The Interaction of Grammatical Categories and Cognitive Strategies

This paper examines a Mandarin construction that involves the general classifier, ge, when the element to its right is not a N(P). Through usage-based investigation, V-ge-Comp is identified as a construction in vernacular Mandarin that expresses the attainment of an unusual resultant state. It is argued that the meaning of the construction relies critically on a reanalysis of the Comp as a noun-like element. The foregrounding discourse function of classifiers in general and the special status of ge as a generalized classifier help motivate this reanalysis and render the meaning of the construction. Our account points to prototypicality and contiguity as two fundamental notions in the perceptual basis of linguistic structure. Our account also highlights the patterned and prefabricated characteristics of language as well as the flexibility and indeterminacy in linguistic categories.