The Semantics and Differentiation of Non-induced Zai LVO:A Contrastive Study of Chinese and Japanese
The position and semantic usage of the Chinese preposition zai,which indicates location,have always attracted the attention of the Chinese linguists,but the description is still incomplete.Through a contrastive analysis of Chinese and Japanese,this study uses image schemas to represent the semantic classification of non-induced zai LVO,explores the semantic orientation and verb characteristics of the construction,and generalizes that non-induced zai LVO can correspond to Japanese de(a marker of location of action),de(a marker of tool),kara(a starting point marker)and ni(a static location marker).It is confirmed that the semantic differentiation of non-induced zai LVO is characterized by a continuum from dynamic events to static states,and from denoting actions to denoting results of actions.