A Study of Three Variants of Gerund Construction from the Contrastive Perspective of Social and Natural Academic Abstracts on Construction Grammar Theory
-
Yan Jin
Yan J
IN is a professor at College of Foreign Languages & Literature at Northwest Normal University, in China. Her research efforts have focused on foreign language teaching, and corpus linguistics.
und
Mingtuo Yang
Mingtuo Y
ANG is a Ph.D. candidate at College of Foreign Languages & Literature at Northwest Normal University, in China. His research interests include cognitive linguistics, and corpus linguistics.
Abstract
English gerund construction is a system composed of 3 variants, including “Gerund + ø”, “Gerund + of + NP”, and “Gerund + NP”. The noun and verb attributes of the 3 variants are recursive, and in theory their frequencies vary regularly in different styles. An abstract is placed before the beginning of an academic papers, which has the basic characteristics of conciseness and generalization, and has special requirements for the use of gerunds. The purpose of this study was to empirically explore the system of gerund construction in abstracts of natural science and social science papers, and to specifically explore the inherent characteristics of noun and verb properties of the 3 variants. For this purpose, two corpora were constructed, one is about abstracts of natural science papers, and the other is about abstracts of social science papers. Finally, the results of chi-square test showed that there was no significant difference in the frequencies of the 3 variants in the abstracts of natural science and social science papers, and the two corpora can be studied as a whole. In the combined corpus, there were significant differences in the frequencies of the 3 gerund variants. The frequencies of these 3 variants and their gerund properties showed a recursive change.
About the authors
Yan JIN is a professor at College of Foreign Languages & Literature at Northwest Normal University, in China. Her research efforts have focused on foreign language teaching, and corpus linguistics.
Mingtuo YANG is a Ph.D. candidate at College of Foreign Languages & Literature at Northwest Normal University, in China. His research interests include cognitive linguistics, and corpus linguistics.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Special thanks to Professor Jin Cao. He always gives us valuable advice unselfishly.
References
Achard, M. (1998). Representation of cognitive structures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110805956Suche in Google Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman of spoken and written English. London: Pearson Education.Suche in Google Scholar
Chen, H. Q., & Xiong, W. Q. (2010). 中国硕士学位论文英文摘要的名词化现象调查研究 [Investigation of Nominalization in English Abstracts of Master’s thesis in China]. Journal of Dalian University of Technology (Social Science), 31(4), 106-110.Suche in Google Scholar
Chen, X. T. (2003). 名词化与语用预设 [Nominalization and pragmatic presupposition]. Foreign Languages Research, 3, 19-23.Suche in Google Scholar
Du, G. C. (2010). 法律英语语篇名词化结构及其汉译 [Nominalization in China’s legal English and its Chinese translation]. Journal of Xi’an International Studies University, 2, 71-74.Suche in Google Scholar
Fonteyn, L. (2015). What it means to verbalize: the changing discourse functions of the English gerund. Journal of English Linguistics, 43(1), 36-60.10.1177/0075424214564365Suche in Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E. (2003). Constructions: a new theoretical approach to language. Journal of Foreign language, 3, 1-11.10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00080-9Suche in Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E. (2006). Constructions at work: the nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Guo, J. H. (2010). 论科技英语名词化隐喻：语篇功能和认知效果 [Nominalization in science English: textual function and cognitive effect]. Foreign Language and Literature, 2, 76-78.Suche in Google Scholar
Haiman, J. (1985). Natural syntax-iconicity and erosion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1075/tsl.6Suche in Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold.Suche in Google Scholar
Heyvaert, L. (2003). A cognitive-functional approach to nominalization in English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110903706Suche in Google Scholar
Heyvaert, L. (2008). On the constructional semantics of gerundive nominalizations. Folia Linguistica, 42(1), 39-82.10.1515/FLIN.2008.39Suche in Google Scholar
Hopper, P. J., & Thompson, S. A. (1984). The discourse basis for lexical categories in universal grammar. Language, 60(4), 703-752.10.1353/lan.1984.0020Suche in Google Scholar
