Nominal-To-Verbal Conversion In Chinese: Semantics And Structure

Abstract

This study focuses on the process of converting nouns into verbs in Chinese, highlighting the syntactic and semantic mechanisms that govern this transformation. In Chinese, nouns gradually lose their referential function and argument structure while acquiring eventive, stative, and agentive properties. Light verbs play a crucial role by providing a syntactic framework that allows nouns to verbalize, sometimes passing through an intermediate adjectival stage before becoming full verbs. The process illustrates a semantic and syntactic continuum: nouns first function as predicates, then acquire adjectival or stative characteristics, and finally evolve into verbs. Examples from modern Chinese demonstrate how argument roles and semantic features are systematically restructured during this conversion. This study sheds light on the dynamic interaction between syntax and semantics in Chinese noun verbalization and contributes to understanding cross-linguistic mechanisms of grammaticalization.