In:The Development of the Chinese Cleft Construction: A diachronic constructional approach
Fangqiong Zhan
[Constructional Approaches to Language 41] 2026
► pp. 203–207
Index
Published online: 5 February 2026
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.41.index
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.41.index
A
- activation spreading27
- adverbial
33, 55–56, 61, 84
- time phrase58
- adverbs
8–9, 18, 22–23, 51–55, 70, 77–78, 85, 87, 92, 184, 188, 190, 194
- adverb analysis 51, 56
- adverb-based analysis51
- adverb types 84, 87
- token frequency of87
- affirmation 6, 8, 20
- ambiguity 43, 76
- analogical
- blending19
- change 22, 34, 36
- process 19, 27
- thinking 34, 36, 79, 82–83, 111–112, 115
- analogization
35–37, 75–76, 79, 83, 91, 112, 114–115, 119, 128–129, 133–134
- mechanism of 112, 126
- modeling 36, 112
- analogy 19, 27, 29, 33–34, 36, 79, 99, 106, 111–112, 148, 150
- anaphor 74–75, 77, 82–84, 91, 96
- anaphoric, reference 83, 155
- anaphoric pronoun6
- assertion
- identificational20
- propositional 139–140
C
- categories 2, 31, 42–45, 49–50, 84, 103, 114, 153
- categorization 26, 34, 50, 148, 154
- CCCSee Classical copular clause Construction
- CCC construction 72–73, 81
- CCL Classical Chinese corpus 12–13, 69–70, 78, 122–123, 129, 159
- CCL Modern Chinese Corpus 12–13, 42, 64
- Chinese cleft construction 9–13, 17, 19–21, 23–27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 56, 69, 137–138, 142–143, 157
- Chinese clefts 4, 18, 20, 52, 56, 62–63, 93, 95, 138, 142–143
- Chinese cleft sentences 4, 8, 18, 20, 24, 51, 53, 138, 146
- Chinese copula 44, 46–47, 110
- Chinese copula clefts 119, 137
- Chinese copular construction 50–51, 65, 114, 157
- Chinese copular sentences 42, 46, 49
- Classical copular clause Construction (CCC)
72–76, 81, 87, 90
- classical copular clauses 69–70, 72
- clauses
2–3, 23, 26, 31, 41, 46, 50, 52, 72, 78, 83, 97, 105
- concomitant contrastive 111–112
- main 2, 115
- participial56
- sentence-final2
- subject-predicate92
- subordinate 2, 23
- cleft construction
1–5, 9–12, 14–15, 27, 33–34, 40–41, 56–59, 61, 64–67, 89–90, 92–93, 95, 99–105, 107–111, 113–115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125, 127–131, 133–135, 138–139, 142–143
- complex contrastive 11, 14, 115
- contrastive 96, 115
- schematic 33, 66
- typical 62–63, 67
- cognitive linguistics 25, 146–147, 151, 155–156
- complexity 27, 116
- components 2, 28, 48, 95, 109, 128, 139, 142, 149
- compositionality 28, 90–92, 111, 113, 115
- constructional
- analysis56
- approach 9, 11, 13, 17, 25, 137, 156, 158
- changes 17, 27–30, 109, 128, 149, 153, 155
- form change 105, 125
- network 2, 11, 14, 26–27, 37, 117, 119, 127, 135, 137, 154
- perspectives 25, 69, 93, 117, 153, 157
- schematic taxonomy 50–51, 59, 65, 110, 114
- constructional changes, individual 14, 115, 137
- constructional framework 28, 155
- constructionalization
14, 17, 28–31, 35–37, 69, 75, 78–79, 83, 87–91, 105, 107–110, 113–116, 125, 127–129, 155–158
- perspective of 95, 157
- procedural 30, 108, 115, 127, 137
- processes 115–116, 134
- process of 30, 36, 92
- work on32
- construction grammar (CxG)
9, 13, 25, 27–28, 32, 37, 40, 50, 56, 146–149, 151–153
- cognitive construction grammar25
- constructions
1, 3–4, 9–15, 17–18, 24–30, 32–33, 35–37, 69, 72–73, 75–85, 87, 89–91, 95–96, 104, 107–110, 119, 130–131, 139–142, 145–150, 153–155
