英语中动结构的功能及其认知机制

Functions and Cognitive Mechanisms of English Middle Constructions

学界对于英语中动结构的"双论元说"不适合解释中动结构。英语中动结构的主语不是被动的受体,而是反映说话人心理体验的实体,在深层结构中仍是主格。中动结构所陈述的是事件的常规状态,中动结构概念的概念化过程是语言结构边界化和语言主观化的过程,反映了中动结构建构的认知动因,同时也反映出人类认知的共性。

This paper points out that the proposal of two-arguments fails to give an adequate explanation ot r^ngusn middle constructions, and argues that the subject of English middle constructions is not a passive patient, but an entity reflecting the mental experience of the speaker, and remains a nominative case in deep structure. English middle construc- tions describe the static features of an event. The paper further argues that the conceptualization of the concept of middle constructions is in fact the boundarization of linguistic structure and the subjectivisation of linguistic subjectivity, displa- ying the cognitive motivation behind the construction of middle constructions.