From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOV<i>de</i>X” Construction in Mandarin

Liu Jiaxin; Li Xiangling

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

Research Article |

| Peer-Reviewed

From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin

Liu Jiaxin

, Li Xiangling^*

Published in International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 10, Issue 4)

Received: 9 June 2025 Accepted: 23 June 2025 Published: 12 August 2025

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Abstract

This study investigates how two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” in the “VOVdeX” construction are connected at the syntactic level to form a complete event. Based on 2,390 linguistic samples of the “VOVdeX” construction collected from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre, the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University, and previous research, this paper discovers three major categories of the “VOVdeX” construction: the descriptive, commentary and causative “VOVdeX” construction. Syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction and the semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” are discussed. The “VOVdeX” construction has three variables, “V”, “O”, and “X”, and a constant, “de”. The verb “V” profiles a schematic trajector and a schematic landmark; the object “O” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”; the complement “X” also profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The first verb “V” and the object “O” constitute a verb-object structure “VO”, and the second verb “V” and the complement “X” comprise a verb-complement structure “VdeX”. The “VO” and “VdeX” are two baselines according to the baseline/elaboration organization, which are linked through the repetition of the verb “V”.

Published in	International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
Page(s)	199-209
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

The “VOVdeX” Construction, Baseline/Elaboration, Semantic Salience, Syntactic Alignment

1. Introduction

The ability of language to form complex structures from simpler ones is one of its basic properties. This compositional characteristic is manifest in various linguistic phenomena, including the integration and interaction of symbolic structures

[31]

, the alignment between autonomy and dependency within grammatical constructions

[35, 30]

, and the constituency principles of Cognitive Grammar

[16]

. Recent developments in cognitive linguistic theory further exemplify this property through the baseline/elaboration model proposed by Langacker

[19]

, which captures a pervasive asymmetry embedded within both the conceptual and phonological dimensions of language. The baseline and elaboration organization (B/E organization) explains syntactic phenomena in terms of stratum, seriality, and overlap

[50, 7, 3]

. This paper will show that the “VOVdeX” construction in Mandarin lends strong empirical support to this B/E organization.

The “VOVdeX” construction, a subcategory of verb-copying sentences

[25, 21, 37]

, is a distinctive linguistic phenomenon in Mandarin due to two occurrences of the same lexical verb in one construction, with V (the first occurrence of the verb) being followed by an object, and V (the second occurrence of the verb) by a complement

[4, 13]

, for example:

(1) 孩子听故事听得入了神。 (CCL)

hái zi tīng gù shì tīng de rù le shén.

children listen story listen de fascination.

‘The children were fascinated by listening to stories.’

b. 她织毛衣织得很好。 (BCC)

tā zhī máo yī zhī de hěn hǎo.

She knit sweater knit de very well.

‘She knits sweaters very well.’

c. 看书看-得眼睛都酸了。 (BCC)

kàn shū kàn-de yǎn jīng dōu suān le.

read books read-DE eyes all sour

‘Reading makes my eyes sore.’

As the data show, the “VOVdeX” construction often appears with three types based on the relationship between “VO” and “VdeX”: 1) the descriptive “VOVdeX” construction, in which the “VdeX” describes a result or state resulting from the “VO” (see 1a); 2) the commentary “VOVdeX” construction, wherein the “VdeX” depicts a subjective evaluation of the event or action generated by the “VO” (see 1b); 3) the causative “VOVdeX” construction, that is, the “VdeX” demonstrates a result caused by the component “VO” (see 1c). Concerning the observation of the “VOVdeX” construction, this paper establishes a syntactic alignment model, probing the component alignment of such a construction with the help of cognitive grammar

[15, 17]

This article is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews previous research on verb-copying sentences and the “VOVdeX” construction. Section 3 unveils the B/E organization. Section 4 details the methodological design of this corpus-based study, providing the foundation for the analysis and discussion in Section 5. Section 6 synthesizes the conclusion.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Previous Studies of Verb-copying Sentences

Verb-copying sentences, called “narrative words repetition (xù shù cí fù shuō)”

[39]

, was innovated approximately 300 years ago and is a relatively young construction that did not have any equivalent before the fifteenth century AD

[33]

. However, verb-copying sentences have drawn attention as a unique linguistic phenomenon

[20]

, as evidenced by disagreements regarding their name

[27, 2, 32]

, scope

[25, 9]

, classification

[21, 46, 34, 44]

, and complement direction

[38]

. Verb-copying sentences present a challenge to the theory of structural linguistics when analyzed via the lens of IC analysis

[1]

, for instance, kàn shū kàn de yǎn jīng dōu suān le ‘Reading makes my eyes sore’, the rational division of the immediate constituents in the expression kàn de yǎn jīng dōu suān le ‘My eyes are sore because of reading’ is an inevitable problem, which is problematic when applied to Chinese sentences

