Our corpus-based multivariate study on the referential ranges ofChinese break, cut, and open verbs corroborates that these three semanticallysimilar verbs categorize and segment events of separation state change in adiachronically dynamic fashion. Their c...[继续阅读]

    As elaborated in Chapter 4, extensional pò has become specializeddriven by the reorganization and readjustment of those variable levels alongwith multiple attribute variables. Nonetheless, the value of a word is not onlydetermined entirely by its concept ...[继续阅读]

    NSM is a semantic explanatory framework developed by Wierzbickaand Goddard (Wierzbicka 1996, 2006; Goddard and Wierzbicka 1994, 2002;Goddard 1998, 2005). Characterized by its 60 or so semantic primes and attestedsemantic molecules, NSM explicates words’ c...[继续阅读]

    As demonstrated in the literature review, there are numerous applicabletheoretical approaches for surveying conceptual variation, such as FrameSemantics, NSM, Causal Chain. DPS is adopted primarily for two reasons.Firstly, DPS brings together prototype th...[继续阅读]

    To interpret our findings on the diachronic conceptual change of pò, bothraw data (Table 3.9) and association measures shown in the MCA plots (Figure4.1 to Figure 4.3) are referred to. Raw data demonstrates the relative frequencyof multiple usages of pò a...[继续阅读]

    At the semantic level, semantic readings of pò have gradually transferredfrom concrete separation grounded in extralinguistic experience to abstractseparation grounded in subjective experience with an increasing degree ofspeaker involvement. This indicate...[继续阅读]

    Generally speaking, as shown in Table 2.5, a wide range of approacheshave been employed in exploring the categorization of break verbs in terms ofeither syntactic means or conceptual variables. The syntactic means include notonly the syntactic patterns an...[继续阅读]

    In sum, developmental studies, drawing insights from children’s categoryconstruction, bring to light some important variables that play major roles inthe categorization of break verbs. These variables on the one hand show thatchildren are different from a...[继续阅读]

    As revealed above, the categorization of events of separation state change,or the conceptualization of extensional pò is essentially a multivariate process.As such, the conceptualization of extensional pò, to a great extent hinges on theunderlying multipl...[继续阅读]

    Based on the above semantic extension tendency of pò, it can be predictedthat pò has undergone a process of grammaticalization. This section furtherinvestigates the grammaticalization of pò both at the semantic level and thesyntactic level. Section 6.3.1 ...[继续阅读]