11 A diachronic insight into the aspectual meaning in Light Verb Constructions. A case study in Mandarin Chinese

This study takes a diachronic perspective to look at the different aspectual encodings in Light Verb Constructions. By using the Light Verb Constructions in Mandarin Chinese as examples, we observe and generalise the patterns of aspectual encodings in GIVE group Light Verbs, including jiyu, yuyi, and jiayi, with the basic meaning of ‘give.’ Assuming that Light Verbs typically follow the grammaticalisation path from independent lexical verbs to grammatical morphemes, we propose that the various realisations of aspectuality can be explained by the different grammaticalisation stages of the three verbs: the verb jiayi is the most grammaticalised followed by yuyi and jiyu. Their grammaticalisation status is evidenced by the light/independent verb usages of the three verbs in a synchronic corpus of Mandarin Chinese. This corpus-based study on Mandarin LVCs within the framework of Construction Grammar complements the discussion on the lightness of Light Verbs across languages.