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Modeling a network of the ba-constructions in Contemporary Mandarin

A Construction Grammar approach

ORCiD logo with link | Jianghan University
Published online: 31 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00242.liu
Abstract
Couched within Construction Grammar and through corpus-informed qualitative analysis, this study investigates various types of ba-constructions and their relations in Contemporary Mandarin Chinese to model a network of them. The results show that the ba-constructions have developed into a network of heterogeneous structures linked vertically by inheritance relations and horizontally by paradigmatic associations. At the top level, the general schema [S1 ba O/S2 VP] subsumes three sub-schemas: the broad disposal ba-construction [S ba O1 (X) V O2], the narrow disposal ba-construction [S ba O [(X1) V X2]/[X V]], and the causative disposal ba-construction [S1 ba S2 (X1) V X2], which form paradigmatic sets and are horizontally linked. Each sub-schema further branches into lower-level types of various schematicity, vertically connected within and beyond the ba-network via instance links and subpart links. Lower-level subschemas at the same level of schematicity constitute paradigmatic relations, and are horizontally connected. This study showcases the value of the constructional network modelling for representing complex syntactic relations and extends existing typologies of horizontal links by identifying associative relations among the sub-types of a single schema/construction.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework: The constructional network
  • 3.A taxonomy of the ba-constructions
    • 3.1A taxonomy of the broad disposal ba-construction
      • 3.1.1The ‘giving’ disposal ba-construction
      • 3.1.2The ‘making’ disposal ba-construction
      • 3.1.3The ‘placing’ disposal ba-construction
    • 3.2A taxonomy of the narrow disposal ba-construction
      • 3.2.1Nuclear narrow disposal ba-construction
      • 3.2.2Narrow disposal ba-constructions with postverbal complements
        • 3.3.2.1Narrow disposal ba-constructions with resultative complements
        • 3.3.2.2Narrow disposal ba-constructions with depictive complements
        • 3.3.2.3Narrow disposal ba-constructions with directional complements
        • 3.3.2.4Narrow disposal ba-constructions with locational complements
        • 3.3.2.5Narrow disposal ba-constructions with other complements
        • 3.3.2.6Narrow disposal ba-constructions with retained object
      • 3.3.3Narrow disposal ba-constructions with preverbal complements
    • 3.3A taxonomy of the causative disposal ba-construction
  • 4.Modeling a network of the ba-constructions
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (40)
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