Based on empirical data from five classical texts, this study investigates flexibility of parts of speech in Classical Chinese. The findings suggest that flexibility in a parts-of-speech system can only be fully understood by integrating a wide range of aspects. The components needed to account for it include constructions, semantics, metonymies, metaphors, pragmatic implicatures - and world knowledge as reflected within a given culture.

• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Background for studying flexibility in parts-of-speech systems
• 3. Syntactic observations on flexibility in Classical Chinese
• 4. Cognitive-semantic foundations of flexibility in Classical Chinese
• 5. Pragmatics of flexibility in Classical Chinese: The level of argument structure constructions
• 6. Conclusion
• References
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Index