英语因果复句句法和语义界面的认知语法研究开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

1. introduction1.1 research backgroundduring the past the forty years development of cognitive linguistics, it has achieved fruitful results, and has become an important linguistic research paradigm in the field of linguistics. its core topics and main fields include grammaticalization, metonymy, metaphor, construction grammar, cognitive grammar, etc. these theories provide a new paradigm for our language research. recently, with the universality of language, the cause-effect complex sentence, which is composed of two finite clauses connected by causal conjunctions, has always been one of the hot topics in academic research. because of the different classification criteria, the classification of cause-effect complex sentences is different. according to the semantic relationship between the main clause and the subordinate clause, the english cause-effect complex sentence can be divided into direct reason and indirect reason (quirk et al, 1985). according to the meanings of cause-effect complex sentences, sweetser (2002) divides english cause-effect complex sentences into three domains: content domain, epistemic domain and speech-act domain. shen (2003), based on sweetsers research, proposes three domains of xing(行)、zhi(知)、yan(言). from the perspective of cognitive grammar, niu (2006) divides english cause-effect complex sentences into objective and subjective types, according to the reference to the speaker's cognitive construal. he believes that the semantic change from objective cause-effect complex sentences to subjective cause-effect complex sentences is a subjectivation process.the findings of previous studies on cause-effect complex sentences provide us with new ideas and perspectives to analyze and understand their syntactic features and semantic functions, and has important reference value and significance for us to further explore the internal relationship between their syntactic structure and semantics of english cause-effect complex sentences. nevertheless, there are few cognitive grammar studies on the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences. based on this, this present study makes an attempt to explore the relationship between the semantic structure and the syntactic structure of english cause-effect sentences, especially their correlation between the semantic interpretation and the syntactic rules, within the theoretical framework of cognitive grammar.2. literature review2.1 the syntax-semantics interfacethe syntax-semantics interface has attracted considerable attention and raised controversies in recent research. the study of syntax-semantics interface began with peoples attention to the semantics addressed in chomskys (1957, 1965, 1981) transformational-generative grammar. there are two main perspectives in the study of syntax-semantics interface. one is projection theory, which holds that verb semantics plays a decisive role in syntactic morphology. it discusses verb, the representation of argument and mapping rules from the perspective of verb semantics. the other perspective is the construction grammar, based on cognitive theory, which holds that some syntactic meanings belong to the construction meaning, and the projection function of verbs cannot explain such linguistic facts, so we must find the answer from the systematic correspondence between the whole form of argument structure and the meaning. these two perspectives are different in research methods, but they both propose a fundamental relationship between the semantics and the syntax and the general trend is to study the relationship between lexical semantics and syntactic realization. for each theory, they have a potential power for the interpretation of the syntax-semantics interface.2.2 studies on the syntax-semantics interface abroadjohn lyons (2000) pointed out peoples general view is that words, phrases and sentences in natural languages are meaningful, while sentences are composed of words (and phrases), and the meaning of a sentence depends on the words (and phrases) that make it. it can be seen that the relationship between sentence meaning and vocabulary meaning is very close. however, modern linguistics has opened a new era of emphasizing syntactic form over semantic research. it is not until the middle of transformational grammar that semantic value is highlighted in syntactic research. chomsky (1995) put forward the problem of syntactic and semantic interface in the minimalist scheme. since then, the problem of syntax-semantics interface has become an important research field.the research of syntax-semantics interface has undergone various stages of development, including the classical theory stage, the standard theory stage, the tube theory stage, and the simplest project stage. in the early classical theory stage, chomsky (1965) emphasized the autonomy of syntax and opposed syntax based on semantics or explained semantics of various syntactic phenomena and restrictions. therefore, he took a contradictory attitude towards semantics. then, the rise of cognitive semantics in the late 1970s(the standard theory stage) made up for the shortcomings of generative grammar in the study of lexical semantics, and explained the semantic basis of syntax better from the perspective of lexical semantics. the theoretic stage proposed the theta role and the theta criterion, that is, the number, type and position of the theta roles are unique to each verb. theta grid, each theta role can and can only be assigned to one argument, and each argument has only one thesis role (chomsky, 1981; liu, 2011). in the simplest project stage, chomsky (1995) greatly changed the research of the lexical semantics-syntax interface. foreign scholars have merged grammatical theories such as dependency grammar, categorical grammar, generative grammar, role and reference grammar, etc., and combined semantic research with vocabulary, which has established a systematic syntax-semantics interface theory. many problems have been solved in the fields of verb meaning and argument structure, the nature and syntactic expression of syntactic categories, prosody and syntax, information structure and syntax, and syntactic and semantic analysis in complex sentences. the syntax-semantics interface theory is not only useful in language, which reflects strong descriptive and explanatory power, and it also shows interdisciplinary interests and development directions.2.3 studies on the syntax-semantics interface in chinainterface research started late in china. the earliest article on syntax-semantics interface was published in foreign linguistics, which syntax-semantics interface by mgrve en is translated into by chen (1993). the author states: studying the relationship between syntax and semantics is to study the nature of the principle of combination, and one of the main tasks faced by linguists is to determine other characteristics of syntax related to interpretation. the syntax-semantics interface issues were introduced by type assignment, the assignment of theta roles, scope assignment, and constraints on interpretations from several perspectives. and in the past 10 years, there are some papers devoted to the study of foreign language interface in china. from the perspective of research topics, it can be divided into syntax-semantics interface research, semantics-pragmatics interface, the phonetics-semantics research and so on. lu (2006) put forward two ideas of syntax-semantics interface research, one is from the outside to the inside, that is, from the perspective of sentence meaning composition, to explore the meaning of a sentence woven from which meaning; the other is from the inside to the outside, that is, how to express their cognitive access of the objective world through words. wang et al (2009) and other researchers found that the semantics of ergative verbs in english and chinese contains the three meanings of action, cause-become meaning and result-state; some of the meanings of ergative verbs are mapped onto their syntactic structures, not all of them. the semantic characteristics of ergative verbs and the cognitive orientation of language users have a direct impact on the selection of specific sentence patterns of ergative verbs in english and chinese. gao (2013) studied english middle constructions at syntax-semantics interface. her article establishes an integrated syntax-semantics interface，i.e.，an extended event structure which includes an event structure and a qualia structure. the event structure determines syntactic realization of arguments in linking syntax and semantics，and the qualia structure is a good complement by following the principle of semantic compatibility.some of these studies comprehensively introduced the basic ideas and research status of syntax-semantics interface, and some proposed the important role of syntax-semantics interface in the field of information science. some of them analyzed the syntax-semantics interface of chinese. most of their studies were based on construction theory and projection theory. and these previous studies can provide important approach to study the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences.2.4 research gapthe extant literature on the syntax-semantics interface mainly focuses on the lexical or sentential semantics. these previous studies have suggested that lexical semantics determines syntax and syntactic semantics influences the vocabulary. and the research on the syntax-semantics interface of complex sentences is little. whats more, previous studies have studied english cause-effect complex sentences from the perspective of typology, semantics, pragmatics, syntax, or cognitive grammar. however, few studies have been done on the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences. therefore, the present paper aims to find out that how the syntax-semantics interfaces of english cause-effect complex sentences interact and influence each other. 3. significance of the studythe present study has both academic and practical significance. on the one hand, the study of the relationship between the semantic structure and the syntactic structure of english cause-effect sentences and their correlation between the semantic interpretation and the syntactic rules will in return strengthen the understanding of the interface hypothesis and the syntax-semantics interface. this paper applies cognitive grammar to the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences. therefore, this study can provide a more specific and detailed reference for language research and the development of the cognitive grammar. on the other hand, the study on the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences will be helpful to provide cognitive evidence for english learners of chinese to acquire them. in this way, this study could supply additional support for the study of english cause-effect complex sentences in the l2 classroom, which has practical significance for second language teaching. whats more, the findings of this study will provide strong theoretical support and practical guidance for computer information processing and artificial intelligence research and development. all in all，this study on the syntax-semantics interface of english cause-effect complex sentences from the perspective of cognitive grammar is of great importance and significance.referenceschomsky, n., (1957). syntactic structures. mouton: the hague.chomsky, n., (1965). aspects of the theory of syntax. cambridge, ma: mit press.chomsky, n., (1981). lectures on government and binding. dordrecht: foris.chomsky, n., (1995). the minimalist program. cambridge, ma: mit press.enu，m.,（1993），句法语义接口(the syntax -semantics interface)，陈养铃译，《国外语言学》，2:30-38。

