From action to abstraction: A nine-stage model of conceptual shift in English

This paper proposes a representational model that captures systematic shifts in how actions are re-encoded as increasingly abstract conceptual structures in English. Rather than treating grammatical patterns as isolated constructions, the study advances a nine-stage model that traces recurring pathways through which action-based expressions are progressively transformed into properties, tendencies, generalized structures, and abstract outcomes. Crucially, the stages proposed here are not intended as a developmental or diachronic sequence, but as a descriptive framework for analyzing recurrent patterns of conceptual re-encoding observable across a wide range of English expressions. Drawing on data from perfect constructions, nominalization, middle constructions, and related grammatical phenomena, the paper shows that superficially diverse forms can be understood as instantiations of shared representational shifts. By integrating insights from functional and cognitive approaches, the proposed model offers a unified account of how English systematically reorganizes experiential content into increasingly abstract grammatical representations. The analysis contributes to ongoing debates on grammatical abstraction, constructional meaning, and the organization of linguistic description, while remaining neutral with respect to language acquisition and pedagogical application.