Cover not available
Article published In:
Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 13:2 (2022) ► pp.275–301

The [有 yǒu + vp] construction in Singapore Mandarin

Ambiguity and semantic continuity

ORCID logo | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

As a result of contact between mutually unintelligible Southern Chinese varieties like Hokkien and Cantonese, Colloquial Singapore Mandarin (csm) 有 yǒu ‘have’ has extended its semantic functions to include that of realis modality marker. This paper will demonstrate how a framework of ambiguity and semantic continuity can allow us to determine the associative links between different synchronous functions of the 有 yǒu ‘have’ construction. The ambiguous context that links the existential and realis modality functions of 有 yǒu ‘have’ is [没有 méi yǒu ‘not have’ + vp]. This ambiguous context allows 有 yǒu ‘have’ to be reanalyzed as a realis modality marker with méi ‘not’ as the negator. Additionally, the semantic continuity between the existential and realis modality marker functions further confirms such an association. While [yǒu + np] affirms the existence of someone or something, [yǒu + vp] affirms the existence of an event.

Keywords: Colloquial Singapore Mandarin, construction, semantic functions, semantic extension, ambiguity, semantic continuity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Sociolinguistic history of the Chinese community in Singapore
    • 1.2Brief history of Mandarin in Singapore
    • 1.3Review of research on [有 yǒu + vp]
    • 1.4Theoretical framework
  • 2.Data and methods
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1 有 yǒu ‘have’ in csm
    • 3.2 有 yǒu ‘have’ in negative and interrogative forms in Singapore and msm
    • 3.3 有 yǒu ‘have’ in Hokkien and Cantonese
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 29 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.20002.teo
References
Bao, Zhiming
2015 The Making of Vernacular Singapore English: System, Transfer and Filter. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Center for Chinese Linguistics PKU Mandarin corpus
. [URL] (3 December 2018)
Chen, Qianrui, and Jihong Wang
2010 “Nanfang Fangyan ‘you’ Ziju de Duogongnengxing Fenxi [On the Multifunctionality of ‘you’ in Southern Chinese Dialects].” Grammaticalization and Grammar Studies 41: 47–55.Google Scholar
Chen, Y.
2007 “Fucixing Queren Biaojici ‘you’ [Adverbial and confirmative marker ‘you’].” Journals of Chongqing Institute of Technology 31: 133–136.Google Scholar
Cheng, Robert L.
1979 “Taiwanese u and Mandarin you.” In Papers from the 1979 Asian and Pacific Conference on Linguistics and Language Teaching, ed. by Li, Y., Tang, T-C., and Tsao, F., 141–180. Taiwan: Taiwan Student Bookstore Press.Google Scholar
1985 “A Comparison of Taiwanese, Taiwanese Mandarin, and Peking Mandarin.” Language 61.2: 352–377. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chew, Phyllis Ghim Lian
2013 Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore: From Colonialism to Nationalism. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chua, C. L.
2003 The Emergence of Singapore Mandarin: A Case Study of Language Contact. PhD Dissertation. USA: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Diewald, Gabriele
2002 “A model for relevant types of contexts in grammaticalization.” Typological Studies in Language 491: 103–120. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Forston, B. W.
2003 “An Approach to Semantic Change.” In The Handbook of Historical Linguistics, ed. by Joseph, B. D., and Janda, R. D., 648–666. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Grice, H. P.
1975 “Logic and Conversation.” In Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts, ed. by P. Cole, and J. J. Morgan, 41–58. New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Han, Chengzhong
2017 The Emergence of the ‘you’ Construction in Mandarin Chinese: The Perspective of Contact-induced Grammaticalization. PhD Dissertation. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
Harris, A., and L. Campbell
1995 Historical syntax in cross-linguistic perspective (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, B.
2002 “On the role of context in grammaticalization.” Typological Studies in Language 491: 83–102. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, B., U. Claudi, and F. Hünnemeyer
1991 Grammaticalization: A conceptual framework. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Heine, B., and T. Kuteva
2005 Language contact and grammatical change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopper, Paul J., and E. C. Traugott
2003 Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jing-Schmidt, Zhuo
2010 “From positivity to possibility, propriety, and necessity: semantic change in culture.” Chinese Language and Discourse 1 (1): 66–92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Khoo, Y. K., and J. Lin
2020 “A Corpus-Based Investigation of yǒu in Singapore Mandarin: The Case for an Existential Perfect Marker.” In Minimal Contrast to Meaning Construct. Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics, volume 9 1, ed. by Q. Su, and W. Zhan, 101–118. Singapore: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, Cher-Leng
