Cover not available

Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 25:4 (2024) ► pp.615–643

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

From negative to conjunctive

無 bo55 in the Jieyang Southern Min dialect

ORCiD logo with link | Sun Yat-sen University
ORCiD logo with link | Shaanxi Normal University
 | Sun Yat-sen University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 8 July 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00170.hua
Abstract
In the Jieyang Southern Min dialect, the negative 無 bo55 has evolved into a conjunctive that is used in multiple constructions: negative conditionals, cause and effect, disjunctives, and proposals. This paper aims to describe the multiple functions of 無 bo55 and to construct its grammaticalization path as compared with those of 否則 fouze ‘otherwise or else’, and 要不 yaobu ‘if not’, in Mandarin. It is common in Chinese and other languages for a negative to combine with its adjacent conjunctive to develop a new conjunctive. However, the Jieyang dialect exhibits a unique feature in that 無 bo55 is grammaticalized into a conjunctive per se by applying a complicated process of reasoning involving the logical relations among clauses without the support of any conjunctive constituents. This phenomenon can provide a new model for the study of grammatical evolution.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Functions of 無 bo55
    • 2.1無 bo551 in negative conditional constructions
    • 2.2無 bo552 in cause and effect constructions
    • 2.3無 bo553 in disjunctive constructions
    • 2.4無 bo554 in proposal constructions
  • 3.Evolution of 無 bo55
    • 3.1Negative > negative conditional conjunctive
    • 3.2Negative conditional conjunctive > cause and effect conjunctive
    • 3.3Negative conditional conjunctive > disjunctive conjunctive
    • 3.4Disjunctive conjunctive > proposal conjunctive
  • 4.The typological features of the evolution of the negative in Southern Min
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • List of abbreviations
  • References
References (28)
References
Bybee, Joan & Perkins, Revere & Pagliuca, William. 1994. The evolution of grammar: Tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cao, Xiu-ling & Zhang, Lei. 2009. Grammaticalization of conjunction like “fouze”. Hanyu Xuexi 2009(6). 11–21.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Miao-Hsia. 1997. Discourse functions of negatives bo and m in Taiwanese. Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Chen, Changyi. 1990. Tantan “fouze” zai fuju zhong suo biaoshi de yiyi guanxi. Nanchang Daxue Xuebao 1990(3). 72–74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Manjun. 2009. Constructions with boʔ of Hui’an Min dialect in Fujian province. Fangyan 2009(4). 363–369.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Ruojun. 2000. “Yaobu (yaoburan)” de pianzhang lianjie gongneng. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu 2000(3). 66–72.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, Eran. 2021. If not, or else, and maybe in Akkadian and perhaps in Hebrew. Journal of the American Oriental Society 141(1). 151–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, Chung-hye. 2002. Interpreting interrogatives as rhetorical questions. Lingua 112(3). 201–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jacob, Reshma & Mehta, Shreya. 2017. Semantically elaborate categories and grammaticalization in Malayalam. In Kaur, Gureet & Ashem, Reena & Udaar, Usha (eds.), Exploring the syntax and semantics of South Asian languages, 37–54. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ji, Kuan. 2019. Xing Fuyi’s confusion about the transitional compound sentences of “fouze” type. Wenxian Yuyanxue 2019(2). 124–140.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuteva, Tania & Heine, Bernd & Hong, Bo & Long, Haiping & Narrog, Heiko & Rhee, Saongha. 2019. World lexicon of grammaticalization. 2nd, extensively revised and updated edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Rulong. 2007. Minnan fangyan yufa yanjiu. Fuzhou: Fujian People’s Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lian, Shuneng. 1993. Contrastive studies of English and Chinese. Beijing: Higher Education Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lien, Chinfa. 2015. Polyfunctionality of bo5 in modern Southern Min: A case of its interpretation in tandem with hierarchical positions. Language and Linguistics. 16(2). 169–186.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lin, Huei-Ling. 2004. Lexical vs. syntactic negation in Taiwanese. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 30(1). 107–128.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lü, Shuxiang (ed.). 1980. Xiandai Hanyu babai ci. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nida, Eugene. 1982. Translating meaning. San Dima: English Language Institute.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shi, Jin-sheng. 2005. The grammaticalization of yaobu: Pragmatic mechanism and the changes of form. Jiefangjun Waiguoyu Xueyuan Xuebao 2005(6). 10–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tang, Shansheng & Ma, Yiqi. 2016. “Yaobushi” de yuyong fenxi. Dangdai Xiuci Xue 2016(2). 48–56.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tang, Ting-Chi. 1994. On the semantics and syntax of negatives in Southern Min. In Tang, Ting-Chi (ed.), Studies on Chinese morphology and syntax, vol.51, 119–169. Taipei: Student Book.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teng, Shou-Hsin. 1992. Diversification and unification of negation in Taiwanese. Chinese languages and linguistics volume 1: Chinese dialects, 609–629. Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Bo. 2019. A study of conjunctive functions of “yaobu” “buran” and their differences. Liyun Yuyan Xuekan 2019(1). 289–302.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Can-long. 2008. The anaphoric function of “fouze” and its part of speech. Hanyu Xuexi 2008(4). 17–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xing, Fuyi. 2002. Hanyu fuju yanjiu. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xu, Hui Ling. 2007. Aspects of Chaoshan grammar: A synchronic description of the Jieyang variety (Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph series 22). Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press on behalf of Project on Linguistic Analysis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, Fan-Pei Gloria. 2007. A cognitive approach to Mandarin conditionals. Berkeley: University of California. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Yang, Hui-Ling. 2014. Southern Min m in discourse. Linguistics 52(3). 685–730. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, Shen-Yun. 2012. A discourse – Pragmatic study of Chinese lexemes buran/yaoburan/fouze and pedagogical impliactions – A corpus-based study. Kaohsiung: National Kaohsiung Normal University. (Master’s thesis.)
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue