{"title":"On Focality of the Imperfective Marker Zai Wu-Li in Xiang Dialect and Its Grammaticalization (in Chinese)","authors":"Yunhua Wang","doi":"10.1353/jcl.2017.0117","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Zai wu-li (literally “in the house”) in Xiang dialect can be used to denote the progressiveness of an act in a particular time point, and the continuity or habituality of an act in a period of time, and can co-occur with adjectives to indicate a certain state. It displays a feature of low focality. Competing with zai zhe-er/na-er (meaning here/there), zai wu-li has undergone a dynamic evolution of “high focality>low focality> non-focality”, and its low focality contrasts with the high focality displayed by zai zhe-er/na-er in Xiang dialect within the imperfective system. The grammaticalization of zai wu-li is largely driven by prototype model, while mechanisms like metaphor, analogy and reanalysis also play a role. The grammaticalization process is accompanied by the enhancement of subjectivity.","PeriodicalId":44675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chinese Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Chinese Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jcl.2017.0117","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ASIAN STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Zai wu-li (literally “in the house”) in Xiang dialect can be used to denote the progressiveness of an act in a particular time point, and the continuity or habituality of an act in a period of time, and can co-occur with adjectives to indicate a certain state. It displays a feature of low focality. Competing with zai zhe-er/na-er (meaning here/there), zai wu-li has undergone a dynamic evolution of “high focality>low focality> non-focality”, and its low focality contrasts with the high focality displayed by zai zhe-er/na-er in Xiang dialect within the imperfective system. The grammaticalization of zai wu-li is largely driven by prototype model, while mechanisms like metaphor, analogy and reanalysis also play a role. The grammaticalization process is accompanied by the enhancement of subjectivity.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Chinese Linguistics (JCL) is an academic journal, which comprises research content from both general linguistics and Chinese linguistics. It is edited by a distinguished editorial board of international expertise. There are two publications: Journal of Chinese Linguistics (JCL) and Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series (JCLMS).