| dc.description.abstract | In traditional Chinese linguistics, post-verbal components are separated into complements and objects. This paper classifies verb particles as complements. Previous researchers have classified a complement depending on its meaning. Predicate complement constructions include complement of result, complement of direction, complement of potential, and complement of state. The literature review shows that past studies describe the verb particle as arising from complement of result and a complement of direction. This researcher, therefore, has organized the syntactic and semantic characteristics of complements of result and complements of direction. Further, this researcher argues that certain post-verbal components should not be classified as complements. Verb particles, based on their syntactic and semantic characteristics, should instead be classified as types of post-verbal components in modern Chinese, and the verb particle in modern Chinese, in terms of structure, is a clitic. The verb particle must be used together with the preceding verb, such that together they assume the syntactic characteristics of a single verb. In semantics, the verb particle in modern Chinese is indicative of motion through location and terminus or result. In modern Chinese, the post-verbal components that retain these properties are 上(shang4), 下(xia4), 起(qi3), 掉(diao4), 開(kai1), 住(zhu4), 走(zou3), 到(dao4), 進(jin4), and 出(chu1). Due to length restrictions, only 上(shang4), 下(xia4), 進(jin4), and 出(chu1) are analyzed.
In addition, this paper contributes to Chinese language pedagogy by using frequency count, formal complexity, and semantic complexity to recommend th order in which the modern Chinese verb particles 上(shang4), 下(xia4), 進(jin4) and 出(chu1) should be taught to students.
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