Jespersen, O. (1940). A modern English grammar on historical principle. (Vol. 5). London: George Alllen & Unwin.Suche in Google Scholar
Kranich, S. (2006). The origin of English gerundial constructions: a case of French influence? In Andrew. James. Johnstom, Ferdinand. von Mengden, & Stefan. Thim (Eds.), Language and text: current perspectives on English and Germanic historical linguistics and philology, (pp. 179-195). Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter.Suche in Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. (1991). Foundations of cognitive grammar. (Vol. 2), Descriptive application. CA: Stanford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. (2004). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Beijing: Peking University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Lees, R. B. (1960). The grammar of English nominalizations. Bloomington: Indianna University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore and Linguistics.Suche in Google Scholar
Lin, L. (2014). 认知语法和构式语法视野下的动词名化V-ing构式研究 [A cognitive-constructional study of English V-ing construction]. Journal of PLA University on Foreign Language, 37(6): 91-98.Suche in Google Scholar
Malchukov, A. L. (2006). Constraining nominalization: function/form competition. Linguistics, 44(5), 973-1009.10.1515/LING.2006.032Suche in Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. (1992). English text: system and structure. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.10.1075/z.59Suche in Google Scholar
Miller, G. D. (2002). Nonfinite structures in theory and change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198299608.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Geoffrey, L., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman World Publishing House.Suche in Google Scholar
Singley, M. K., & Anderson, J. R. (1989). The transfer of cognitive skill. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Slade, C. (2000). Form and style: research papers, reports and theses. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Stotesbury, H. (2003). Evaluation in research article abstracts in the Narrative and Hard Sciences. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2(4), 325-327.10.1016/S1475-1585(03)00049-3Suche in Google Scholar
Sun, Y. J., & Cong, Y. X. (2005). 中国非英语专业大学生名物化结构的习得情况研究 [The study of nominalization acquisition in Chinese EFL learners]. Teaching English in China, 6, 12-17.Suche in Google Scholar
Wen, X. (2002). 认知语言学的研究目标、原则和方法 [On the objectives, principle and methodology of cognitive linguistics]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 34(2), 90-96.Suche in Google Scholar
Woods, A., Fetcher, P., & Hughes, A. (1986). Statistics in language studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139165891Suche in Google Scholar
Yang, X. Z. (2006). 名物化在语体中的作用：基于小型语料库的一项分析 [Nominalization in the stylistic effect: based on a corpus analysis]. Computer-Assisted Foreign Education, 2, 3-6.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2020 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Reaching for the Gold Standard: Metaphors and Good University Teachers
- Researching Classroom-Based Assessment for Formative Purposes
- Using Social Media to Promote Intercultural Communication Between Chinese and American University Students
- Investigating Social Presence in Audio and Text Online Interaction for Language Learning
- A Study of Localization of Task-Based Language Teaching in China
- A Study of Three Variants of Gerund Construction from the Contrastive Perspective of Social and Natural Academic Abstracts on Construction Grammar Theory
- Why Is nice and Adj So Much More Frequent than Adj and nice?—From the Perspective of Humans’ Social and Limited-Processing-Capacity Attributes
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Reaching for the Gold Standard: Metaphors and Good University Teachers
- Researching Classroom-Based Assessment for Formative Purposes
- Using Social Media to Promote Intercultural Communication Between Chinese and American University Students
- Investigating Social Presence in Audio and Text Online Interaction for Language Learning
- A Study of Localization of Task-Based Language Teaching in China
- A Study of Three Variants of Gerund Construction from the Contrastive Perspective of Social and Natural Academic Abstracts on Construction Grammar Theory
- Why Is nice and Adj So Much More Frequent than Adj and nice?—From the Perspective of Humans’ Social and Limited-Processing-Capacity Attributes
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
