A Study on the English Verb Phrase Make Preposition Noun Phrase

Abstract

The English verb phrase make preposition noun phrase is an important phrase for English learners, including “This chair is made of wood,” “Paper is made from wood,” and so on. In this paper, we will start with discussing how school grammar, traditional grammar, construction grammar, and cognitive grammar deal with this verb phrase. After this discussion, we will study this verb phrase on the basis of the Event-Structure metaphor proposed by cognitive grammar, which will help us to analyze this expression from the viewpoint of conventional metaphors. We will conclude that this verb phrase implies metaphorical movement rather than physical movement.