Grammatical structures are the result of conventionalization of patterns of language use,but they also constrain interpretation,facilitating the addressee's identification of the speaker's communicative in-tention. Based on this insight,we argue that nominal clauses in Mandarin Chinese are not elliptical structures but belong to a family of constructions that have their own rationale. The function of a nominal clause lies in assignment,namely, providing a description of an entity from a particular angle in order to change the addressee's cognitive status. Assignment is a case of categorization. Any noun has the potential of functioning as a predicate,including common physical nouns,but nouns may differ from one another in the frequency of occurrence in nominal sentences. And this view is supported by data from a variety of languages.%语法结构一方面是语用模式约定俗成的结果,另一方面对受话人的推理范围施加限制,帮助受话人识别说话人的交际意图. 遵循这一思想考察发现,现代汉语的名词谓语句是一个独立存在的构式,不是省略句. 该构式的作用是从一个特定方面对主语名词所指实体进行范畴化,使受话人关于该实体的认知状态发生变化. 任何名词都有充当谓语名词的潜力,但在使用频率上存在差别. 这一观点能够得到跨语言证据的支持.
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