A Study on VC Structures with Similar Meaning in Modern Chinese

This study aims to analyze the difference in meaning between the complements dao and jian, which when combined with the same verb in the VC structure of modern Chinese, indicate a similar meaning that the action of the verb has a result. Through this, this study attempted to reduce the difficulty in acquisition for non-native Chinese learners due to subtle differences. Through the study of each semantic function, it was found that while dao is expressed in the meaning of [arrive < achieve] when indicating the completion of the corresponding event of the verb to which it is combined, jian is profiling the completion of the corresponding event in the meaning extension of [see < visualize < recognize]. Therefore, both complements are profiling the completion of the event, but there is a difference in their detailed meaning. The dao construction has a active and autonomous completion meaning, in that the action of the preceding verb has been achieved by arriving the end point of the process, whereas the jian construction has a non-autonomous completion meaning in that the action of the preceding verb has been recognized by seeing and visualizing the end point of the process. In other words, there was a difference in whether the act was completed as an ‘achievement’ through a conscious process or as a ‘recognition’ through an unconscious process.