Creating a 3D semantic profile of causative shi and rang: A constructional approach

ABSTRACT This article models the semantic structure and lectal variation of shi ‘cause’ and rang ‘let’ in the context of an analytic causative construction in Mandarin Chinese. The investigation is framed within a 3D model (the formal, conceptual and social dimensions) and integrates semasiological and onomasiological perspectives of semantic variation. Adopting a corpus-based method and regarding constructional exemplars of the verbs as a prototypical category, it explores semantic salience and variability of the verbs on the one hand and their semantic division of labour on the other. Important dimensions that are relevant for the semantic structure of shi and rang are illuminated, along with their lectal variation. Reasons for the semantic differences are explained from a diachronic perspective, as shi and rang are shown to be at different points along the same grammaticalization pathway.