Pivotal Constructions in Chinese

Diachronic, synchronic, and constructional perspectives

Author

Rui Peng | National University of Singapore

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027201881 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027266057 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00

This book presents a detailed analysis of the Chinese pivotal constructions (PVCs) and their diachronic developments from a constructionalist perspective, with the focus on the growth of the constructional hierarchies of these constructions and the changes with respect to both the form and meaning properties over time. The most important enabling factor behind the diachronic developments of the PVCs has been the sanction of the new instances conflicting with the constructions’ specifications. Throughout history the PVCs have grown along the two dimensions, i.e., inclusiveness and multileveledness, leading to a steady increase in the sizes of their constructional hierarchies. The two-dimensional expansion of the PVCs’ constructional hierarchies has been accompanied by the gradual relaxation of the conditions constraining the earliest instances, on multiple schematicity levels. This book will be valuable to scholars working on diachronic construction grammar and language change as well as to those interested in the history of Chinese language.

[Studies in Chinese Language and Discourse, 8] 2017. xix, 243 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.8

Table of Contents

Tables | pp. xiii–xvi

Figures
Chart

Abbreviations | pp. xvii–xviii

Acknowledgments | p. xix

Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 1–12

Chapter 2. The constructional approaches to language change | pp. 13–30

Chapter 3. Chinese pivotal constructions: Form and meaning properties | pp. 31–64

Chapter 4. The taxonomy and constructional hierarchy of Chinese pivotal constructions | pp. 65–106

Chapter 5. The diachronic developments of Chinese pivotal constructions | pp. 107–154

Chapter 6. The accumulative expansion of the constructional hierarchy | pp. 155–180

Chapter 7. The relaxation of the original restrictive conditions | pp. 181–216

Chapter 8. Conclusion | pp. 217–220

References | pp. 221–228

Sources of historical Data
Appendix I.. Sources of historical Data
Appendix II.. Sources of Data (Modern Mandarin)
Index of names
Index of subjects

Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Order by:

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2022. Bidirectionality between modal and conditional constructions in Mandarin Chinese. Diachronica 39:1 ► pp. 88 ff.

KUO, YUEH HSIN

2023. Bidirectional grammaticalization: Chinese modal and conditional. Journal of Linguistics ► pp. 1 ff.

Lai, Yik-Po

2020. Multiple functions of the Cantonese ‘wait’ verb dang2 and their historical development. Studies in Language 44:4 ► pp. 917 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 september 2023. 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.

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