Acknowledgements

The book started as my doctoral dissertation submitted to Stanford University in 2011. It has since been systematically and substantially revised and enriched as my research on motion events and its theoretical framework continues on between 2011 and 2018. I am greatly indebted to many people during this process. Without them, this book would have never been possible.

I would like to first express my deepest gratitude to my doctoral advisors, Professor Chaofen Sun and Professor Beth Levin for their constant guidance and support since my doctoral studies. Even till this day, they still care about me and offer me professional and valuable advice whenever I go to them for help. I also owe much to Professor Chu-Ren Huang for offering me a postdoctoral fellow position in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University after my graduation. My research on motion events went on with insightful inputs from Prof. Huang during the one and a half years at PolyU. I am also grateful to Jeeyoung Peck, my friend and co-author of several papers, for her encouragement and support over the years.

I wish to express my greatest appreciation to the anonymous reviewers of the book for their valuable time and highly thoughtful and helpful suggestions. My greatest gratitude also goes to the executive editor Professor Hongyin Tao and co-editor Professor K. K. Luke of the Studies in Chinese Language and Discourse book series for their constructive suggestions, patience, and support since the book proposal was submitted in 2014. My special thanks go to my student assistants Yong Kang Khoo, Shi Lun Ong, and Hui Jie Yap too, for their unfailing help in data collection, annotation, and editing. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Nanyang Technological University for the funding support and their excellent library service, without which, the book may have had to take a longer time to complete.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family, friends, and colleagues who have been always there for me throughout the whole journey.