Pò(‘break’),qiē(‘cut’) andkāi(‘open’) in Chinese

Du, Jing; Li, Fuyin; Xu, Mengmin

doi:10.1075/rcl.00057.du

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…There is a huge amount of literature concerning single-language and crosslinguistic studies on motion typology (Aske, 1989;Ji & Hohenstein, 2014a, 2014b, 2018Naidu et al, 2018;Slobin, 1996;Zlatev & Yangklang, 2004; among others), but only a few studies center on state change and realization (Du et al, 2020;Kou & Hohenstein, 2020, 2021Levin & Rappaport Hovav, 1991). It is worth noting that there has been relatively little investigation into the full range of macro-event.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Event integration as a driving force of language change: evidence from Chinese 使-shǐ-make

Liu

2023

Lang. cogn.

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Talmy’s (1991; 2000a; 2000b) influential work on motion events provides a strong two-way typology that can examine and account for the typology of a language, but this framework is basically synchronic. It may not be equally valid to explain language change. In this paper, we apply the event integration theory and its latest development, The Macro-event Hypothesis (Li, 2020, 2023), to account for the development of the causative verb 使-shǐ-make (SHI for short) in Chinese. This study reveals that, firstly, the multi-functional behavior of SHI represents a typical case of grammaticalization, with a full verb acquiring the role of conjunction and expressing abstract meanings. Secondly, the semantic division of the causative and non-causative uses of SHI in Contemporary Chinese is the most clear-cut. Thirdly, causative SHI shows a greater level of semantic bleaching, and the construction profiles a single causal activity and has a higher degree of event integration when compared to its lexical verbal use. The constructional grammaticalization of SHI confirms that event integration is key to its development. This study verifies The Macro-event Hypothesis of a continuum of grammaticalization in language and uncovers the process of semantic gradation that takes place in Chinese.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Event integration as a driving force of language change: evidence from Chinese 使-shǐ-make

Liu

2023

Lang. cogn.

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The convergence and divergence of extension and intension on semantic change

2022

RCL

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Despite the fact that semantic change studies have intensively argued that intensional readings develop from the literal reading as a whole, diachronic prototype semantics proposes that intensional readings arise from the extensional subsets of the literal reading. This study empirically explored this proposal by carrying out a corpus-based diachronic study. It is proved from the semantic change of Chinese pò that: (1) There exists a corresponding relationship between extensional usages and intensional readings of a lexical item. (2) Extension and intension both converge and diverge on semantic change. Their convergence lies in the fact that extensional usages give rise to intensional readings. Extensional usages, though nuanced, motivate the emergence and development of intensional readings. Their divergence is reflected in the independent development of extensional usages and intensional readings. The subsistence or dying out of extensional usages does not constrain the appearance or disappearance of intensional readings. (3) Semantic change involves three stages, namely the extensional stage, the intensional stage, and the grammaticalization stage. These three stages constitute an interweaving continuum in the process of semantic change.

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Attraction or differentiation: diachronic changes in the causative alternation of Chinese change of state verbs

Du,

Zuo,

2024

Cognitive Linguistics

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This study examines the interplay of attraction and differentiation through the diachronic encoding of causative alternations in Chinese. A corpus-based analysis is conducted to profile the use of two Change of State verbs (COS verbs), pò ‘break’ and kāi ‘open’, focusing on their argument structure constructions. The analysis yields two main insights: (i) In Chinese, there are four pairs of causative alternations. The first pair, CA1, involving the alternation between NP1+COS+NP2 and NP2+COS, serves as the source for two diachronic trajectories. In the first trajectory, NP1+COS+NP2 is replaced by NP1+V+COS+NP2, and forms CA2 with NP2+COS. Subsequently, NP2+COS transitions into NP2+V+COS, and constitutes CA3 with NP1+V+COS+NP2. In the second trajectory, NP1+COS+V+NP2 and NP2+COS+V emerge and form CA4. (ii) Evidence of attraction is found in the mutual influence between the causative variants NP1+V+COS+NP2 and NP1+COS+V+NP2, and in the modeling effect of the causative variant NP1+V+COS+NP2 on the inchoative variant NP2+V+COS. Differentiation is supported by the anchoring force of a larger constructional network, including the transitive/intransitive opposition and compound constructions. This study advances the theoretical understanding of the intertwinement of attraction and differentiation by elucidating the diachronic evolution of causative alternations in Chinese.

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Pò(‘break’),qiē(‘cut’) andkāi(‘open’) in Chinese

Cited by 3 publications

References 35 publications

Event integration as a driving force of language change: evidence from Chinese 使-shǐ-make

Event integration as a driving force of language change: evidence from Chinese 使-shǐ-make

The convergence and divergence of extension and intension on semantic change

Attraction or differentiation: diachronic changes in the causative alternation of Chinese change of state verbs

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