The etymology and grammaticalization of the continuative aspect marker le(h)4

2020 ◽  
pp. 157-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjun Chen
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Marker

A Multi-Dimensional Exploration of Future Aspect Marker "Dai" in Chinese Dialect from the Perspective of Typology — Take Gansu Tianzhu Dialect as an Example

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 5440-5452
Author(s):  
Song Shan ◽  
Min Chunfang
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
The Other ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Regional Characteristics ◽  
Future Aspect ◽  
The Future ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Chinese Dialect

Objectives: In Tianzhu dialect, the use of the future aspect marker "Dai[tɛi44]" is frequent. The grammatical meaning of the future aspect marker, "verb phrase (VP) +'Dai[tɛi44]+[lio21]'", in Tianzhu dialect can be divided into two categories according to the differences of VP: one indicates that the end of the action is about to be reached, that is, "VP +'Dai1[tɛi44]+[lio21]'"; the other indicates that the action is about to begin, that is, "VP +‘Dai2[tɛi44]+[lio21]’ ". This article takes the Tianzhu dialect aspect marker "Dai[tɛi44]" as the main research object, and focuses on the grammatical functions and semantic features of "Dai1[tɛi44]" and "Dai2[tɛi44]" by studying the actionality types of verbs in Tianzhu dialect, and compares the future aspect marker "Dai[tɛi44]" in Tianzhu dialect with the future aspect markers of other Chinese dialect in Northwest China, and generalizes the geographical distribution and regional characteristics of the future aspect marker "Dai[tɛi44]".

The history of the quasi-auxiliary use(d) to

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Neels
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Representation ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Feeding Process ◽  
Discourse Frequency ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

This article is a corpus-based study on the grammaticalization of the quasi-auxiliary use(d) to. It describes and seeks to explain the historical process whereby use(d) to, starting from the Middle English source construction use ‘be in the habit of’ + to + verb, grammaticalized into a habitual aspect marker with idiosyncratic morphosyntactic properties. A detailed corpus study is presented, based on four historical English corpora, which together cover a time period from 1410 to 2009. The results of the corpus analysis are interpreted within the theoretical framework of usage-based grammar, with the aim of uncovering the mechanisms that propelled the gradual grammaticalization of use(d) to on the semantic, morphological, syntactic and phonological dimensions. Among the underlying mechanisms and processes identified are semantic generalization via host-class expansion and habituation, pragmatic enrichment, analogy, chunking, loss of analyzability and internal structure, as well as phonological reduction through neuromotor automation. Supported by the quantitative empirical evidence from the corpus analysis and drawing on findings from usage-based research on language change, the present study depicts the grammaticalization of use(d) to as a self-feeding process driven by frequency effects, i.e. by the effects that the increasingly high discourse frequency of the use(d) to construction had on its cognitive representation.

Acquisition of Chinese Aspect

1997 ◽  
Vol 117-118 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohong Wen
Keyword(s):  
Word Meanings ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
University Level ◽  
Aspect Markers ◽  
Perfective Aspect Marker ◽  
The University ◽  
Temporal Sequences ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract This study investigates the acquisition of Chinese aspect markers of -le, -guo, and -zhe by English-speaking learners at the university level. The speech and written data produced by students at two different levels of proficiency were collected, compared and analyzed. The results show that English-speaking learners of Chinese acquire the perfective aspect marker -le and the past experience marker -guo before the durative aspect marker -zhe. The process by which learners acquire the aspect markers appears be meaning-based and can be summarized into: 1) looking for logical temporal sequences; 2) using time adverbials and conjunction for the time references; 3) using lexical aspects and word meanings; and 4) using pragmatic cues with the aspect markers of -le and -guo. Learners, especially at the lower level of proficiency, rely more on the time adverbial expressions and lexical aspects than learners at the more advanced level.

scholarly journals Interactions Between Viewpoint Aspect and Situation Aspect: A Case Study of Alternating Intransitive Constructions in Thai

MANUSYA ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-79
Author(s):  
Kachen Tansiri
Keyword(s):  
Causal Chain ◽  
Imperfective Aspect ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Dynamic Phase ◽  
Viewpoint Aspect ◽  
Situation Aspect ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Aspect Markers ◽  
The One ◽  
Verb Meaning

This paper aims at analyzing an internal temporal constituency of situations denoted by alternating intransitive constructions (AIC) in Thai in order to subclassify them, and investigating interactions between two viewpoint-aspect markers, namely kamlaƞ and jùu, and each subtype of AICs. According to the scope of a profile on the causal chain, the AICs in Thai are arranged into two main groups, i.e., the AICs denoting a simplex causal situation and the AICs denoting a complex causal situation. In each group, they are further subclassified according to the situation aspect of the denoted situations. In analyzing the interactions between viewpoint aspect and situation aspect, I show that kamlaƞ and jùu both function as imperfective viewpoint-aspect markers because they interact with situation aspect at the phase of the situation without any reference to the boundaries. However, they are distinguished in terms of the semantics of the forms themselves and the semantics of the phase they profile. On the one hand, kamlaƞ functions as a dynamic imperfective viewpoint-aspect marker in that it profiles the dynamic phase of the situations and construes them as on-going processes. On the other hand, jùu functions as a stative imperfective aspect marker. Unlike kamlaƞ , jùu can profile either a static or a dynamic phase. If jùu co-occurs with a static situation, the situation will be construed as a persistent state. If jùu co-occurs with a dynamic one, it refers to the progressive situation, which is viewed as stative. Since the grammatical aspect marker jùu is grammaticalized from the lexical verb meaning ‘to exist,’ there is a remnant of that meaning when jùu functions as a grammatical aspect marker. Consequently, the grammaticalized viewpoint-aspect marker jùu conveys the meaning that there exists a static or dynamic situation on the time line at the reference time or the speech-act time.

Chinese aspect marker -le and its acquisition by American English speakers

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Bin Li ◽  
Hongli Fan ◽  
Po-Lun Peppina Lee
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Patterns Of Distribution ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Verb Categories ◽  
American English Speakers

Abstract This study investigates the functions of the perfective marker -le and its acquisition by native speakers of American English from the perspective of the Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen and Shirai, 1994). We set out to test the predicted order regarding four verb categories in terms of their frequencies of -le marking. Our results confirmed that -le was most frequently used with achievement verbs by learners, but revealed deviated patterns of distribution in other categories when they were compared with those of native speakers of Chinese. We discussed our data further from the perspective of prototypicality, and provide pedagogical implications to Chinese as a foreign language.

scholarly journals From bodily posture to progressive aspect marker

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Najib Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Auxiliary Verb ◽  
Aspectual Markers

AbstractThe fact that posture verbs tend to grammaticalize into aspectual markers of progressivity in a wide-range of (un)related languages makes them particularly interesting objects of study. The present paper aims to contribute to our understanding of how the active posture participle “yālis” (sitting) plus imperfective verb have come to express the progressive aspect in Emirati Arabic. The proposed answer to this puzzling question involves the claim that, crosslinguistically, progressive constructions are known to originate from locative constructions in which the agent is described as in the midst of an activity. The function of “yālis” (sitting) as an auxiliary verb - like appears to be the result of a grammaticalization process, as certain principles of grammaticalization such as desemanticization, extension, and decategorialization were found to apply to it. Data from Emirati Arabic variety suggest that the construction has undergone semantic and morphosyntatctic changes but retained its phonetic content. As part of the new construction, the active participle “yālis” (sitting) has also changed its argument structure.

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