A Review of Overseas Discussion on Lexicalization Typology

First proposed by Talmy(1985;1991),lexicalization typology of motion events has enlightened our understanding of the relation between meaning and surface structure of language.The studies of lexicalization typology have since involved synchronic and diachronic perspectives.Compared with the diachronic approach,which is focused on pattern shift of lexicalization,the synchronic approach involves more topics,not only on the typology itself,such as discrimination of syntactic constituents,universality of the typology,and minimal semantic units of motion event,but also on application of the typological findings to other related domains.We conclude that the process,mechanism,and motivation of the diachronic shift of lexicalization pattern have yet to be investigated.