[26]

. Some researchers examine verb-copying sentences using the GB theory

[10, 11]

, Case analysis

[12, 22]

, and the theory of Movement

[5]

within the framework of generative grammar, which cannot properly account for the spell-out of the verb in verb-copying sentences

[49]

. While an agreement on the causes of the repetition of the verb in verb-copying sentences is still elusive

[48]

, the following queries about verb-copying sentences still warrant consideration: “Why is the first verb in verb-copying sentences repeated?” “Which theory is most likely to explain the phenomenon of verb copying?” The functional and pragmatic aspects of verb-copying sentences are the main focus of functional grammar studies. Some academics, like Xiang

[41]

, argue that verb-copying sentences serve to emphasize the supernormality of actions, while others, like Wang

[36]

, disagree, and they contend certain verb-copying sentences express unexpected resultant meanings or introduce a topic

[8]

. Opinions are divided on the topic of the focus of verb-copying sentences: a single focus

[29, 52]

or a paired focus

[47]

. However, there is still disagreement over the pragmatic and functional aspects of verb-copying sentences. For instance, questions such as “What are the criteria for classifying verb-copying sentences?” or “What is the number of the focus in a verb-copying sentence?” do not yield a cohesive response and need further investigation. The cognitive foundations of verb-copying sentences are event fusion

[48]

, but the motivation behind this structure does not be disclosed. Additional research on verb-copying sentences is required to have a better understanding of the cognitive mechanism underlying this structure.

Researchers obtain some new findings about verb-copying sentences within the framework of generative grammar. However, discussions center on identifying the causes of verb repetition in verb-copying sentences and the generation of verb-copying sentences

[42]

. Verb repetition, as an important linguistic phenomenon in Chinese, is manifested in its own fashion in pragmatic function of verb-copying sentences

[53]

. Though it does not reveal the constructional meaning and cognitive mechanism of verb-copying sentences at a cognitive level, cognitive linguistics works on the cognitive underpinnings of verb-copying sentences. Therefore, there is still a great deal of potential for research on verb-copying sentences.

2.2. Previous Studies of the “VOVdeX” Construction

Based on the categorization of verb-copying sentences proposed by Liu

[25]

, Li and Shi

[21]

, it can be seen that a subcategory of verb-copying sentences is the “VOVdeX” construction

[27]

. However, there are not many studies on this construction. Previous studies mostly center on its types, origins

[44]

, diachronic evolution

[45]

, and formation process

[43]

. The syntactic features, semantic characteristics, and syntactic alignments of the “VOVdeX” construction are not thoroughly discussed. In addition, given that the “VOVdeX” construction consists of three variable components, namely “V”, “O”, and “X”, along with a constant element “de”, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of these variables within the construction, as well as how they contribute to the formation of the “VOVdeX” construction. This provides significant research potential for the present study.

3. Unveiling the Baseline/Elaboration Organization

Three components make up the B/E organization: a baseline structure, an elaboration organization, and an elaborated structure

[51]

. The baseline (B) has some kind of priority, being already established, in place, or under control, and is generally more substantive than elaborating constituents. Its elaboration (E) is defined as a function that maps B onto the elaborated structure (BE), which is the higher-level structure. Therefore, BE can serve as a baseline for further elaboration that represents a higher level of the B/E organization. The elaboration as an aspect of cognitive processing is described as an operation, consisting of augmentation, adaptation, or additional processing activity

[19]

. Thus, the complex or composite structure created by elaborating the baseline structure is what constitutes BE

[18, 19]

. Among the three components, the baseline structure represents the cognitive starting point; the elaborated structure denotes the cognitive endpoint, and the elaboration operation serves as the link between the starting point and the endpoint. Those three components form a “baseline-elaboration-elaborated structure” relationship, which exhibits universal applicability in human cognition and linguistic organization

[24]

, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 1. Baseline/elaboration organization model (Langacker 2016b: 406).

The process of the construction of the “baseline-elaboration-elaborated structure” relationship is dynamic and layering

[50]

, as shown in Figure 2. The layering feature refers to the fact that the baseline structure is located within a lower-level cognitive processing window (as indicated by the ellipse labeled S₀ in Figure 2), while the elaborated structures are situated in higher-level processing windows (as indicated by the ellipses labeled S₁, S₂, S₃,and S₄ in Figure 2), with elaboration operations bridging between them

[23]

. An elaborated structure in one processing window can be used as a new baseline to identify the next, illustrating the dynamics of this cognitive model. For example, in processing window S₁, B₁functions as an elaborated structure, but in processing window S₂, B₁ changes into B₂’s baseline structure.

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 2. Baseline, elaboration, and strata (Langacker 2016b: 406).