2003 “Motivations of code-switching in multilingual Singapore”. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 31 (1): 145–176. [URL]
Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thompson
1981 Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, R.
1986 “Minnanyu de ‘you’ he ‘wu’ [‘you’ and ‘wu’ in Min Dialect].” Journal of Fujian Normal University 21: 76–83.Google Scholar
Li, Xin
2019 On ‘[you] + VP’ Construction in Mandarin Chinese. PhD Dissertation. USA: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lim, Lisa
2007 “Mergers and Acquisitions: On the Ages and Origins of Singapore English Particles.” World Englishes 26 (4): 446–473. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lock, Graham
1988 Variation, norms and prescribed standard in the Mandarin Chinese spoken in Singapore. PhD Dissertation. Sydney: University of Sydney.
1988 “Aspects of Variation and Change in the Mandarin Chinese Spoken in Singapore.” Australian Journal of Linguistics 9 (2): 277–294. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mithun, Marianne
1999 The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Narrog, H.
2005 “On Defining Modality Again.” Language Sciences 271: 165–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nomoto, Hiroki, and Nala Huiying Lee
2008 Modality in Disguise: A Case Study of Colloquial Singapore English ‘got’. [URL] (15 February 2020).
2011 “Realis, Factuality and Derived-level Statives: Perspectives from the Analysis of Singlish ‘got’.” In Building a Bridge between Linguistic Communities of the Old and the New World, ed. by Chiyo Nishida, and Cinzia Russi, 219–239. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Payne, T. E.
1997 Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field Linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shi, Y.
2004 “Hanyu lingyou dongci yu wanchengti de biaoda [Possession verb and perfective marker in Chinese].” Yuyan Yanjiu [Studies in Language and Linguistics] 24(2): 34–42.Google Scholar
Shi, Q.
1996 “Lun ‘you’ Ziju [On Sentences with ‘you’].” Studies in Languages and Linguistics 11: 26–31.Google Scholar
Siegel, L.
2009 “Mood selection in Romance and Balkan.” Lingua 119 (12): 1859–1882. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sun, Jing
2005 A Study on ‘you (有) + VP’ in Mandarin Chinese. Master Thesis. China: Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Tay, Mary Wan Joo
1989 “Code-switching and code-mixing as a communicative strategy in multilingual discourse”. World Englishes 81: 407–417. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tham, Shiao Wei
2009 “The Discourse Mode of Mandarin Verbal -le Sentences.” In Reality Exploration and Development: Pattern Interaction in Language, Logic, and Learning: A Festschrift for K.P. Mohanan, ed. by L. H. Wee, and L. Uyechi, 325–344. Stanford: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Tham, Shiao Wei, and Hooi Ling Soh
2006 “Discourse Effects of Lexical Specification: The Case of the Mandarin Aspectual Particle -le.” In Proceedings of KONVENS 2006, ed. by M. Butt, 181–188. Konstanz: University of Konstanz.Google Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs, and Richard B. Dasher
2002 Regularity in Semantic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tsai, W.
2002 “You ‘have’ in Taiwan Mandarin and Dialects – on the Social and Historical Aspects of Grammatical Theories.” Tsinghua Journal of Chinese Studies 32 (2): 495–528.Google Scholar
Tsao, F. F.
1998 “On Three Aspect-related Morphemes U, ∅, A in Taiwannese Minnan.” Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies 31: 299–334.Google Scholar
Tsao, F. F., and Y. Cheng
1995 “Five Usages of ‘you’ in Min Dialect and Their Relations.” Studies in Chinese Linguistics 111: 155–168.Google Scholar
Wang, Sen, Yi Wang, and Li Jiang
2006 “Youmeiyou/you/meiyou VP Ju [On the Constructions of ‘youmeiyou/you/meiyou + VP’].” Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language] 11: 10–18.Google Scholar
Wang, W.
1965 “Two Aspect Markers in Mandarin.” Language 41 (3): 457–470. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xu, Jie, and Hui Wang
2004 The Structure of Chinese Language: Characters, Words and Sentences. Singapore: Global Publishing.Google Scholar
Yang, W., and Y. Dong
2003 Yuyan Bianyi: Hanyu ‘you + VP’ Ju Jianxi [Language Variation: An Analysis of ‘you + VP’ in Mandarin]. [URL] (15 August 2020).
Yuan, Xuelian, and Jingxia Lin
2016 “Classifiers in Singapore Mandarin Chinese: A Corpus Based Study.” In Chinese Lexical Semantics (Selected Papers of CLSW 2016), ed. by Minghui Dong, Jingxia Lin, and Xuri Tang, 65–75. Cham: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yue-Hashimoto, Anne O.
1993 Comparative Chinese Dialectal Grammar: Handbook for Investigators. Paris: École des hautes études en sciences sociales. Centre de Recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie orientale.Google Scholar
Zhang, Y.
1999 “You Ziju de Yuyong Yanjiu [On the pragmatics of ‘you’].” Journal of Henan University 31: 19–23.Google Scholar
Zhu, X.
2008 A Sociolinguistic Study on the Grammatical Variation in Singapore Mandarin. PhD Dissertation. China: Jinan University.
Ziegeler, Debra
2012 “On the Interaction of Past Tense and Potentiality in Singaporean Colloquial English.” Language Sciences 34 (2): 229–251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar