic structures are the fundamental determinants for their formations.The systematic discussion on morphological, syntactic and semantic features of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese and the comparative analyses between Chinese and English provide a trustworthy foundation for further explication of cognitive semantic determinants for the formation of such lexical units. Verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, as the major means of linguistic symbolic encoding for event structures, derive from the cognitive processing of external objective events or usage events, well explaining the existence of the predicate structure at the level of lexical concept between lexicon and syntax in the process of their formations while verifying their essential attributes as the verb’s argument structure constructions. In cognitive construction grammar, the formations of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, as the symbolic units of form-meaning pairings, mainly rely on sanction, selection and realization of nouns or noun phrases as Object arguments, which in fact is to explore how the participant roles of the event acquire their cognitive prominences, namely the exploration into the essential features and contents of lexical concepts(Evans 2006, 2009, 2010).The dissertation, adopting the force dynamic causal theory(Croft 2012), summarizes the standard event structures and the relations between the participants that are encoded in verbal V + NP constructions as follows:(1) Participant1(P1, Initiator) applies the force on Participant2(P2, Endpoint), making the latter undergo the certain kind of directed change, or(2) Participant1(P1) applies the force on Participant3(P3) by virtue of Participant2(P2). Generally, the force-dynamic causal relation only exists between P1 and P2 while P2 and P3 exhibit not the causal relation, but the spatial dependence, contact and so on.The force dynamic relation between the participants of the event exists as the core of verbal semantic structure, whose force transmission can be represented as follows: P1 → 【P2】or P1 → 【P2】- P3.Obviously the force dynamic causal relation displays a unique attribute of argument structure in such lexical units, which functions as the fundamental semantic determinant for the selections and realizations of various arguments. For the formations of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, the selections and realizations of nominal Object arguments occur when the sub-event participants as the Endpoint undergoe the directed change of state upon the force-dynamic causation from the sub-event participants as the Initiator, which displays the double impact of the causal and aspectual structures. Thus the Endpoint participants, whose aspectual types rank highest in the verbal aspectual hierarchy and are the aspectual features of the overall events, form the uniform lexical concepts as the verbal predicates in the force dynamic causal chain, licensing their realizations as nominal Object arguments in the formations of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. The argument-licensing structure can accordingly be indicated as follows: [V + P(Endpoint + Affectedness)]υ. Hence argument realizations in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese are determined jointly by the force dynamic causal and aspectual structures, and meantime affected by the uniformly matching relation with lexical concepts and profiles of verbs and nouns or noun phrases. These factors work together to license argument realizations.Taking into account the determinants of the causal and aspectual structures, the dissertation, mainly from the perspective of the aspectual structures of nominal Object arguments in the force dynamic causal chain, further specifies the argument-licensing structures and mechanisms in verbal V + NP constructions into four types, and their argument-licensing mechanisms are correspondingly elaborated in details as follows:(1) The punctual achievement of directed change(Type I)The primary target that an Initiator participant applies force onto in the force dynamic transmission, if undergoing the punctual and irreversible directed change of state(on the q dimension), ends up with the Endpoint participant, forming the uniform lexical concept with that of the predicate in the force dynamic causal chain, and can be realized as nominal Object argument, generating verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. In terms of the hierarchy of the nominal participants for affectedness that involves the causal and aspectual features, the first type of verbal V + NP constructions displays the prototype effect of transitive causal structure. “Bare one’s teeth”, “miehuo” in Chinese Pinyin and so on are typical examples governed by this argument-licensing mechanism.(2) The durative accomplishment of directed change(Type II)The primary target that an Initiator participant applies force onto in the force dynamic transmission, if undergoing the durative directed change of state(on both the t and q dimensions), the result attained and otherwise, ends up with the Endpoint participant, forming the uniform lexical concept with that of the predicate in the force-dynamic causal chain, and can be realized as nominal Object argument, generating verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. The statistics shows that the number of this type, whose formations are determined by the causal and XIV aspectual structures of durative incremental accomplishment, is abundant, only secondary to Type I. “Make progress”, “juan pugai” in Chinese are all the typical examples.(3) The contact state lacking a directed change(Type III).The primary target that an Initiator participant applies force onto in the force dynamic transmission, if involving the certain kind of point or interval contact, ends up with the Endpoint participant, forming the uniform lexical concept with that of the predicate in the force dynamic causal chain. Although lacking a directed change of state while commonly highlighting the impact of the event on the Initiator participant, such Endpoint participant can also be realized as nominal Object argument, generating verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese.The third type shows the unique characteristics of form-meaning discrepancy, such as “clean house”, “ruxi” in Chinese Pinyin and so on, forming a kind of atypical lexical units with verbal V + NP constructions. The essential reason can be traced back to the various construal operations on event structure and participants’ information in the process of embodied experience of the events, which is just the construal differences in the causal and aspectual structures.(4) The pursuit state lacking a directed change(Type IV)The primary target that an Initiator participant as the volitional subject actively chooses, manipulates and cooperates with(although with no authentic transmission of force relation), if involving the certain kind of point or interval pursuit, ends up with the Endpoint participant, forming the uniform lexical concept with that of the predicate in the force dynamic causal chain. Although lacking a directed change of state while commonly highlighting the impact of the Endpoint participant on the Initiator participant, such Endpoint participant can also be realized as the nominal Object argument, generating verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese. The statistics shows that the fourth type of verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese is very rare in quantity, and the generation is limited as the peripheral member, such as “follow one’s nose”, “kaohuo” in Chinese Pinyin and so on. Type IV is totally different from Type I and Type II whose nominal Object arguments exhibit the obvious feature of Patient, and is not the same as Type III in which nominal Object arguments show no strong transitivity but the feature of Patient, which thus requires the special analyses.The study indicates that verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, as the symbolic units of form-meaning pairings, are distinct in their morphological types while their internal syntactic relations exhibit the nature of the same argument structure. The verbal semantic structure featuring the aspectual and force dynamic causal structures is the essence and core content of lexical concepts in verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, determining argument sanction and realizations in the formation of such lexical units. The four types of argument-licensing mechanisms involving verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese attempt to elaborate the morphological features from the perspective of verbal semantic structure, displaying the perceptual symbol basis of linguistic encoding forms while verifying the usage-based cognitive approach that semantics determines syntax and licenses argument realization. In a nutshell, verbal V + NP constructions in English and Chinese, in the process of linguistic encoding or lexicalization of event structures, display the similar tendencies though the morphological structures are sharply distinct in two languages due to the fact that English is realizational while Chinese is constitutive(Shen 2007,2009). As a cognitive semantic account of the existing lexical units in English and Chinese, the study involves not only the ontological issues and a comparison of this type of lexical units in English and Chinese, but also to a larger extent, a cognitive exploration into the relationships between lexical units, thought and the world. Such cognitive thought of language nature is sure to shed some light on language acquisition and natural language processing.更多还原