From Restrictive Adverbs to Sufficient Conditional Conjunctions
Vol. 39 No. 3 9/2009
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Title |
From Restrictive Adverbs to Sufficient Conditional Conjunctions |
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Author |
Li-li Chang |
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Genre |
Article |
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Pages |
355-388 |
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Download |
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Language |
Chinese |
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Key words |
restrictive adverbs, sufficient conditional conjunctions, conjunctions, complex sentences, grammaticalization, word formation |
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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. |