On Split Affectivity in Chinese
Vol. 47 No.2 6/2017
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Title |
On Split Affectivity in Chinese |
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Author |
Wei-tien Dylan Tsai |
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Genre |
Article |
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Pages |
407-423 |
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Download |
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Language |
English |
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Key words |
Theory of Grammaticalization, Cartographic Approach, affective constructions, Chinese Syntax, Dialect Grammar |
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Abstract |
This paper deals with a split of affectivity in Chinese dialects from the perspective of generative syntax: give-affectives sport permissive, passive and dative construals, whereas with-affectives garner comitative-oriented usages such as benefactive, goal, and disposal throughout the historical development. We propose to relate the former to the notion of “terminal coincidence”, and the latter to that of “central coincidence” in Hale & Keyser’s (2002) sense. Our study shows that, despite the apparent unified construals of gei ‘give’ in Mandarin, the main difference between the two types of affectives lies in their distinct routes of grammaticalization owing to the terminal-central dichotomy, as well as the interpretive mechanism of applicative syntax under the Cartographic Approach. |