Subjectivization and the Conversion of Adjectives into Verbs in Chinese Poetry

Yidong Xiao

doi:10.61187/ts.v4i1.264

Authors

Yidong Xiao
eastpoetics@hnu.edu.cn
College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

Keywords:

Adjective-to-verb conversion, Subjectivization, Aesthetic function, Isomorphism, Force dynamics

Abstract

Word-class conversion is a prevalent linguistic phenomenon in poetic language, among which the conversion of adjectives into verbs constitutes a typical case. This paper aims to address three core questions: first, why adjectives can be verbalized and what cognitive motivations underpin this linguistic transformation; second, why poets adopt such defamiliarized devices of adjective-to-verb conversion and what drives this stylistic choice; third, what role this conversion plays in the construction of poetic artistic conception. The research reveals that subjectivization, serving as a bridge linking the subjective mental world and the objective real world, can reasonably account for the cognitive origin of adjective verbalization in poetic contexts. Driven by subjectivization, poetic language completes the shift from objective realistic depiction to subjective expressive creation, namely the transformation from “representation” to “expression”. This shift is grounded in adjective-to-verb conversion and motivated by the aesthetic function of poetry. Furthermore, the isomorphism hypothesis from Gestalt aesthetics and force dynamics in cognitive linguistics can adequately elucidate the functions and artistic effects of adjective-to-verb conversion in shaping poetic conception.

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