A Study on Causative meaning of Verb-Resultative Construction in Mandarin Chinese Based on the Generative Lexicon Theory

摘要

Based on the Generative Lexicon Theory, this paper analyses the co-compositon and the qualia projections of the predicate verb denoting an action and the complement verb describing the result in the Verb-Resultative Construction. The paper reveals that the co-compostion of the qualia structures results in a derived causative sense of the VP, where the AGENTIVE role of the action verb matches that of the complement verb, and the FORMAL role of the action verb matches that of the complement verb. In consequence, under the qualia unification (QS α (β) = QS α ∩ QS β), the FORMAL role of the complement verb is shared with that of the VP, and the AGENTIVE role of the action verb is shared with that of the VP, resulting in a derived causative and aspectually telic interpretation.