Refining the network for the Chinese analytic causative constructicon: insights from corpus analysis and psycholinguistic experimentation

Abstract This study explores the network of the Chinese analytic causative constructicon adopting a cross-variety perspective. Unlike prior research focusing solely on the causative marker, this study acknowledges the multi-level nature of the constructicon and examines the descriptive causative construction identified by Zhang, Lili. (2005. Cong shiyi dao zhishi [The causativisation of Chinese shi-yi constructions]. Taida Wenshi Zhexue Bao (62). 119–152), which features a syntactically specified causee slot and a semantically defined effect predicate slot, distinguishing it from general causatives. Combining corpus analysis and psycholinguistic experimentation, our research reveals a consistent preference for using lìng as the causative marker within the descriptive causative construction, observed in both Mainland and Taiwan Chinese. By analyzing the syntactic and semantic features of the descriptive causative construction and its association with the causative marker lìng, we argue that this construction is stored at a separate level. Furthermore, we propose that the Chinese analytic causative constructicon is best represented by a radial network, accommodating both hierarchical and associative relationships, rather than a purely hierarchical structure as illustrated in Pijpops, Dirk, Dirk Speelman, Freek Van De Velde & Stefan Grondelaers. (2021. Incorporating the multi-level nature of the constructicon into hypothesis testing. Cognitive Linguistics 32(3). 487–528).