Copula functions in a cross-Sinitic perspective

Jin, Dawei

doi:10.1515/flin-2020-2028

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 64 publications

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“…As discussed in Jin (2017), there are two main types of copular verbs in Sinitic languages: the shì-type and the xi-type. 5 Tang (2009) shows that the Cantonese copula hai 6 has developed from the verb hai 6 'to bind, to connect', and was later used in cleft-sentences and copular sentences.…”

Section: Shì and Haimentioning

confidence: 99%

Response particles hai6 in Cantonese

Cheng¹

2022

Journal of Chinese Linguistics

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Section: Shì and Haimentioning

confidence: 99%

Response particles hai6 in Cantonese

Cheng¹

2022

Journal of Chinese Linguistics

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From affirmation to concession

Long,

Zhou

2024

JHP

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The Modern Chinese concessive connective kě shì (e.g., kàn shàngqù bù zěnmeyàng, kě shì chī qǐlái què tǐng bùcuò [‘it looks not so good, but it tastes quite good’]) did not develop from a clause-initial emphatic kě shì structure that has a pragmatic counter expectation meaning (e.g., kě shì tā shuōde [‘it was really she who said it’]), but from an affirmative response marker kě shì in Early Modern Chinese (e.g., kě shì ne, míng’er nǐ sòngwǒ shénme? [‘quite right, what do you send me as gifts tomorrow?’]). Shì in the connective did not develop from a copula shì, but from an adjective shì meaning ‘right, true’ (e.g., rán, shì yě [‘right, it’s true’]). The hypothesised pathway may be explained as the grammaticalisation of an affirmative response marker used in the context of token agreement, and may be adopted to account for the formation of an Old Chinese concessive connective rán (e.g., rán Zhèng wáng, zǐ yì yǒu bùlì yān [‘but if Zheng State perishes, it serves you no good, either’]). It gives support to an extra-clausal source for the formation of a sentence connective.

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Mandarin exhaustive focus shì and the syntax of discourse congruence

Erlewine

2022

Studies in Language Companion Series

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This paper describes three constraints that together govern the distribution of the exhaustive focus marker shì in Mandarin Chinese. First, I argue that shì is a sentential focus particle that is subject to a requirement to adjoin as low as possible within its clause or phase. Second, I show that shì requires a congruent Question Under Discussion (QUD). Third and finally, I show that there are certain reduced clauses where shì is completely disallowed, although other focus particles such as ‘only’ may appear. To explain this last restriction, I propose that reference to a QUD is mediated by a functional head in the clause periphery. Shì is thus unavailable in reduced clauses which do not project this high functional layer.

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Copula functions in a cross-Sinitic perspective

Cited by 5 publications

References 64 publications

Response particles hai6 in Cantonese

Response particles hai6 in Cantonese

From affirmation to concession

Mandarin exhaustive focus shì and the syntax of discourse congruence

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