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Columbia School Linguistics in the 21st Century
Edited by Nancy Stern, Ricardo Otheguy, Wallis Reid and Jaseleen Sackler
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics 77] 2019
► pp. 259–280

A comparative study of the restrictive markings of mandarin Jiù, Cái, and Zhǐ

| University of Illinois at Chicago

This study analyzes Mandarin 就 (jiù), 才(cái), and 只(zhǐ), all of which communicate messages of restrictiveness and may be translated as ‘just,’ ‘only,’ ‘no more,’ ‘no other,’ and other such expressions of small quantity and restriction. The study shows that the three particles distinguish distinct restricted situations vis-à-vis the backdrop of a “spatio-temporal-existential cline” (Tobin, 1995). Jiù’s restrictive meaning centers on the situation itself, marking it as all there is. Cái evokes a temporal cline on which more entities may accrue following the situation’s temporal progression. Zhǐ is similar to the English notion of “only,” affirming one entity while excluding other entities in the same situation. The paper concludes with a discussion of comparable restrictive markings in English and Mandarin.

Keywords: restrictive marking, Mandarin adverbs, Mandarin particles, jiù , cái , zhǐ , corpus, Columbia School, monosemic approach
Article outline
  • 1.Mandarin particles of restrictiveness: Jiù, Cái, Zhǐ
  • 2.Data and methodology
  • 3.Meaning hypotheses
  • 4. Jiù: all there is or [a = a]
  • 5. Cái: inception or [a= > ABCD….]
  • 6. Zhǐ: affirming one entity+negating other entities or [ABCD…]
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 October 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sfsl.77.10xia
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