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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1553242
This article is part of the Research Topic Discourse, Conversation and Argumentation: Theoretical Perspectives and Innovative Empirical Studies, Volume IV View all articles
The construction of "Taishang zuo-zhe zhuxituan" in Mandarin: A Cardiff Grammar approach
Provisionally accepted- Jishou University, Jishou, China
Based on Cardiff Grammar, this paper studies the construction of "Taishang zuo-zhe zhuxituan" ("There is the presidium sitting on the stage") in Mandarin, aiming to answer three key questions: (i) What Process type and Participant Roles are expressed by the construction? (ii) What is the functional syntactic structure of the construction? (iii) What are the functional motivations for using the construction? Guided by the principles of functional linguistic description, this study reveals that this construction realizes a Locational Relational Process, with two Participant Roles of Location and Carrier, which is different in meaning from similar constructions like "Zhuxituan zuo zaitaishang" ("The presidium sits on the stage") and "Zhuxituan zaitaishang zuo-zhe" ("On the stage, the presidium sits"). The functional syntax of the construction is "S ^ P ^ C", with the Subject conflated with Location, Complement with Carrier, and zhe following the verb zuo is an Aspect particle, which is part of the Predicator. The functional motivations of the construction include making taishang the Subject Theme, setting the scene for the discourse, and enhancing the state of existence of zhuxituan. This paper has implications for the study of other "location + V-zhe + thing" constructions in Mandarin and some similar linguistic phenomenon in other world languages.
Keywords: Taishang zuo-zhe zhuxituan, mandarin, Cardiff Grammar, Participant role, Functional Syntax, functional motivation V=verb, ASP=Aspect particle, Cl=Clause
Received: 30 Dec 2024; Accepted: 01 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dajun Xiang, Jishou University, Jishou, China
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