Title

The Grammaticalization of V-diao in Taiwan Mandarin

Author

Tsao Feng-fu

Genre

Article

Pages

203-230

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

V-diao construction, grammaticalization, perfective phase-marker, pragmatic inferencing, a grammatical change in progress, perfective aspect marker

Abstract

　　This paper aims to answer the following research questions: (1) The diao in V- diao RVC has been observed to be undergoing a grammatical change into a phase marker. So our question is: Where is the dividing line between diao as a second element of a RVC and as a phase marker; (2) diao when in construction with certain stative verbs like huang (yellow) and luo (low) has generated an additional meaning of having something abnormal, undesirable or unexpected. What is the mechanism involved that brings about this change? Diao in both Taiwan Mandarin and Peiking Mandarin has been observed to be undergoing the above mentioned change. But are they progressing at more or less the same speed? If there are differences between the two, what is a possible reason for them? Our findings with regard to these questions will not only go a long way in our understanding of the mechanism of change involved but will yield a number of implications for Mandarin teaching in Taiwan and the Mainland China.