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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 37:1 (2020) ► pp.83–126

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A study of the development of the Chinese correlative comparative construction from the perspective of constructionalization

ORCiD logo with link | City University of Hong Kong
 | Stanford University
Published online: 7 April 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.18025.zha
Abstract
The paper addresses the emergence and development of the Chinese correlative comparative construction (CrCC) from the perspective of constructionalization. Most previous historical studies of the CrCC take a grammaticalization approach (e.g., Long, Guofu. 2013. [Yuelaiyue…] goushi de yufahua [The grammaticalization of the [yuelaiyue …] construction]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of Chinese Language] 11. 25–33.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), focusing mainly on morphosyntax alone rather than investigating syntax and semantics in an integrated way. However, the architecture of construction grammar requires approaching linguistic analysis with both form and meaning equally in mind. This approach suggests that what have sometimes been considered to be merely different formal expressions of the CrCC are in fact two different constructions, one correlative, and the other a simple incremental. We identify the critical contexts (see Diewald, Gabriele and Elena Smirnova. 2010. Evidentiality in German: Linguistic realization and regularities in grammaticalization. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) that by hypothesis enabled the constructionalization of the CrCC, and point to the importance of considering network reorganization and multiple sources in the development of the simple incremental construction (see e.g., Boas, Hans C. 2008. Determining the structure of lexical entries and grammatical constructions in Construction Grammar. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics 61. 113–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Van de Velde, Freek, Hendrik De Smet & Lobke Ghesquière. 2013. On multiple source constructions in language change. Studies in Language 37(3). 473–488. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar).
Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit der Entstehung und Entwicklung der korrelativen vergleichenden Konstruktion (correlative comparative construction, CrCC) im Chinesischen aus der Perspektive der Konstruktionalisierung. Die meisten früheren historischen Studien zur CrCC verfolgen einen Grammatikalisierungsansatz (z. B. Long 2013). Sie konzentrieren sich hauptsächlich auf Morphosyntax und nicht auf die integrierte Untersuchung von Syntax und Semantik. Die Architektur der Konstruktionsgrammatik erfordert jedoch eine Annäherung an die linguistische Analyse, bei der Form und Bedeutung gleichermaßen berücksichtigt werden müssen. Dieser Ansatz lässt vermuten, dass es sich bei den Ausdrücken, die manchmal als unterschiedliche formale Realisierungen der CrCC angesehen wurden, tatsächlich um zwei unterschiedliche Konstruktionen handelt, eine korrelative und eine einfache inkrementelle. Wir identifizieren die kritischen Kontexte (siehe Diewald und Smirnova 2010), die gemäß der Hypothese die Konstruktionalisierung der CrCC ermöglicht haben, und weisen darauf hin, wie wichtig es ist, bei der Entwicklung der einfachen inkrementellen Konstruktion die Netzwerkreorganisation und mehrere Quellen zu berücksichtigen (siehe z. B. Boas 2008, Van de Velde et al. 2013).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Some basic tenets of Cognitive Construction Grammar and of constructionalization
    • 2.1Cognitive Construction Grammar
    • 2.2Constructionalization and constructional changes
  • 3.Data and methodology
  • 4.The correlative comparative construction in Modern Chinese
  • 5.The development of the Chinese correlative comparative schema
    • 5.1Pattern 1: [[yùe XNP(location/person/object)] ↔ [to cross/to surpass SEM]]
    • 5.2Pattern 2: [[yùe XV/Adj] ↔ [more SEM]]
    • 5.3Pattern 3: [[yùe XVP yùe YVP/Adj] ↔ [the more SEMx, the more SEMy]]
  • 6.The development of the incremental comparative construction
    • 6.1The early development of the [[yùeláiyùe XVP/Adj] ↔ [increasingly SEM]] InCC pattern
    • 6.2The development of [[suízhé X, yùeláiyùe YVP/Adj] ↔ [along with X, increasingly SEM]]
  • 7.The constructional networks in which the Chinese correlative comparative and incremental comparative constructions have participated over time
    • 7.1Networks in the constructionalization of CrCC
    • 7.2Networks in the constructionalization of the InCC
    • 7.3Summary of the development of the CrCC and InCC
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (71)
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