- assertive proposition 15, 139–140, 142
- context of 10, 14, 24, 91, 137
- correlative comparative157
- narrow-focus137
- propositional assertion 139–140
- serial-verb55
- subject-predicate84
- theme-clause84
- context
13–14, 23–24, 28–32, 58, 66–67, 69, 77, 95, 102, 106, 124, 137–138, 145, 147–148
- affirmative20
- critical 29, 105
- exclamative/interrogative 64–65, 67
- interrogative 10, 65, 116
- morphosyntactic 10, 14, 23, 91, 137
- non-contrastive 66, 126, 129
- semantic-pragmatic 10, 14
- contrastive
5, 18, 40, 51, 65–66, 93, 104–105, 107–110, 127–130, 132
- contexts 100, 109, 111, 124–125, 128–129, 132
- explicit 10, 15, 64–65, 67, 116
- focus 3–5, 10, 17, 20, 39–41, 51, 58, 66–67, 96–97, 100, 114–115, 124–130, 139–140
- meaning 10, 14, 21, 40, 54, 57, 89, 102, 105, 107–108, 111, 117, 124–126
- relationship20
- signal 107–108
- topic 102, 105
- conventionalization 27, 29–30, 78, 107
- copula
1–2, 4–6, 8–10, 14, 21–24, 40–47, 49–50, 52–53, 56–58, 69–71, 73–75, 77–85, 87–91, 94–96, 98–99, 107–109, 126–129, 142, 153–154, 156–157
- clefts 108, 117, 137
- clefts cue 10, 137
- functions 10, 14, 44
- predicational 97, 109
- prototype 90, 96–97, 108
- schematic69
- specificational 81, 97, 109, 128
- standard 96, 102, 108, 120, 122, 127
- copular construction
9–10, 14, 27, 49–50, 65–66, 70–71, 84, 89–91, 96–97, 105, 108, 115–118, 125, 127, 137
- bi-clausal24
- macro-schematic14
- overarching15
- overarching schematic9
- prototype 14, 115
- prototypical65
- schema 79, 81
- specificational 27, 57, 134
- copular sentences
3, 6, 8, 23–25, 41–43, 45–49, 51–52, 54–55, 95–97, 102, 106, 119, 122–124, 127–129, 133
- classical14
- declarative23
- predicate position of 104, 123
- predicational97
- regular specificational 124, 129, 133–134
- semantics of 49–50
- special type of 5, 117
- unmarked71
- copula verb
2, 4–6, 8–9, 40, 42–44, 50–54, 71, 83–84, 87, 95, 99
- default 96, 120
- invariant95
- invariant non-inflectional 10, 14, 46, 65
- co-referential 66, 106, 118, 126
- CxGSee construction grammar
D
- declarative sentences 70, 142
- deferred equatives 15, 36, 119, 131–134
- demonstrative
6, 24, 84–85, 87, 90, 98, 147
- pronoun 9, 14, 21–23, 69, 74–75, 77, 79, 82–84, 91, 95–96, 99
- proximal/distal 74, 96
- diachronic construction grammar
1, 13, 17, 25, 27, 31, 142, 145, 148–149, 153
- approach 25, 156
- developing field of 11, 137
- perspective of 1, 69
- Diachronic CxG 25, 27–28, 30, 32, 37
- discourse
3, 28, 31, 138, 150–151, 154
- contexts 109, 115, 140
- entities131
- marker157
- strategy111
E
- emergence
14–15, 33–34, 36–37, 77, 84, 90, 92–93, 96, 104–105, 112–114, 119–120, 123, 125–128, 133
- constructional28
- historical95
- entrenchment 26–27, 35, 113
- environments
22, 87, 153
- morphosyntactic36
- sentential21
- evidence
21–23, 39, 55, 65, 70, 75, 77–79, 92, 99–100, 113–114, 151
- diachronic 12, 19
- quantitative 12, 91
- exclusiveness
3, 20, 37, 39, 94, 106, 124
- clefts encode18
- indicating 66–67
- exclusiveness implicature 3–4
- exhaustiveness
3–4, 20, 39, 62, 66–67, 94, 106, 124
- exhaustivity 20, 37, 146
- expansion
29, 31–32, 69, 84, 89–90, 92, 104, 109–110, 114, 116
- host-class 32, 84, 87, 89, 92, 103, 109, 114, 127
- intertwining of89
- semantic-pragmatic 89, 92, 109, 128
- extension, analogical 27, 35
F
- FOSee focus operator
- focus, broad 139–140, 142
- focus marker
