International Journal of Linguistics ISSN 1948-5425 2015, Vol. 7, No. 3 www.macrothink.org/ijl 15 A Cognitive Approach to Light Verb Constructions: Backstage Issues Babak Sharif (Corresponding author) PhD candidate in linguistics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Tel: 98-21-29952190 E-mail: b.sharif@cbi.ir Mohammad Amouzadeh Department of Linguistics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Tel: 98-313-7934217 E-mail: amouzadeh@fgn.ui.ac.ir Received: May 27, 2015 Accepted: June 10, 2015 Published: June 23, 2015 doi:10.5296/ijl.v7i3.7672 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v7i3.7672 Abstract Persian Light Verb Constructions (LVCs) have been studied by many scholars. Yet, little attention has been paid to the process of LVC formation. This paper aims to situate the components of Persian light verb constructions in contexts that can be justifiably invoked as a motivation for LVC formation. We will investigate the issue by arguing that Persian LVCs can be analyzed in terms of incorporation process. This process, explained from a cognitive viewpoint, involves LVCs originating from complete clauses, then passing through a compositional path (Langacker 1987, 2008) where a nonverbal and a verbal element are selected out of a kernel clause and end up in a complex predicate (CPr). The investigation will be primarily focused on the LVCs constructed with LV kardan ‗do, make‘, as the most frequently used light verb in Persian. The paper will also explore how different paths could be associated with certain particular ‗light‘ meanings of kardan. The resulting LVCs may further yield constructional schemas upon which other LVCs formed with a given LV can be formed. Keywords: Light verb construction, Complex predicate, Incorporation, Persian