A Study of Chinese “Verb-complement Constructions” from the Perspective of the Cardiff Grammar

Within the framework of the Cardiff Grammar, this paper investigates “verb-complement constructions” in modern Mandarin Chinese with the aim of revealing the differences in the realization of the clausal meaning and in the componence of the syntactic elements. Based on the principle of “form realizing meaning and meaning being primary”, the paper presents a new description of the generally-acknowledged seven types of Chinese “verb-complement constructions”. It shows that some “complements” help the Main Verbs in clauses to realize the Process meanings, and hence they are taken as Main Verb Extensions in the syntactic structures of the concerned clauses. Some express the degrees of the meanings realized by the apexes in quality groups, and hence they are considered as degree temperers in quality groups. Some are indicative of mood, modality and polarity meanings of clauses, and hence they are described as Operators. And others are suggestive of Participant roles in the processes of the concerned clauses, and hence they are regarded as Complements. Meanwhile, the paper explores the functions of the Chinese character “de” in “verb-complement constructions”. It indicates that “de” is the Deriver/deriver element in clauses or quality groups, and that it makes the meanings of the derived elements oriented at the Main Verbs or Subjects in the concerned clauses, or at the apexes in the concerned quality groups.