The Semantic Evolution and Grammaticalization of "Kanlai"

Abstract

The Chinese term "kanlai" is employed in three distinct contexts: "kanlai1" denotes visual observation or perception and falls within the domain of action; "kanlai2" signifies sensory perception or opinion and falls within the domain of knowledge; "kanlai3" conveys a conjectural mood and pertains to the domain of discourse. The semantic evolution of "kanlai" involves its transformation from a collocational phrase "kanlai1" composed of "kan" (see) and "lai" (come), to a coalesced cognitive verb "kanlai2" and subsequently to a discourse marker "kanlai3" which is detached from any syntactic constituent. This trajectory embodies the process of grammaticalization. Throughout its diachronic evolution, mechanisms including disyllabification, semantic generalization, subjectification and syntactic position have contributed significantly to the grammaticalization of "kanlai".