In Figure 2, it is a serial type, representing the canonical B/E organization. Besides, various sorts of B/E organization, like the pairwise type, the cumulative type, are explained

[19]

. In the B/E organization, every component in its window needs to be understood in connection with every other component. Relationships between successive elements show up in larger processing windows that operate concurrently on various time scales or durations. For instance, “AB” and “BC” are in different windows respectively; the windows “AB” and “BC” work together as a dual baseline that elaborates the higher elaborated structure “ABC”, and the windows “AB”, “BC”, and “CD” work individually as baselines that collectively elaborate the higher elaborated structure “ABCD”.

4. Methodology and Data Collection

This paper adopts a corpus-based approach, collecting data from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre (BCC), the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University (CCL), and previous research. The data collection procedure proceeds as follows. First, we identify verbs that existed in the Chinese Verb Usage Dictionary

[28]

as the “V” of the “VOVdeX” construction because using simultaneously three variables (“V”, “O”, “X”) is difficult to search for this construction, the quasi-fixed construction is thus formed, such as “kàn……kànde”, “xiě……xiěde”, “dǎ……dǎde”, etc. Second, expressions conforming to this construction are selected; some cases that do not conform to the “VOVdeX” construction are excluded, such as “chī jiù néng chī dé dào chī dé shùn de” (“If you eat, you will be able to eat smoothly.”), “chī yě de chī dé hé hū zhèng yì” (“You must eat righteously.”), “chī dào yě chī de xià” (“I can even eat it.”) and “chī de xià chī de bǎo” (“Eat enough, eat enough.”). Third, some cases with repetition are removed. Finally, 2,390 linguistic samples are acquired.

5. Analysis and Discussion

5.1. Syntactic Features of the “VOVdeX” Construction

Two syntactic representations of the “VOVdeX” construction are shown: “VOVdeX” and “SVOVdeX”, where “S” denotes the subject. The latter is used when a subject is present. The syntactic elements of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction can function as predicates, objects, attributes, subjects, clauses, and sentences with a relatively flexible syntactic distribution. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Syntactic element of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction.

Syntactic components	Number	Percentage (X/2390)	Examples
As subjects	4	0.2%	原来读书读得好是可以赚钱的。 (BCC) yuán lái dú shū dú de hǎo shì kě yǐ zhuàn qián de. ‘The truth is that being good at studying can make money.’
As predicates	1379	57.7%	这个娃娃弹琴弹得好哦! (CCL) zhè gè wá wa tán qín tán de hǎo ó! ‘This kid plays the piano very well.’
As objects	253	10.6%	初云反而觉得骂他骂得太亲近了。 (BCC) chū yún fǎn ér jué de mà tā mà de tài qīn jìn le. ‘Chuyun instead felt that scolding him was too intimate.’
As attributes	60	2.5%	不过，写信写得好的人也就没了写信的必要。 (BCC) bù guò, xiě xìn xiě de hǎo de rén yě jiù méi le xiě xìn de bì yào. ‘However, someone who writes letters exceptionally well would no longer have the necessity to write them.’
As clauses	455	19.0%	捧着一杯水，看她看得目不转睛。 (BCC) pěng zhe yī bēi shuǐ, kàn tā kàn de mù bù zhuǎn jīng. ‘Holding a glass of water, I watched her attentively without taking my eyes off.’
As sentences	239	10.0%	写作业写得手酸。 (BCC) xiě zuò yè xiě de shǒu suān. ‘My hands are sore from writing homework.’

In Table 1, in the 2,390 items gathered for the “(S) VOVdeX” construction, 1,379 examples serve as predicates, making up the largest percentage 57.7%. Closely behind, 455 occurrences are clauses, accounting for 19.0% of the total-the second-highest percentage. 253 instances are objects, taking up a proportion of 10.6% of the total. The occurrences of this construction used as sentences, attributes, and subjects are 239, 60, and 4, respectively. These amounts represent 10.0%, 2.5%, and 0.2% of the total instances, respectively.

The syntactic representation of the “VOVdeX” construction can be rewritten as “(S) + VO +VdeX”. Three syntactic constituents make up this construction: the subject (S), the verb-object structure (VO), and the verb-complement structure (VdeX). On occasion, the subject “S” can be omitted. The purpose of this section is to examine the syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction.

5.1.1. “VOVdeX” as a Dual-baseline Construction

From a global perspective, the components “VO” and “VdeX” serve as two baselines, whose mutual elaboration results in the composite structure “VOVdeX”. From “lower” to “higher” levels, the composition is just the B/E organizational hierarchy, where each stratum serves as the foundation for the next

[19]

. The composite structure “VOVdeX” is in the higher-level processing window, while the two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” are in the lower-level processing window. Consider the statement qún zhòng hèn tā hèn de yǎo yá qiè chǐ ‘The masses hate him so much that they grit their teeth’. The components hèn tā ‘hating him’ and hèn de yǎo yá qiè chǐ ‘gritting one’s teeth because one hates something or someone’ represent the “VO” and “VdeX” components of this sentence, respectively. The B/E organization states that hèn tā ‘hating him’, and hèn de yǎo yá qiè chǐ ‘gritting one’s teeth because one hates something or somebody’ are in the lower-level processing window. Because they are already established, in place, or under control, they can be thought of as baselines in terms of composition. They also serve as the foundation for determining a higher-level processing window. The two baselines eventually contribute to the composite construction hèn tā hèn de yǎo yá qiè chǐ ‘gritting one’s teeth because one hates him’. In this sense, the “VOVdeX” construction has two baseline components: “VO” and “VdeX”.

