Janet Zhiqun Xing

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2017 From the new editor Chinese as a Second Language (漢語教學研究—美國中文教師學會學報) 52:1, pp. 1–2 | Editorial

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2016 A New Introduction to Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language Chinese as a Second Language (漢語教學研究—美國中文教師學會學報) 51:3, pp. 325–330 | Article

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2015 A comparative study of semantic change in grammaticalization and lexicalization in Chinese and Germanic languages Studies in Language 39:3, pp. 593–633 | Article

This study explores the typological regularity of semantic change in grammaticalization and lexicalization in Chinese and Germanic languages. Earlier studies, mostly done on Indo-European languages (e.g. Heine et al. 1991, Traugott & Dasher 2002), suggest that semantic change follows the cline… read more

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2013 Semantic reanalysis in grammaticalization in Chinese Increased Empiricism: Recent advances in Chinese Linguistics, Jing-Schmidt, Zhuo (ed.), pp. 223–246 | Article

In this study, the analysis of three processes of grammaticalization (verb > classifier, verb > auxiliary, and verb > preposition) provides evidence that semantic reanalysis is an independent mechanism of semantic change in grammaticalization (Gram) in Chinese. It will be argued that the… read more

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2008 Review of Kádár (2007): Terms of (Im)politeness: A Study of the Communicational Properties of Traditional Chinese (Im)polite Terms of Address Journal of Historical Pragmatics 9:2, pp. 315–319 | Review

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2006 Mechanisms of semantic change in Chinese Studies in Language 30:3, pp. 461–483 | Article

This paper aims to investigate the mechanism of semantic change in the grammaticalization of Chinese verbs. It demonstrates with diachronic and synchronic evidence that subjectification affects every stage of semantic change in the grammaticalization of Chinese verbs, a somewhat different pattern… read more

Xing, Janet Zhiqun 2004 Grammaticalization of the scalar focus particle lian 連 in Mandarin Chinese Journal of Historical Pragmatics 5:1, pp. 81–106 | Article

This paper investigates pragmatic factors affecting the development of the focus particle lian in Mandarin Chinese. An analysis of lian’s evolution in historical texts demonstrates that lian’s semantic transformation from concrete activity to abstract grammatical meaning involved two major… read more

Myhill, John and Janet Zhiqun Xing 1996 Towards an Operational Definition of Discourse Contrast Studies in Language 20:2, pp. 303–360 | Article

Linguists have often invoked the concept of contrast in attempting to explain the use of certain constructions without explicitly defining this term. The present paper proposes an operational definition of contrast which can be applied to naturally occurring data so as to provide a more precise… read more

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