On syntactic intervention in Chinese denominal verbs

A diachronic perspective

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20344586
AutoresJie Cheng (0000-0001-6133-6534, South China Normal University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen32
Número3
Páginas293-330
Fecha de publicación2015-12-10
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDiachronica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0176-4225 • E-ISSN: 1569-9714
EditorialJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/dia.32.3.01che
OpenAlexW2273809307
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas31

The derivation of Chinese denominal verbs has undergone a diachronic shift from freedom in Archaic Chinese to restriction in Post-Archaic Chinese. While denominal verbs in Archaic Chinese can be conveniently accommodated in a pragmatic account, those in Post-Archaic Chinese only yield to a syntactic account. The diachronic shift has arguably resulted from syntactic intervention: only those denominal verbs in Archaic Chinese that can possibly be derived in syntax have survived into Post-Archaic Chinese. In support of this hypothesis is the fact that the prefix *s- and qù shēng bié yì (“falling tone for sense distinction”), responsible for verbalization of nouns in Archaic Chinese, have ceased to operate and given way to zero categories in Post-Archaic Chinese, and the denominal verbs in Post-Archaic Chinese exhibit transparent semantic structures. These findings support the general view about the lexicon-syntax interface that word formation should not be reduced to either the lexicon or syntax alone

Lexicon · Linguistics · Noun · Old Chinese · Prefix · Syntax · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation