A synchronic and diachronic analysis of potential dāk 得 in Cantonese

IF 0.6 2区 文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
L. Paternicò, G. Arcodia
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract The morpheme dāk 得 has a broad range of functions in modern Cantonese, including being used as a particle introducing an adverbial construction, as a particle introducing the so-called ‘potential complement’ (we refer to this as the ‘long potential’) and as a verbal (quasi-)suffix (the ‘short potential’), which indicates that the state of affairs denoted by the verb may happen. In this paper, we first offer a general introduction on dāk 得 in modern Cantonese, which we then compare with Mandarin de 得 and parallel acquisitive modals in Lao, Vietnamese, and Zhuang, also with a focus on their modal meanings. We will then provide a diachronic overview of Cantonese dāk 得 based on a sample of texts from the 19th and early 20th century written in Cantonese by Western scholars, missionaries, and officers. The historical Cantonese data will be analyzed and compared to the development of the cognate morpheme de 得 in mainstream Chinese written sources: because of the limited diachronic depth of Cantonese data, this is necessary to delve further into the history of this item and of the related constructions. We will argue that: a. all the contemporary Cantonese (and Mandarin) uses seem to derive from the attainment sense of postverbal de/dāk 得; b. the vast majority of possible word order configurations were attested at some point in the recorded history of Chinese, but there appear to be also some patterns which could be specific to Cantonese; c. there seems to be a (partial) structural and semantic split between the ‘short’ potential and the ‘long’ potential; d. the adverbial construction probably had a more straightforward development.
广东话中dāk势词的共时性与历时性分析
词素dāk得 在现代广东话中具有广泛的功能,包括用作引入状语结构的助词,用作引入所谓“势补”的助词(我们称之为“长势”)和用作动词(准)后缀(“短势”),这表明动词所表示的状态可能发生。在本文中,我们首先对dāk进行了一般性的介绍得 在现代广东话中,我们将其与普通话de进行比较得 老挝语、越南语和壮语中的平行习得情态,也关注它们的情态含义。然后,我们将提供广东话dāk的历时概述得 基于19世纪和20世纪初西方学者、传教士和官员用广东话撰写的文本样本。将历史广东话资料与同源词素de的发展进行分析和比较得 由于广东话资料的历时深度有限,有必要进一步探究这一项目及其相关结构的历史。我们认为:a.所有当代广东话(和普通话)的使用似乎都源于语后de/dāk的成就感得; b.绝大多数可能的语序结构在汉语历史记录中的某个时刻得到了证实,但似乎也有一些模式可能是广东人特有的;c.“短”势和“长”势之间似乎存在(部分)结构和语义上的分裂;d.状语结构可能有更直接的发展。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Folia Linguistica
Folia Linguistica Multiple-
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
16.70%
发文量
43
期刊介绍: Folia Linguistica covers all non-historical areas in the traditional disciplines of general linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), and also sociological, discoursal, computational and psychological aspects of language and linguistic theory. Other areas of central concern are grammaticalization and language typology. The journal consists of scientific articles presenting results of original research, review articles, overviews of research in specific areas, book reviews, and a miscellanea section carrying reports and discussion notes. In addition, proposals from prospective guest editors for occasional special issues on selected current topics are welcomed.
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