5.1.2. “VOVdeX” as a Double-verb Construction

The two same verbs in the “VOVdeX” construction also exhibit a special syntactic quality. In this construction, the second verb is a repetition of the first one. The first verb “V”, designated as “V₁”,develops a verb-object structure “V₁O” with the object “O”; the second verb “V”, designated as “V₂”, forms a verb-complement structure “V₂deX” with the complement “X” and the constant “de”. The two verbs “V₁” and “V₂” in this construction have different syntactic characteristics. As aspect markers denote the end of the subsequent cognitive process, “V₁” typically does not carry any additional particles, such as “le” and “zhe” markers. Nonetheless, it is acceptable for temporal adverbs that indicate tense, like “yǐ jīng” and “zhèng zài/zhèng”, to come before “V₁”. In addition, it is forbidden for negative adverbs like “bù” and “méi” to appear before “V₁O” for the same reason as above. For example:

(2) 她正看书看得入迷。 (BCC)

tā zhèng kàn shū kàn de rù mí.

she be read books read de fascination.

‘She is fascinated by reading the book.

她看着书看得入迷。

tā kàn zhe shū kàn de rù mí.

she look at book read de fascination.

她没看书看得入迷。

tā méi kàn shū kàn de rù mí.

she without read book read de fascination.

(3) 好像她已经等他等得不耐烦了。 (BCC)

hǎo xiàng tā yǐ jīng děng tā děng de bù nài fán le.

Perhaps she already wait he wait de impatience le.

‘Perhaps she has already been waiting for him impatiently.’

好像她等了他等得不耐烦。

hǎo xiàng tā děng le tā děng de bù nài fán.

perhaps she wait le he wait de impatience.

好像她不等他等得不耐烦了

hǎo xiàng tā bù děng tā děng de bù nài fán le.

perhaps she no wait he wait de impatience le.

In contrast to “V₁”, aspect markers are usually permitted to appear after “V₂deX”, as shown in example (4). Negative adverbs can occur before the component “V₂” (see the following examples).

(4) 我们修水库修得上了瘾了! (冰心／冰心全集第五卷)

wǒ men xiū shuǐ kù xiū de shàng le yǐn le!

we repair reservoir repair de addiction le!

‘We got addicted to repairing the reservoir!’

我们修水库没修得上了瘾。

wǒ men xiū shuǐ kù méi xiū de shàng le yǐn.

we repair reservoir without repair de addition.

‘We repair reservoirs, but we are not addicted to it.’

(5) 有的读者看书看得入了迷。 (BCC)

yǒu de dú zhě kàn shū kàn de rù le mí.

some reader read book read de fascination.

‘Some readers are fascinated by reading books.’

有的读者看书没看得入迷。

yǒu de dú zhě kàn shū méi kàn de rù mí.

some reader read book without read de fascination.

‘Some readers are not fascinated by reading books.’

5.2. Semantic Inheritance of the “VO” and the “VdeX”

Two verbs of the “VOVdeX” construction bear distinct semantic meanings even though the second verb is a repetition of the first one. Semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” is a noteworthy semantic aspect of the “VOVdeX” construction; the latter is semantically complementary to the former. “VO” represents old information and introduces a topic

[8]

; “VdeX” explains or describes the result or state caused by “VO”. The semantic inheritance between “VO” and “VdeX” provides a complete sentence and full event

[48]

, regardless of whether it is the descriptive, commentary, or causative “VOVdeX” construction. Take the following sentences as examples:

(6) 小刘追我追得很紧。(赵青《爱的禁果》作家文摘1996)

xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ zhuī de hěn jǐn.

Xiao Liu chase me chase de very closely.

‘Xiao Liu chased me very closely.’

(7) 这先生，打娃打得这样狠！ (BCC)

zhè xiān sheng, dǎ wá dǎ de zhè yàng hěn!

this gentleman, beat child beat de so harshly!

‘This gentleman beats children so harshly!’

(8) 我教徒弟教得累了。 (BCC)

wǒ jiāo tú dì jiāo de lèi le.

I teach apprentice teach de tired.

‘I am tired of teaching my apprentices.’

