Counterfactual Conditionals of Regret in Cantonese
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21458077 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pun Ho Lui (0009-0008-3347-4356, The Australian National University https://dx.doi.org/2219 Canberra Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-09 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0153-3320 • E-ISSN: 1960-6028 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/19606028-bja10055 |
| OpenAlex | W4415119583 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
This study explores the counterfactual conditional of regret ( CCR ) in Cantonese, a construction marked by 早知(道) zou 2 zi 1 (dou 3 ) ‘[lit. early know]’ and expressing regret over a remedy that could have been undertaken in the past. First, 早知(道) zou 2 zi 1 (dou 3 ) is argued to be grammaticalizing from a verb to subordinator, with the shorter form 早知 zou 2 zi 1 more commonly used as a CCR marker. Second, the properties of 早知(道) zou 2 zi 1 (dou 3 ) , its complement and the apodosis are discussed. Third, CCR s with non-canonical structures are explored. Finally, some implications for the status of counterfactuals in Chinese and hypothesized relativity effects are discussed
Counterfactual conditional · Counterfactual thinking · Regret · Verb · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
| Highly cited | No |
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