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Abstract Abstract: This paper conducts an in-depth contrastive investigation into the non-canonical constructions of bei zisha (BE-SUICIDED) in English and Chinese, analyzes and expounds diachronically their formation and evolution, anatomizes linguistically their syntactic and semantic features, and puts forward the translational strategy. The study reveals that, syntactically, bei zisha (BE-SUICIDED) construction is the merger of two canonical constructions, containing an implicit accusative construction caused by light verbs. zisha cannot take an object in an active construction, but suicide can take one. BE-SUICIDED predates bei zisha by over 100 years. zisha is widely generative while BE-SUICIDED is comparatively less productive; semantically, the passive markers in bei zisha and BE-SUICIDED signify an import of implicit negation. The speaker conveys the connotation to the hearer by means of markedness. The study sheds some light on the linguistic foundation for the existence of such constructions and offers empirical and theoretical support for the translation of such expressions.
Key words: non-canonical construction; accusative construction; implicit negation; generative; markedness
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