Cover not available
Article published In:
Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 5:2 (2014) ► pp.146–184

A corpus-based functional study of shi…de constructions

| University of Pittsburgh

Existing research on shi…de constructions has often referred to its purported “emphasis” or “focus” functions. This paper reexamines shi…de by analyzing 787 examples of shi…de extracted from a spoken corpus. Positive evidence was found for several earlier proposals that rely on intuitively-generated data. Meanwhile, additional features of the construction can be observed. Results indicate that the preferred form of shi…de takes stative predicates, and some examples occur in such high frequencies that they form formulaic expressions. The construction always achieves stative predication, is often associated with subjectivity, and expresses the speaker’s certainty in stancetaking. To explain all the data, a unified “emphasis” function is proposed to integrate the traditional analyses of “constructive focus” and “affirmation.” Also, the overlap between the copula and the emphasis/focus function of shi in shi…de suggests that the construction is a form grammaticalized from shi + nominalization. This paper thus shows that corpus data can enable us to tackle an old issue with new evidence by making all subtypes of the construction available for quantitative and qualitative analysis, which in turn helps us redefine and reconceptualize otherwise ambiguous notions.

Keywords: subjectivity, shide, emphasis/focus, stancetaking, grammaticalization, stative predication
Published online: 28 November 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.5.2.02xu
References
Biber, Douglas, and Edward Finegan
1989 “Styles of Stance in English: Lexical and Grammatical Marking of Evidentiality and Affect.” Text 9 (1): 93–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du Bois, John W
2007 “The Stance Triangle.” In Stancetaking in Discourse, ed. by Robert Englebretson, 139–182. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K
1967 “Notes on Transitivity and Theme in English: Part 2.” Journal of Linguistics 3 (2): 177–274. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra
2009 “Introduction: The Sociolinguistics of Stance”. In Stance: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, ed. by Alexandra Jaffe, 3–28. NY: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, Huichi
2005 “On DE in Shi…DE Construction.” University System of Taiwan Working Papers in Linguistics 11: 131–160.Google Scholar
Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thompson
1989 Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
李讷, 安珊笛, 张伯江 [Li, Na, Shandi An, and Bojiang Zhang] 1998 “从话语角度论证语气词“的” [Interjection de from the Discourse Perspective].” 中国语文 [ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 21: 93–102.Google Scholar
李媞媞 [Li, Titi] 2010.“ “是…的”两种句式焦点问题的再分析. [Reanalysis of Focus in Two Types of shi…de ].” 现代语文 [ Modern Chinese ] 61: 32–34.Google Scholar
刘丹青, 徐烈炯 [Liu, Danqing, and Liejiong Xu] 1998 “焦点与背景, 话题及汉语“连”字句 [Focus, background, topic and Lian-sentences in Mandarin Chinese].” 中国语文 [ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 41: 243–252.Google Scholar
刘月华, 潘文娱, 故韡 [Liu, Yuehua, Wenyu Pan, and Wei Gu] 2001 “实用现代汉语语法 (增订本） [ New Practical Chinese Grammar ].” 北京: 商务印书馆[Beijing: Commercial Press].Google Scholar
吕必松 [Lü, Bisong] 1983 “关于“是… 的”结构的几个问题 [Some Problems Concerning the shi…de Construction].” Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 18 (2): 47–63.Google Scholar
吕叔湘 [Lü, Shuxiang] 2010 现代汉语八百词 (增订本) [ Eight Hundred Words of Chinese ]. 北京： 商务出版社. [Beijing: Business Press].Google Scholar
Paris, Marie-Claude
1998 “Focus Operators and Types of Predication in Mandarin.” Cahiers de Linguistique – Asie Orientale 27 (2): 139–159. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paul, Waltraud, and John Whitman
2008 “ shi…de Focus Clefts in Mandarin Chinese.” The Linguistic Review 25 (3/4): 413–451.Google Scholar
彭利贞 [Peng, Lizhen] 2007 现代汉语情态研究 [ Modality in Modern Chinese ]. 北京： 中国社会科学出版社 [Beijing: The Chinese Social Science Publishing House].Google Scholar
Ross, Claudia
1983 “On the Functions of Mandarin de .” Journal of Chinese Linguistics 11 (2): 214–246.Google Scholar
Scheibman, Joanne
2007 “Subject and Intersubjective Uses of Generalizations in English Conversations.” In Stancetaking in Discourse, ed. by Robert Englebretson, 111–138. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shi, Dingxu
1994 “The Nature of Chinese Emphatic Sentences.” Journal of East Asian Linguistics 3 (1): 81–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
石毓智 [Shi, Yuzhi] 2005 论判断, 焦点, 强调与对比之关系 – “是”的语法功能和使用条件. [The Relationship of Copula, Focus, Emphasis, and Comparison—The Function and Usage of shi] 语言研究 [ Studies in Language and Linguistics ] 25 (4): 43–53.Google Scholar
Smith, Carlota
1997 The Parameter of Aspect (2nd ed.). Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tao, Hongyin
2003 “Toward an Emergent View of Lexical Semantics.” Language and Linguistics 4 (4): 837–856.Google Scholar
Teng, Shou-hsin
1979 “Remarks on Cleft Sentences in Chinese.” Journal of Chinese Linguistics 7 (1): 101–113.Google Scholar
1997 “Towards a Pedagogical Grammar of Chinese.” Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 32 (2): 29–39.Google Scholar
Thompson, Sandra A., and Hongyin Tao
2010 “Conversation, Grammar, and Fixedness: Adjectives in Mandarin Revisited.” Chinese Language and Discourse 1 (1): 3–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vendler, Zeno
1967 Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xiao, Richard, and Tony McEnery
2004 Aspect in Mandarin Chinese: A Corpus-Based Study. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
杨石泉 [Yang, Shiquan] 1997 ““是…的”句质疑 [Queries on Shi…de Constructions].” 中国语文 [ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 61: 439–442.Google Scholar
张和友 [Zhang, Heyou] 2007 “情态确定型“是”字构式中“是”的语法功能 [Grammatical Functions of shi in shi Construction].” 北京大学学报 (哲学社会科学版） [ Journal of Peking University (Philosophy and Social Sciences) ] 21: 95–101.Google Scholar
朱德熙 [Zhu, Dexi] 1961 “说“的” [Shuo de ].” 中国语文 [ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 121. Reprinted in 朱德熙文集 [Zhu Dexi Wenji] (2), 95–130. 北京：商务印书馆 [Beijing: Commercial Press].Google Scholar
朱德熙 [Zhu, Dexi] 1966 “关于《说“的” 》[Guanyu “Shuo de”].” 中国语文[ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 11. Reprinted in 朱德熙文集 [Zhu Dexi Wenji] (2), 131–151. 北京：商务印书馆 [Beijing: Commercial Press].Google Scholar
朱德熙 [Zhu, Dexi] 1978 “的”字结构和判断句 (上, 下) [ De-zi jiegou he panduanju].” 中国语文 [ Zhongguo Yuwen ] 11: 23–27; 2: 104–109.Google Scholar
Zhu, Yao
1997 The Focus-Marking Function of Shi in Mandarin Chinese. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Cook, Angela
2023. Reconsidering the shi…(de) construction in spoken Mandarin. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 14:2 ► pp. 209 ff. DOI logo
Su, Danjie
2022. Factuality lens. Chinese Language and Discourse. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal 13:2 ► pp. 242 ff. DOI logo
Su, Danjie & Hongyin Tao
2018. 基于真实语料的 “是…的” 构式初级汉语教学设计 . Chinese as a Second Language Research 7:1 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.