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Article published In:
Journal of Historical Pragmatics
Vol. 23:1 (2022) ► pp.84–110

From deontic modality to conditionality

A diachronic investigation into bì in Classical Chinese

ORCID logo | University of Edinburgh

While epistemic modality has been suggested to be a modal source of conditionality, deontic modality has been generally overlooked. Using data from Classical Chinese and the Invited Inferencing Theory of Semantic Change, this study demonstrates that the deontic modal bi tends to invite inferences of conditionality in contexts where it is used teleologically and performatively as an indirect speech act of advice. That is, conditionality can emerge out of an interaction of teleological and performative meanings. Furthermore, three conditions are identified as where teleological, performative and conditional meanings enable the inferencing of the deontic modal bi as a conditional protasis connective. The absence of one or more of these conditions is shown to be less likely to invite inferences of conditionality.

Keywords: advice, conditional, deontic modal, invited inferencing, teleological modal
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data, the history of bi and the scope of investigation
    • 2.1Data
    • 2.2The history of bi
    • 2.3Scope
  • 3.Teleological modality, speech act of advice and speech act conditional
    • 3.1Teleological modal
    • 3.2Speech act of advice
    • 3.3Conditionals as speech acts
  • 4.The framework and the inference-inviting conditions
    • 4.1The framework
    • 4.2Three conditions for conditionality
  • 5.Inferencing of conditionality from modal bi
    • 5.1Representative cases
    • 5.2Less representative cases
    • 5.3Cases with less plausible conditional inferences
      • 5.3.1Lacking Condition III: Teleological bi with a short scope
      • 5.3.2 Lacking Condition II: Conceptual asymmetry between p and q
  • 6.Result of the change
  • 7.An alternative scenario
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 26 September 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.19002.kuo
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