Abstract:

The paper aims to research the factors which may have an influence on the use of English delexicalized verb constructions based on some data. In some conditions, delexicalized verb constructions have the same or similar or meaning as simple verb constructions and cognate object constructions. However, they could not substitute each other. The choice of the construction is mainly influenced by semantic, pragmatic and textual constraints. Semantically, the use of DVC is effected by individual lexical semantic differences, lexical semantic gap, and semantic differences caused by the type of constructions. Pragmatically, it is affected by the realization of pragmatic rhetorical effects. Textually, the use of DVC is affected by the requirement of coherence.

Key Words: delexicalized verb constructions; simplex verb constructions; cognate object constructions; use; constraint

摘要：

通过实例探讨哪些因素对英语虚化动词结构的使用产生影响。虚化动词结构，在某些情形中和简单动词结构、同源宾语结构的语义相同或相似，但是它们不能随意替换。实际使用中选取何种结构，受语义、语用、语篇等多重因素的制约。语义层面有词汇个体语义差异、词汇语义空缺及结构的类型语义差异制约；语用层面有语用修辞效果制约；语篇层面主要是语篇衔接的要求。

关键词：虚化动词结构；简单动词结构；同源宾语结构；使用；制约

1. Introduction
There are some structures in English which people frequently use, such as “He gave a smile”, “I had a shower”, etc. The verbs’ meaning in the sentences is not very clear or is unspecific, and the main verb requires a complement to satisfy syntactic need. These kinds of words are called light verbs. “make” “have” “give” “take” are commonly used in daily English. However, in most cases,it can be replaced by a verb which has a specific meaning.For example, I showered, he smiled. This linguistic phenomenon is called progressive delexicalization. Similar linguistic phenomena can also be found in other languages. For example,  in Chinese, we can say”给予鼓励，进行讨论，加以重视，予以协助”; In German, we can say “eine Antwort geben, eine Entscheidung treffen, in Erwägung ziehen”; In French, “donner une réponse, faire une promenade, prendre un bain”; In Russian, “давать（дать）отвёт, ОкаЭыватъ(окаэатъ ) помошь”. The object of the above-mentioned construction is the marginal member of the transitive verb’s object. Langacker（2005：364）said that he doesn’t consider the different usage of the verbs as well as the motivations for using them. The construction composed of base verbs are called Simplex Verb Construction (subsequently shortened as SVC). The construction composed of light verbs is called Delexicalized Verb Construction (subsequently shortened as DVC). Actually, some DVCs in English have corresponding cognate object constructions (COC) with similar or same meaning.. For example,