The state of xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ ‘Xiao Liu chased me’ is depicted in example (6), the descriptive “VOVdeX” construction. The “VO” xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ ‘Xiao Liu chased me’ aims to introduce a topic, while the “VdeX” zhuī de hěn jǐn ‘chase very closely’ serves as a description of that topic. Xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ ‘Xiao Liu chased me’ and zhuī de hěn jǐn ‘chase very closely’ form the complete event xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ zhuī de hěn jǐn ‘Xiao Liu chased me very closely’. They are semantically inherited. A topic is also introduced in example (7), that is, zhè xiān sheng dǎ wá ‘This gentleman beats children’. The comment on this topic is dǎ de zhè yàng hěn ‘beat so harshly’. Thus, dǎ de zhè yàng hěn ‘beat so harshly’ is semantically complementary to zhè xiān sheng dǎ wá ‘This gentleman beats children’, and the former enriches the semantic completeness of the latter. Therefore, example (7) is the commentary “VOVdeX” construction. In example (8), the causative “VOVdeX” construction, the “VO” introduces a topic - wǒ jiāo tú dì ‘I teach apprentices’, which leads to the result lèi le ‘tired’. This result is induced by the “VdeX”. As seen by cases (6) through (8), “V₂deX” serves as the semantic complement and explanation to “VO” in the “VOVdeX” construction, and together the two components constitute a complete event.

More specifically, “VdeX” is an indispensable component of the “VOVdeX” construction. The semantic meaning of the “VO” is incomplete without “VdeX”. Semantic completeness is achieved in this construction thanks to “VdeX”. Additionally, the complement’s subsequent appearance, namely “VdeX”, completes the semantic meaning of “VO”. In other words, it enables the sentence to achieve boundedness, ensuring the integrity and grammaticality of the “VOVdeX” construction

[40]

. For instance, if the “VdeX” element is deleted from examples (6), (7), and (8), the above three examples can be expressed as follows:

(6') 小刘追我。

xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ.

Xiao Liu chase I.

‘Xiao Liu chased me.’

(7') 这先生，打娃。

zhè xiān sheng, dǎ wá.

this gentleman beat child.

‘This gentleman beats children.’

(8') 我教徒弟。

wǒ jiāo tú dì.

I teach apprentice.

‘I teach apprentices.’

Semantically, the semantic meanings of the “VO” zhuī wǒ ‘chase me’, dǎ wá ‘beat children’, and jiāo tú dì ‘teach apprentice’ respectively in (6'), (7'), and (8') are all incomplete. Semantic integrity dictates that a sentence is finished when it finally responds to queries such as “What is it?” “What does it do?” or “How it is?” etc. When a sentence can respond to these queries, it is considered semantically complete. For instance, xiǎo liú zhuī wǒ ‘Xiao Liu chased me’ in (6') does not fully convey the semantic meaning of the sentence as it fails to answer the question “What happens when Xiao Liu chases me?” Nevertheless, the occurrence of “VdeX” in (6)-that is, zhuī de hěn jǐn ‘chasing very closely’-answers the query “What is happening?” and achieves semantic completeness. This also applies to (7'). The statement wǒ jiāo tú dì ‘I teach apprentices’ in (8') does not answer the question “How well I teach my apprentices?”, which is incomplete in meaning for the reader. The question of “how” is addressed when jiāo de lèi le ‘tired from teaching’ appears in (8), matching people’s psychological expectations and achieving semantic completeness.

5.3. Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction

In this section, a description of the semantic salience of each variable of the “VOVdeX” construction is given first. Next, the semantic salience of the two baselines, “VO” and “VdeX”, is explained in terms of the corresponding relationship determined by the semantic salience of the component. The syntactic connection between two baselines to create the composite structure known as the “VOVdeX” construction is then explained.

5.3.1. Semantic Salience of Components of the “VOVdeX” Construction

The “VOVdeX” construction presents two syntactic representations: “VOVdeX” and “SVOVdeX”. The subject “S” is generally a noun, a pronoun, or a noun phrase. Its semantic salience can only be a thing or an entity. For instance:

(9) 他看报看得非常仔细。 (CCL)

tā kàn bào kàn de fēi cháng zǐ xì.

he read newspaper read de very carefully.

‘He reads the newspaper very carefully.’

(10) 他的脸靠她靠得很近。 (BCC)

tā de liǎn kào tā kào de hěn jìn.

his face next to she next to de very close.

‘His face is very close to hers.’

The subject tā ‘he’ in example (9) is a personal pronoun, profiling an entity, as shown in Figure 3. In example (10), the subject tā de liǎn ‘his face’ is a possessive phrase, and it also profiles an entity, as indicated in Figure 4.

Tā (he)

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 3. The semantic salience of “tā”.

Tā de liǎn (his face)

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 4. The semantic salience of “tā de liǎn”.

It can be seen from Figures 3 and 4 that the subject “S” in the “VOVdeX” construction profiles a semantic substructure, which is diagrammed in Figure 5.

