Causation in english and in vietnamese: a cognitive semantics perspective

Abstract

This thesis offers a cognitive semantic account of causation in English and in Vietnamese. Most attention is paid to causative constructions with causal connectives and periphrastic causative constructions. Lexical and morphological causative constructions are also discussed to highlight the differences between English and Vietnamese in different ways of expressing causation. These causative constructions are described and analyzed in the view of Force-Dynamics and Figure/Ground Shift model. Contrastive analysis is made on such aspects as causal connectives used in different domains and different dimensions of causality, the semantic strength of periphrastic causative verbs in terms of the success of causation, degree of control or agentivity, degree of contact, degree of punctuality, the Causee's resistance and the Causer's coercive effort. The results of this study are applicable to the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language.