9–10, 14, 18, 20, 24, 65, 95, 98–99, 119, 137, 151
- adverbial 5, 51
- focus operator (FO) 5, 18, 51, 53–54, 65
- formation 24–25, 74, 91, 101, 135, 146, 152
- form changes 83, 109, 128
- frequency 12, 26, 29, 32, 35, 88, 113, 146
- functions 6, 17–18, 41–47, 54, 71–72, 79, 99–101, 119, 138, 142, 147, 153–154, 156–157
G
- gradience 36, 145, 155
- gradualness 35–36
- grammatical
- architecture 1, 9, 11
- category 6, 8, 43, 131
- changes 113, 145
- constructions 148, 155
- markers 8, 24, 28, 73, 95
- relations 31, 43
- structures 2, 31
- grammaticalization
9, 11, 23–24, 27–35, 75, 89–91, 95, 99, 112–113, 116, 145–151, 153, 155–158
- framework 8, 24, 69, 95
- gradualness 145, 155
- nature of 148, 150
- process 31, 84
- research 145, 157
- theory 30, 153
- tradition 28, 31, 33
- work on 32, 69, 92, 109
H
- head noun
24, 56, 117–124, 128, 133–134
- co-referential118
I
- information
26–27, 41, 51, 62, 97, 102, 115, 139–140, 142
- illocution 73, 77, 81–83, 91–92
- incorporating contextual138
- informational focus 3, 14, 41, 51, 66, 97, 100
- new 41, 51, 115
- objective47
- structure 3, 20, 41, 51, 58, 95, 126, 129, 131, 138, 145, 149–151
L
- language change 13, 17, 25, 28–29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 145, 148, 152–153, 156
- lexical
- category 22, 42
- items28
- lexicalization 33, 149, 151, 155
- linking
50–51, 65, 69, 73, 77, 81–83, 91–92
- copulative 41–42
- meaning 78, 81
- relations73
- links 1, 5–6, 10–11, 21, 26–27, 32, 36, 41–43, 70–71, 77–78, 94, 117
M
- mechanisms
27, 31, 34–36, 79, 91, 112–113, 115, 127–128, 133–134, 137, 151, 154
- of change 36, 112, 146
- of syntactic change151
- member-class relationship 2, 39, 94
- micro-constructions
5, 9–11, 14–15, 26–30, 40, 114, 138
- new28
- micro-steps
29, 35, 92, 105, 108, 125, 127
- sequence of 109, 128
- succession of 28–29
- type frequency changes114
- Middle Chinese
10, 14–15, 70, 86, 100, 103, 119–122, 137, 157
- early 9–10, 24, 36, 70, 85, 87–89, 95–96, 98–100, 102–103, 108, 112, 122, 127, 137
- late 14, 89, 95–96, 101, 109, 120, 127–128
- modal
- particle 8, 151
- verb 10, 62–65, 67
- modals 52–54, 63
- Modern Chinese 6–7, 10, 12–15, 23, 39, 51–52, 56, 59–60, 65, 83, 117, 134, 158
- motivations 33–36, 79, 110–111, 147, 154
- multiple inputs 11, 33, 134, 137
- multiple sources 33, 109, 133
N
- narrow focus 137–139, 142, 158
- neo-analysis 28, 35–37, 75, 92, 96, 112, 115, 126, 128–129, 133–134
- network 1–2, 10–11, 15, 25, 32–33, 37, 110, 115, 119, 133–134, 137–138
- nodes 2, 11, 27, 134, 137
- nominalization
34, 36, 56–59, 89–90, 92, 94, 96, 100, 102–106, 112–117, 125, 130, 146
- constructions 56, 111, 157
- post-copula 54, 93, 105–106, 130
- structure 10, 137
- nominalizer
8, 18, 72, 89, 100–105, 109, 111, 114, 117, 121, 156–157
- DE 94, 101, 107
- ZHE 102, 104, 111
- nominal predicate
23, 41, 43, 45, 47, 71, 74, 78, 80, 82–83, 94, 107, 118–119
- complex58
- form49
- referential48
- non-transitory states 50, 56–57, 59, 61, 65, 69
- noun phrase (NP) 22–23, 47, 56
- noun phrase
- complex 88–89, 92, 128
- definite 3, 48
- non-referential8
- sentence-initial20
O
- object
6, 8–9, 20, 24, 55, 57–59, 61, 66, 94–95, 119, 128–129, 133, 139
- missing 118, 120, 122, 124
- nominal6
- object-RC 118, 120, 122–130, 134
- Object-RC 119, 133–134
- position 102–103
- solid200
- verbal6
- occurrences
42–43, 70, 77–78, 83, 86–88, 96–97, 99, 102, 104, 122, 131