The subject of “S”

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 5. The semantic salience of the subject “S”.

The verb “V” in the “VOVdeX” construction is a transitive verb. For example:

(11) 母亲爱孩子爱得锥心泣血。 (BCC)

mǔ qīn ài hái zi ài de zhuī xīn qì xuè.

mother love child love de so much

‘Mother loves her child so much.’

(12) 其实我看原著看得不多。 (BCC)

qí shí wǒ kàn yuán zhù kàn de bù duō.

actually, I read original work read de not much

‘Actually, I haven’t read much of the original work.’

(13) 老公擦地擦得好干净。 (BCC)

lǎo gōng cā dì cā de hǎo gān jìng.

husband mop floor mop de so cleanly

‘My husband mopped the floor so cleanly.’

In instances (11), (12), and (13), the verbs ài ‘love’, kàn ‘read’, and cā ‘mop’ are all transitive verbs with objects. The existence of the sender and the recipient of the affection “love” is necessary for the semantic meaning of the transitive verb ài ‘love’ in example (11). Similarly, factors like the sender and recipient of the actions kàn ‘read’ and cā ‘mop’ are required for the semantic meanings of the transitive verbs kàn ‘read’ and cā ‘mop’ respectively in examples (12), (13). Therefore, based on encyclopedic knowledge, the three verbs ài ‘love’, kàn ‘read’, and cā ‘mop’ respectively in examples (11), (12), and (13) all profile a schematic substructure trajector and a schematic substructure landmark. To be specific, in example (11), the transitive verb ài ‘love’ profiles a schematic trajector that represents the sender of the emotion ‘love’ and a schematic landmark that represents the recipient of that emotion. In example (12), the transitive verb kàn ‘read’ profiles a schematic trajector that represents the sender of the action ‘read’ and a schematic landmark that represents the recipient of that action. Likewise, example (13) does.

Examples (11) through (13) demonstrate that the verb “V” profiles a schema trajector and a schematic landmark, as shown in Figure 6.

The verb “V”

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Figure 6. The semantic salience of the verb “V”.

In Figure 6, the schematic trajector profiled by the verb “V” is indicated by the small circle, while the schematic landmark profiled by the verb “V” is represented by the small box.

Generally speaking, the object “O” is a noun, a pronoun, or a noun phrase. It profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”. As an entity, the object “O” enters the process profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”, then becomes a semantic component of the verb “V” in the component “VO”. The semantic salience of the object “O” in the “VOVdeX” construction is sketched in Figure 7.

The Object “O”

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Figure 7. The semantic salience of the object “O”.

The complement “X” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. Besides, it serves as a supplement and explanation for the result or state generated by the component “VO”. The complex “X” enters the process profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”, and turns into a semantic component of the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The semantic salience of the complement “X” in the “VOVdeX” construction is diagrammed in Figure 8.

The complement “X”

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Figure 8. The semantic salience of the complement “X”.

The subject “S”, the verb “V”, the object “O”, and the complement “X” are the four components of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction, and they each represent a distinct semantic salience trait. The subject “S”, the object “O”, and the complement “X” all profile a semantic substructure, while the verb “V” profiles two schematic substructures, one indicating a schematic trajector and the other a schematic landmark.

5.3.2. Semantic Salience of Two Baselines of the “VOVdeX” Construction

The question that has to be addressed after elucidating the semantic salience of each variable of the “VOVdeX” construction is: How are these various salient components connected to form two baselines (“VO” and “VdeX”)? According to cognitive grammar, the correspondence of semantic salience of these components establishes the connection between the components of a composite structure. The conceptual overlap is one way that those correspondences appear. It is clear, based on Hume’s viewpoint

[14]

, that a complex cause-and-effect event is represented by the “VOVdeX” construction, which represents a causal relationship between two sub-events. In these two sub-events, one is the cause event, represented by the baseline “VO”, and the other is the result event, represented by the baseline “VdeX”. Thus, the relationship between the cause event and the result event is the first aspect of the “VOVdeX” construction. A subject that is present in the baseline “VO” can be expressed as “SVO”. This thesis illustrates the semantic salience of the baseline “SVO”, which includes the semantic salience of “VO”.

The connection of the semantic salience in the baseline “SVO” is as follows: In the baseline “SVO”, the verb “V” profiles two schematic substructures, a schematic trajector, and a schematic landmark. The semantic salience of the subject “S” elaborates on the schematic trajector profiled by the verb “V” in the baseline “SVO”, and the semantic salience of the object “O” elaborates on the schematic landmark profiled by the verb “V” in the baseline “SVO”, thus generating the baseline “SVO”, shown in Figure 9. In the baseline “VdeX”, the linking process of semantic salience is that the verb “V” in the baseline “VdeX” also profiles two schematic substructures, one of which is a schematic trajector and the other a schematic landmark. The schematic trajector profiled by the verb “V” in the baseline “VdeX” is still represented by the subject “S”. The semantic salience of the complement “X” elaborates on the schematic landmark profiled by the verb “V” in the baseline “VdeX”, thereby generating the baseline “VdeX”. The semantic salience of the baseline “VdeX” is demonstrated in Figure 10.

