1 Introduction

The English gerund is a fundamental type of argument structure, with a syntactic structure of [SUB V (OBJ) XP], which means' X causes Y to become Z '. Verb V is divided into causative and non causative categories, and XP is usually an adjective phrase. Goldberg and Dong Chengru's research pointed out a special co selection relationship between the object and complement, but did not systematically reveal its mechanism. This article adopts the method of structural collocation analysis to explore the mechanism of object and complement co selection that leads to the construction of similar structures, in order to deepen the research on the internal co selection mechanism of structures.

2 Literature Review

Reviewed the research on English verb constructions from both macro and micro perspectives. From a macro perspective, researchers have explored the classification, semantic mechanisms, and extension types of dynamic constructions. Goldberg regards construction as a metaphorical usage, while Boas and Dong Chengru analyze it from the perspectives of result phrases and independent structures, respectively. The micro perspective focuses on the admission criteria, argument expression, and co-occurrence limitations of verbs and result complements. Researchers have proposed different admission criteria, such as verbs must directly cause a state change, and result phrases must indicate the end point of the stage. At the same time, the limitations of previous research were pointed out, such as neglecting subclass heterogeneity, pragmatic aspects, and quantitative methods. The aim of this study is to explore the lexical distribution characteristics and admission criteria of the verb structure with make as the core through the method of structural collocation analysis.

3 Research Methods

Explore the internal vocabulary access mechanism of the "make+object+adjective complement" construction, answer which words are attracted by the position of the object and complement, the co selection mode, and the overall functional impact. Using the construction collocation analysis method, including co-occurrence morpheme analysis and mutually variable co-occurrence morpheme analysis, this study analyzes the distribution characteristics, co selection relationships, grammatical and semantic features, and vocabulary access conditions of vocabulary through the British National Corpus data. Combined with index line analysis, it explores the impact of construction functions on vocabulary preferences.

4 Data analysis

In the BNC corpus, the English causative verb structure appears 10205 times. The analysis of lexical preferences for objects and complements shows that the object position tends to attract nouns and pronouns that refer to specific things such as money, people, and places, while the complement position tends to attract hierarchical adjectives that represent the nature or characteristics of things. The lexical co selection relationship between the object and complement is closely related to the semantic and grammatical features of the object. When the object refers to something, complements are mostly evaluative adjectives, while object complements that refer to people are mostly adjectives with emotional tendencies. Specifically, the complement of a pronoun object (such as' it ') that refers to something is often the prototype of an adjective that expresses possibility, difficulty, etc; The complements of general nouns (such as thing, life, matter) are mostly comparative adjectives; The complements of resource-based nouns such as land, finance, and money are often adjectives that indicate accessibility. The complements of objects that refer to people (such as personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns) tend to have negative and positive semantic rhymes, respectively. In addition, there are also some idiomatic fixed collocations.

5 Discussions

This chapter delves into the lexical preferences and co selection mechanism of object and complement positions in the English causative verb structure. Research has found that grammar and semantic factors can only partially explain the vocabulary selection of objects and complements, while pragmatic factors play a key role in the formation of vocabulary preferences. The target construction serves different functions in different contexts, which affect the vocabulary selection of objects and complements, leading to a preference for specific semantic fields. Constructions have three main functions: commenting on the consequences of behavior, commenting on changes in resource accessibility or value, and commenting on changes in emotional states. These functions form specific vocabulary preferences by influencing the vocabulary selection of objects and complements. Pragmatic factors, grammar, and semantic factors mutually constrain each other and work together to form an organic whole. Pragmatic factors have subjective, non coercive, and top-down directions of action, while grammatical and semantic factors have objective, coercive, and bottom-up directions of action. The three together shape the lexical preferences and co selection patterns within the construct, endowing it with distinct functional features.

6 Conclusion

This study takes' make 'as an example to explore the lexical preferences and co selection patterns of objects and complements in the English' causative verb structure 'using the collocation analysis method, and reveals the underlying mechanisms. Research has found that the vocabulary admission criteria for constructions are probabilistic and hierarchical, and are the result of the interaction between grammar, semantics, and pragmatics. The study also pointed out the shortcomings of existing research, such as the lack of exploration of the exclusion tendency of constructions on vocabulary, and the limited scale of research. It is suggested that future research should take into account both attraction and exclusion tendencies and expand to multiple languages and constructions.