CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Introduction

1.2 Overview of Grammaticalization as a Linguistic process

1.3 Organization of Chapters

CHAPTER 2 SPACE AND ASPECT ACROSS LANGUAGES AND IN CHINESE

2.1 Overview

2.2 Assumptions Concerning Aspect

2.2.1 Grammatical aspect vs.lexical aspect

2.2.2 Perfect as a marked perfective

2.2.3 Summary

2.3 The Spatial Origins of Aspect：A Typological Review

2.3.1 From motion expressions to perfective expressions

2.3.2 From locative expressions to imperfective expressions

2.3.2.1 From locative constructions to progressive constructions

2.3.2.2 From locative verbs to imperfective auxiliaries/affixes

2.4 The Spatial Origins of Aspect in Chinese

2.4.1 The grammaticalization from guo“pass by”into experi-ential-GUO

2.4.2 The grammaticalization from NP 1＋Zai“be at”＋NP 2 into progressive ZAI construction

2.4.3 The grammaticalization from zhu“be attached at”into durative-ZHE

2.5 Summary

CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 Overview

3.2 Analysis of Semantic Configurations

3.3 Cognitive Mechanisms

3.3.1 Metaphor

3.3.2 Metonymy

3.4 Summary

CHAPTER 4 THE SEMANTIC CONFIGURATIONS OF SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS AND ASPECT EXPRESSIONS IN CHINESE

4.1 Overview

4.2 Source Domain：Goal-Oriented Motion and Location

4.2.1 The semantic configuration of guo“pass by”

4.2.1.1 The semantic configurations of motion verbs in general

4.2.1.2 The semantic configurations of guo“pass by”

4.2.2 The semantic configurations of NP 1＋Zai“be at”＋NP 2 and zhu“be attached at”

4.2.2.1 The semantic configurations of locative expressions in general

4.2.2.2 The semantic configurations of NP 1＋Zai“be at”＋NP 2 and zhu“be attached at”

4.3 Target Domain：Grammatical Aspect

4.3.1 The semantic configurations of aspect expressions in general

4.3.1.1 The semantic configuration of perfective aspect

4.3.1.2 The semantic configuration of imperfective aspect

4.3.2 The semantic configurations of perfective expressions in Chinese

4.3.2.1 The semantic configuration of perfeetive-LE

4.3.2.2 The semantic configuration of completive-GUO

4.3.2.3 The semantic configuration of experiential-GUO

4.3.3 The semantic configurations of imperfective expressions in Chinese

4.3.3.1 The semantic configuration of durative-ZHE

4.3.3.2 The semantic configuration of progressive ZAI construction

4.4 Summary

CHAPTER 5 EVENTIVE SEQUENTIALITY IS SPATIAL LOCATION：FROM SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS INTO ASPECT EX-PRESSIONS IN CHINESE

5.1 Overview

5.2 TIME AS SPACE Metaphor and Event-Structure-Metaphor

5.2.1 TIME AS SPACE metaphor

5.2.2 Event-Structure-Metaphor

5.3 EVENT EVOLUTION IS MOTION

5.3.1 Case 1

5.3.2 Case 2

5.3.3 Summary

5.4 EVENTIVE SEQUENTIALITY IS SPATIAL LOCATION

5.4.1 Case 1

5.4.2 Case 2

5.5 EVENTIVE SEQUENTIALITY IS SPATIAL LOCATION and the Grammaticalization from Spatial Expressions into Aspect Expressions in Chinese

5.5.1 Case 1 and grammaticalization

5.5.1.1 Case 1 and guo“pass by”＞completive marker

5.5.1.2 Case 1 and zhu“be attached at”＞durative marker

5.5.1.3 Summary

5.5.2 Case 2 and grammaticalization

5.6 Conclusion

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION

6.1 The Extension from Completive-GUO to Experiential-GUO

6.2 The Grammaticalization from Liao“finish,be completed”into Perfeetive-LE

6.3 The Grammaticalization Degree of Aspect Expressions in Chinese

6.4 The Polysemy of Guo,Zai,and Zhu

6.4.1 The polysemy of guo

6.4.2 The polysemy of zai

6.4.3 The polysemy of zhu

6.4.4 Summary

6.5 The Parallel between the Evolution of Aspect and the Acquisition of Aspect

6.6 Summary

REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2