Abstract:
The separation and combination phenomenon of disyllabic words exerts a direct influence on the constructionalization of Chinese syntactic structures. Words inherently exhibit cohesiveness, manifested as strong bonding between morphemes. Even when their surface forms are separated, this cohesive property persists. When such bonded morphemes integrate into syntactic structures, they further consolidate the structures, driving their evolution from loosely organized expressions into tightly fused constructions. Based on the CCL and BCC corpora, this paper focuses on analyzing the types and cognitive motivations of lexical surface-bonded constructions. Key findings include these typological patterns: constant/variable lexical surface bonding, anaphoric surface bonding, reversed-order surface bonding, multi-layered interlaced surface bonding, repetitive surface bonding, and quasi-surface bonding. The cognitive motivations are attributed to mental lexicon projection, morphology-syntax synergy, and intertextuality. Based on these analyses, we propose that “lexical surface bonding in disyllabic words” constitutes a new mechanism of Chinese constructionalization, enriching constructionalization theory and methodology.