The Sequential Framework of the Lian-sentence and the Projection of Conditional Constituent
Zhang Wang-xi · Hanyu xuexi · 2005
This paper focuses on the syntactic and semantic issues of the Lian-sentence, which regards a covert sequence of quantity hierarchy as its cognitive motivation. We argue that, according to an Idealized Cognitive Model, people establish the correlativity among things and ascertain their hierarchy to arrange them sequentially. Syntactically, this process is manifested through the Lian-sentence. It is realized by two means: activating the sequence of the ordered nouns and forming a sequence for the unordered. Like nouns which form a spatial sequence, verbs form a framework of temporal sequence. Thereby in the context the Lian-sentence functions as the conditional constituent, from the direct to the indirect. Thus a unified explanation is given for various syntactic and semantic phenomena of the construction.