- earliest 78, 100, 120
- frequent 23, 98
- Old Chinese
9–10, 13–14, 21–23, 69–75, 79–83, 87, 89–91, 95–96, 98–99, 101–104, 121, 123, 137, 142, 145
- early 96, 119
P
- pairing
9, 25–26, 28–29, 40, 50
- form-meaning 1, 25–26, 32
- particle
8–9, 18, 65, 88, 90, 103, 113, 121, 146
- affirmative 21–22
- context-sensitive18
- DE 100, 114
- distribution 70, 88
- negative21
- structural 19, 150
- perfective
31, 46, 61
- aspectual marker 8, 156
- marker 8–9, 46, 61
- periodization13
- position
- formal structural74
- phrase-final101
- post-copula 10, 14–15, 90, 92, 103–104, 109, 111, 113–114, 119, 122–123, 128, 137
- post-verbal 53, 55
- pre-copula 88, 92
- sentence-final 40, 117
- post-copula
41, 58, 93, 102, 104–105, 109, 116–119, 123, 128–129, 196
- adjuncts 126, 132
- adverbial adjunct 124, 129
- complex element58
- contexts 109, 127
- element 3, 5, 10, 14, 17, 39–40, 48, 51, 57–58, 61–62, 94, 115, 124, 128–130, 132, 137, 140
- expression 107, 125
- NPs 3–4, 89, 97, 106, 108, 111, 120, 127, 132
- phrasal element2
- slot 104, 123
- VP 54, 66, 93
- XP88
- pragmatic
- implication 61–62
- implicatures 34, 77–78
- inference 77, 124, 126, 129, 134
- mapping131
- markers 31–32, 36, 157–158
- pragmatics 19, 62–63, 66–67, 82, 146–147, 151, 155, 157
- pre-constructionalization 29, 105, 125
- pre-copula
- NP 84, 195
- RC3
- XP88
- predicate
1, 6, 8, 18, 22–23, 41–50, 56–57, 61, 70, 78, 84, 104, 134
- complement-taking157
- complex 1, 5, 40, 117
- non-nominal45
- non-verbal 43–45
- NP133
- position 41, 43–46, 50, 102, 105–106, 109, 115–116, 122–123, 125, 127, 134
- post-copula 41, 51, 97
- predicational sentence47
- term 42–43
- verbal 23, 43, 46, 78
- predicate marker44
- predication
50, 78
- complex18
- simplex18
- predicational 47, 66, 81
- predicational,interpretation50
- predicational
- linking meaning78
- meanings 51, 69–70, 77–78, 80, 97
- relationship47
- presupposition
3–5, 14, 17, 39–40, 51–53, 58, 62, 66–67, 90, 114–116, 124–126, 129–130, 132, 140–142, 146
- effect24
- existential20
- express4
- productivity
27–28, 32, 90, 92, 111, 113, 145, 153
- increased 90–91, 114
- pronominal84
- introductory2
- properties
3, 7, 32, 41, 49–50, 54–55, 65, 131, 133, 142
- formal 6, 83
- grammatical133
- morphological 43, 45
- predicative53
- proposition
3–4, 6, 14, 21, 24, 36, 50, 61–63, 131, 134, 139–141
- assertive142
- structured3
- prototype
18, 115
- copular schema95
- copular sentences14
- structure 42, 89
- pseudo-cleft
2–3, 39–40, 53–54, 58–59, 93, 147
- constructions 4, 10
- sentences 2, 39, 149, 155
R
- realized events 20, 61, 131, 133
- reanalysis 24, 35–36, 84, 111–112
- rebracketing 35, 83, 92
- reduction 29, 31–32, 69, 84, 89–90, 92, 100
- referential member
3, 48–49, 57–58, 73, 104, 125–126, 128–129
- unique 3, 97, 122
- referential subject
47, 49, 54, 107
- definite 105, 124
- noun phrase8
- relative clause (RC) 2–3, 10, 15, 24, 56–57, 59, 66, 93, 117–122, 124–125, 127–129, 132–133, 137
- relativization 56, 100
- relativizer 117, 120–123, 127
- restricted
48, 57–58, 125
- non-referential sets 102, 105–106
- semantic-pragmatic65
- set 2–3, 5, 48, 54, 94, 97, 104, 108–109, 111, 120, 122, 125–126, 128–129
- restricted set, non-referential49
S
- schemas
26, 28–30, 32–33, 50–51, 81, 90, 114
- abstract 51, 81
- constructional9
- word-formation33
- schematic
- constructions 26–27
