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Article published In:
Language and Linguistics
Vol. 25:2 (2024) ► pp.187–233

Interrogatives of reason in Tibeto-Burman languages of Sichuan

| The Education University of Hong Kong | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
| Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen

This is a typological study of the why-interrogative expressions in Tibeto-Burman languages, or the non-Chinese Sino-Tibetan languages, in Sichuan, southwest China. After examining 22 languages/dialects, the interrogative category of reason is grouped into three types, viz. the distinct why-type, the how-type, and the what-type, according to the interrogative categories from which they are derived. It is discovered that the what-type is the dominant strategy for languages in Sichuan to derive the reason category. It is also common for Tibeto-Burman languages to use verbal interrogatives, namely interrogative verb phrases and interrogative words with verbal origins, dominantly in the sense of ‘to do what’ and ‘to become what’, to ask for reason. After a focused investigation of the verbal interrogatives, it is found that Tibeto-Burman languages in Sichuan distinguish purpose from cause via word/phrase distinction, sentential positions and semantic differences. A path of grammaticalization of the verbal interrogatives is thus proposed and analyzed. Finally, the derivation maps of interrogatives in Cysouw (2005) and Hölzl (2018) are complemented with a refined distinction between purpose and cause.

Keywords: interrogatives of reason, verbal interrogatives, Tibeto-Burman languages, purpose & cause, typology
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Languages in Sichuan
  • 3.A typology of reason interrogatives in Sichuan
    • 3.1Distinct why-type
    • 3.2 How-type
    • 3.3 What-type
      • 3.3.1 What-word as modifier of causal noun
      • 3.3.2 What-word with direct semantic extension
      • 3.3.3 What-word as oblique for reason
        • 3.3.3.1 reason as adpositional phrase
        • 3.3.3.2 reason as dative-marked nominal
        • 3.3.3.3 reason as instrumental form
      • 3.3.4 What-word as the object of the verbal interrogatives of reason
        • 3.3.4.1Defining verbal interrogatives of reason
        • 3.3.4.2Patterns of verbal interrogatives of reason
  • 4.Verbal interrogatives of reason in Sichuan
    • 4.1Criteria for distinguishing verbal interrogative words and phrases
    • 4.2Purpose/cause distinction in Tibeto-Burman languages
      • 4.2.1Theoretical differences between purpose and cause
      • 4.2.2Cause and purpose distinction in Tibeto-Burman languages
        • 4.2.2.1Verbal interrogatives of reason only based on do-what meaning
        • 4.2.2.2Verbal interrogatives of reason based on different verb-what meanings
    • 4.3Summary
    • 4.4Why verbal interrogatives are frequently used in Tibeto-Burman languages
  • 5.Conclusion and implications
    • 5.1Verbal interrogatives of reason in Sinitic languages
    • 5.2A derivation map incorporating purpose
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 2 April 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00153.don
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