lyons, j., (2000). linguistic semantics: an introduction. beijing: foreign language teaching and research press.quirk, randolph, greenbaum,s., leech, g., svartvik,j. (1985). a comprehensive grammar of the english language. london/new york: longman group limited,.sweetser, e., (2002). from etymology to pragmatics. beijing: peking university press. 高秀雪（2013），英语中动结构的句法-语义界面研究，《外语教学与研究》，1：13-23。

郭纯洁（2018），句法与语义界面研究60年反思，《现代外语》，5：711-720。

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

1. Research questionsThe present paper makes an attempt to explore the syntax-semantics interface of English cause-effect complex sentences from the perspective of Cognitive Grammar. The specific research questions are: (1) How does semantics determine syntactic structure in English cause-effect complex sentences?(2) How does syntactic structure influence semantics in English cause-effect complex sentences? 2. Research methodologyMajor research methods will include close reading, introspection and corpus-based approach. (1) Close reading. This paper collects relevant literature and research in order to understand and analyze recent research status and find out the research gap. Based on the findings of previous research, well aim to make breakthroughs and innovations. (2) Introspection. Introspection is a basic method in the study of philosophy and psychology, and is later used in linguistic studies. This paper combines corpus, scientific thinking and logical reasoning, explaining the two-way interaction view of syntax and semantics of English cause-effect complex sentences. (3) Corpus-based approach. This paper uses computer to efficiently, accurately, objectively and systematically retrieve authentical materials to test, explain and prove the syntax- semantics interface hypothesis of English cause-effect complex sentences.