- copular construction 14, 40–41, 57, 59, 65–66
- network 15, 110, 115, 119, 134–135, 138
- schematicity
26–28, 32, 90–92, 111, 113–114, 153
- increased 90, 114
- semantic
- bleaching 34, 155
- changes 29, 34
- content 47, 77
- equational82
- expansions84
- features20
- functions 3–4, 6, 47–48, 157
- perspective139
- properties 137–138
- reanalysis 34, 147
- relatedness 14, 111
- relation 6, 73
- structure 5, 40, 93
- semanticization 34, 77, 112
- semantics
1, 14–15, 19–20, 31, 33, 47–48, 66–67, 77, 82, 85, 115, 119–120, 146–147, 152, 155
- default past-event67
- predicational82
- specificational82
- sentence-final particle
65, 70, 73, 87, 90, 92
- declarative73
- shi
4–12, 14–15, 18–24, 40–41, 46–47, 51–59, 64–67, 69–71, 74–79, 82–96, 98–100, 107–108, 115–120, 126–129, 137, 139–142, 150, 152–154, 156, 159
- shì 1, 4–5, 7, 18–19, 21–22, 39–42, 44–46, 49, 52–54, 56–62, 64–65, 71, 74–78, 82, 89, 94, 97–98, 100, 102–108, 111, 117, 119, 122–126, 130–132, 139–141, 146, 149, 157
- source construction
11, 33, 36
- multiple 11, 33, 137, 156
- specificational
48–49, 97
- contrastive copulas107
- contrastive focus94
- specificational copular sentences 2, 49, 102–103, 108–109, 120, 122, 127–128, 134
- subject
6, 22, 40–44, 47–51, 57, 66, 74, 78, 94, 97, 106, 114, 124–129, 133
- complex 2, 4
- contentful93
- entity50
- implicit 106, 122, 125
- linking45
- missing 118, 125
- position 41, 103
- subject co-referentiality 106–107, 118, 125–126, 128, 134
- subject-object co-referentiality124
- Subject-RC
118, 120, 122
- unspecified 78, 81, 83, 118
- subjectification 155, 157
- sub-schemas 9–11, 14–15, 40–41, 50–51, 69, 90, 95–97, 110, 114–115, 117, 119, 134–135, 138
- synchronic
9, 12, 17, 25, 37
- distribution12
- studies17
- syntactic
34, 147
- analyses 18, 52, 76
- canonical functions115
- complex 137–138
- expansion 89, 92, 109, 127
- frame 24, 69
- functions 44, 49–50
- linking function14
- neo-analysis 115, 119, 134
- properties 7, 17
- reanalysis 15, 151
- reconfiguration 36, 112
- restrictions54
- status 9, 18
- structure 3, 9, 17–18, 26, 71, 74–76, 79, 142
- syntax
1, 20, 28, 66, 142, 149, 154
- complex clause115
T
- TAM
61, 130
- markers 131, 134
- restrictions 61, 133
- taxonomy26
- constructional 26–27, 109, 118
- token frequency 27, 84–85, 87, 90, 113–114
- tokens 12–13, 26, 33, 70, 85, 87, 89, 92, 113–114
- topic
5, 12, 74–75, 77–78, 82–83, 91, 97, 100, 102, 105, 107, 125
- complex77
- unexpressed77
- topicalizer 72, 101
- topic-comment
10, 14, 75, 77–78, 81–84, 90–91, 96, 137
- construction76
- relationship77
- structure 22, 73, 75, 79
- topic phrase
22, 96
- preceding 74–75
- transitive verb
6, 23, 33, 79
- regular 23, 99
- standard 23, 79
- Transitivity 99, 148
- type frequency 27, 90, 113–114
U
- unidirectional 33, 69, 92
- usage-based approach 27, 149
- utterances 26, 129, 138–139
V
- value-variable relation 3, 48, 53, 97
- verb
6–7, 22–24, 42–43, 45–47, 55, 57–59, 61–63, 66, 77, 79–80, 82–83, 103–104, 118, 125–129, 133, 150
- classificatory 6, 83
- intransitive 8, 45
- linking 6, 8, 85
- raising-to-subject153
- serial 104, 106, 125
- verbal phrases (VP) 6, 8, 22, 41, 44, 46–47, 50, 54–55
- verbal phrases, inflectional categories 44–46
- verum 15, 139–142, 152
W
- wei
10, 14, 69–73, 75–76, 78–86, 90–92, 96, 99, 162, 166, 170, 177, 181–183
- wéi 78, 80–82, 86, 89, 99, 105, 121
- word order
24, 53, 99, 145, 151
- change 29, 99