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Figure 9. The semantic salience of the baseline “(S)VO”.

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Figure 10. The semantic salience of the baseline “VdeX”.

The “(S)VOVdeX” construction is made up of the baselines “(S)VO” and “VdeX”, and it depicts a complete event. However, how are the two baseline components combined to create a complete event?

5.3.3. Syntactic Alignment of Two Baselines of the “VOVdeX” Construction

The baseline “(S)VO” is an incomplete sentence and event based on encyclopedic knowledge

[40]

. In general, when “S” performs an action upon “O”, inquiries about the result or purpose of “S” performing an action upon “O” naturally come up. The baseline “VdeX” provides the additional interpretation needed for the baseline “(S)VO”. The connection of the two baselines forms a complete event. Nevertheless, how do the two baselines combine to create an event as a whole? Three factors primarily represent the reasons for the formation of the cognitive construction mechanism of the “VOVdeX” construction:

At first, the schematic trajectors profiled by “V” in the two baselines are identical, namely the subject “S”. Secondly, the two baseline components take place in chronological order. According to the principle of temporal sequence (PTS)

[6]

, the temporal sequence of the states that two syntactic units express in the conceptual domain determines the relative order of those units. The chronological sequence of the events or actions indicated by PTS determines the order in which these syntactic units-which relate to events or actions in the conceptual domain-are arranged. That is, in a sentence, the first event or action happens at the beginning of the sentence, and the second event or action happens at the end of the sentence. The relative order of the syntactic units and the sequence of events or actions in the conceptual domain are compatible. Consequently, it can be observed that the baseline “(S)VO” introduces a topic and happens chronologically first, followed by the baseline “VdeX” which describes the result or state of the baseline “(S)VO”. Consequently, the baseline “(S)VO” comes before baseline “VdeX”. Thirdly, the “V” is repeated in the baseline “(S)VO”. Verb repetition reflects how information accumulation affects the linear extension of syntax

[2]

. The cognitive mechanism used in the construction of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction can be shown in Figure 11.

The two big ellipses in Figure 11 below stand for two baselines that are situated in the lower-level window S₀ and are called “(S)VO” and “VdeX”. The composite structure “(S)VOVdeX”, which is located in the higher-level window S₁, is indicated by the larger ellipse above. Trajectors are represented by the little ellipses in “(S)VO” and “VdeX”, and landmarks are represented by the small boxes. The verb “V” in the little ellipse, overlapping in the middle, indicates that it is presented in both the “(S)VO” and “VdeX” baselines at the same time. The process is profiled and a relationship is indicated by the bold bar that runs along the time arrow. Elaboration is indicated by two solid arrows.

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Figure 11. The syntactic alignment of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction.

6. Conclusion

The “VOVdeX” construction is a unique linguistic phenomenon because of the two occurrences of the same lexical verb in one construction. The “VOVdeX” construction can be divided into three categories according to the semantic relationship between the “VO” and the “VdeX”. This paper, based on the observation and investigation of the collection of data, analyzes syntactic features and semantic inheritance between the “VO” and the “VdeX” and discovers that the repetition of the verb is a key to connecting the “VO” and the “VdeX” to express a complete event, which has a solid foundation of language reality and psychological reality.

Abbreviations

S	Subject
V	Verb
O	Object
X	Complement
V₁	First Verb
V₂	Second Verb
VO	Verb-object Structure
VdeX	Verb-complement Structure
V₁O	Verb-object Structure
V₂deX	Verb-complement Structure
B	Baseline
E	Elaboration
B/E organization	Baseline/elaboration Organization

Author Contributions

Li Xiangling: Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

Liu Jiaxin: Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

Funding

This research is funded by Key Project of Higher Education Teaching Reform Research and Practice in Henan Province (Grant Number: 2024SJGLX0046; Grant recipient: Li Xiangling); Major Research Project on International Chinese Education Research and Practice in Henan Province (Grant Number: HZC2025KT008; Grant recipient: Li Xiangling).

Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Jiaxin, L., Xiangling, L. (2025). From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 10(4), 199-209. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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Jiaxin, L.; Xiangling, L. From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2025, 10(4), 199-209. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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Jiaxin L, Xiangling L. From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2025;10(4):199-209. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17,
  author = {Liu Jiaxin and Li Xiangling},
  title = {From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin
},
  journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {199-209},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  abstract = {This study investigates how two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” in the “VOVdeX” construction are connected at the syntactic level to form a complete event. Based on 2,390 linguistic samples of the “VOVdeX” construction collected from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre, the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University, and previous research, this paper discovers three major categories of the “VOVdeX” construction: the descriptive, commentary and causative “VOVdeX” construction. Syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction and the semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” are discussed. The “VOVdeX” construction has three variables, “V”, “O”, and “X”, and a constant, “de”. The verb “V” profiles a schematic trajector and a schematic landmark; the object “O” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”; the complement “X” also profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The first verb “V” and the object “O” constitute a verb-object structure “VO”, and the second verb “V” and the complement “X” comprise a verb-complement structure “VdeX”. The “VO” and “VdeX” are two baselines according to the baseline/elaboration organization, which are linked through the repetition of the verb “V”.},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin

AU  - Liu Jiaxin
AU  - Li Xiangling
Y1  - 2025/08/12
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
T2  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JF  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JO  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
SP  - 199
EP  - 209
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-3363
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
AB  - This study investigates how two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” in the “VOVdeX” construction are connected at the syntactic level to form a complete event. Based on 2,390 linguistic samples of the “VOVdeX” construction collected from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre, the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University, and previous research, this paper discovers three major categories of the “VOVdeX” construction: the descriptive, commentary and causative “VOVdeX” construction. Syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction and the semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” are discussed. The “VOVdeX” construction has three variables, “V”, “O”, and “X”, and a constant, “de”. The verb “V” profiles a schematic trajector and a schematic landmark; the object “O” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”; the complement “X” also profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The first verb “V” and the object “O” constitute a verb-object structure “VO”, and the second verb “V” and the complement “X” comprise a verb-complement structure “VdeX”. The “VO” and “VdeX” are two baselines according to the baseline/elaboration organization, which are linked through the repetition of the verb “V”.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Liu Jiaxin

School of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Kaifeng, China

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0009-0005-5181-480X
Li Xiangling

School of International Education, Henan University, Kaifeng, China

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http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9830-4755

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Table 1

Table 1. Syntactic element of the “(S)VOVdeX” construction.

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Jiaxin, L., Xiangling, L. (2025). From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 10(4), 199-209. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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Jiaxin, L.; Xiangling, L. From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2025, 10(4), 199-209. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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Jiaxin L, Xiangling L. From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2025;10(4):199-209. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17,
  author = {Liu Jiaxin and Li Xiangling},
  title = {From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin
},
  journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
  volume = {10},
  number = {4},
  pages = {199-209},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20251004.17},
  abstract = {This study investigates how two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” in the “VOVdeX” construction are connected at the syntactic level to form a complete event. Based on 2,390 linguistic samples of the “VOVdeX” construction collected from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre, the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University, and previous research, this paper discovers three major categories of the “VOVdeX” construction: the descriptive, commentary and causative “VOVdeX” construction. Syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction and the semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” are discussed. The “VOVdeX” construction has three variables, “V”, “O”, and “X”, and a constant, “de”. The verb “V” profiles a schematic trajector and a schematic landmark; the object “O” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”; the complement “X” also profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The first verb “V” and the object “O” constitute a verb-object structure “VO”, and the second verb “V” and the complement “X” comprise a verb-complement structure “VdeX”. The “VO” and “VdeX” are two baselines according to the baseline/elaboration organization, which are linked through the repetition of the verb “V”.},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - From the Baseline/Elaboration Perspective to Unveil the Syntactic Alignment of the “VOVdeX” Construction in Mandarin

AU  - Liu Jiaxin
AU  - Li Xiangling
Y1  - 2025/08/12
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
T2  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JF  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JO  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
SP  - 199
EP  - 209
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-3363
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20251004.17
AB  - This study investigates how two baselines “VO” and “VdeX” in the “VOVdeX” construction are connected at the syntactic level to form a complete event. Based on 2,390 linguistic samples of the “VOVdeX” construction collected from the Beijing Language University Corpus Centre, the Centre for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University, and previous research, this paper discovers three major categories of the “VOVdeX” construction: the descriptive, commentary and causative “VOVdeX” construction. Syntactic features of the “VOVdeX” construction and the semantic inheritance between the “VO” and “VdeX” are discussed. The “VOVdeX” construction has three variables, “V”, “O”, and “X”, and a constant, “de”. The verb “V” profiles a schematic trajector and a schematic landmark; the object “O” profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VO”; the complement “X” also profiles a semantic substructure, and elaborates on the schematic substructure profiled by the verb “V” in the component “VdeX”. The first verb “V” and the object “O” constitute a verb-object structure “VO”, and the second verb “V” and the complement “X” comprise a verb-complement structure “VdeX”. The “VO” and “VdeX” are two baselines according to the baseline/elaboration organization, which are linked through the repetition of the verb “V”.
VL  - 10
IS  - 4
ER  -

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