Title

From Restrictive Adverbs to Sufficient Conditional Conjunctions

Author

Li-li Chang

Genre

Article  

Pages

355-388  

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

restrictive adverbs, sufficient conditional conjunctions, conjunctions, complex sentences, grammaticalization, word formation     

Abstract

    Since the Six Dynasties, a number of sufficient conditional conjunctions have developed, including the monosyllabic conjunction dan and the disyllabic conjunctions danshi (但使)， danling, danshi (但是), danfan, and zhiyao. All of these conjunctions were derived from or composed of restrictive adverbs, indicating that there is an evolutional relationship between the restrictive adverbs and the sufficient conditional conjunctions. This paper discusses the grammaticalization of these sufficient conditional conjunctions and also the formation of the five disyllabic conjunctions. The paper argues that (a) it was due to the absorption of the contextual meaning that the restrictive adverb zhi and the verb phrase zhiyao were grammaticalized into sufficient conditional conjunctions; (b) the formation of the disyllabic conjunctions danshi (但使), danling, and danshi (但是) was initiated by the grammaticalization of shi (使), ling, and shi (是), respectively; and (c) the coordinating conjunction danfan was formed through compounding. The construction of the five disyllabic conjunctions can be grouped into three types: compositional ， pianyi (which takes the meaning of just one of the two morphemes), and coordinative.