Diachronic Changes Underlying Synchronic Distribution: Scalar Inferences and Word Order (Studies in East Asian Linguistics)

Annotation This book deals with synchronic variation in Chinese through a diachronic lens, based on the evidence from a quantitative, longitudinal corpus study. Departing from the traditional analysis in diachronic changes in Chinese linguistics, the cognitive constructionist approach employed in this book is able to capture incremental changes by combining syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Topics such as word order, focus, scopes of quantifiers, information structure, and negation have been important issues in linguistics, but they are rarely integrated as a whole. The book makes their diachronic interactions available to the students and researchers in the fields of general and Chinese linguistics Contents 6 Abbreviations 10 Abstract 12 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Licensing of NPIs and Types of NPIs 15 1.1.1 Syntactic Perspectives 16 1.1.2 Semantic Perspectives 17 1.1.3 Pragmatic Perspectives 19 1.1.4 Scalar Model: A Cognitive Perspective 19 1.1.5 Minimizers: A Distinct Class of Negative Polarity Items 22 1.2 Interpretational Variability of ‘One’-Phrases 24 1.3 Construction-Based Changes 27 1.4 Asymmetric Distribution of Minimizers in Different Word Order Patterns 30 1.5 Layout of the Study 33 2 The Diachronic Distribution of Chinese ‘One’-Phrases: Word Order and Minimizers 36 2.1 Synchronic Polysemy: ‘One’-Phrases 36 2.2 Components of ‘One’-Phrases in Mandarin 38 2.3 Sources of Data from Different Periods of Chinese 39 2.4 The Development of ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers Across Three Periods of Chinese 40 2.4.1 Major Negators of Minimizers 41 2.4.2 ‘One’-Phrases in Old Chinese 43 2.4.2.1 Old Chinese ‘One’-Phrases in the Preverbal and Postverbal Positions 43 2.4.2.2 Two Patterns of Word Order in Numeral Phrases 46 2.4.3 ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers in Middle Chinese 50 2.4.3.1 Postverbal ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers in Middle Chinese 52 2.4.3.2 Preverbal ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers in Middle Chinese 54 2.4.4 ‘One’-Phrases in Early Mandarin Chinese 56 2.4.4.1 ‘One’-Phrases with Negator Bù in Early Mandarin Chinese 57 2.4.4.2 ‘One’-Phrases with Negator Wú in Early Mandarin Chinese 61 2.4.5 ‘One’-Phrases in Modern Mandarin Chinese 65 2.5 The Cross-Period Comparison of the ‘One’-Phrases in Chinese 66 2.5.1 Cross-Period Comparison of Preverbal and Postverbal Minimizers 66 2.5.2 The Postverbal Minimizers: Syntactic Properties of the Existential Construction 67 2.5.3 The Preferred Constructions of ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers 68 2.6 Messages from the Distribution of ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers 69 3 The Development of the Polysemous Networks of ‘One’-Phrase Through Constructional Changes 71 3.1 Synchronic Polysemy 72 3.2 Constructionist Perspective on Diachronic Changes 75 3.3 Dian ‘Dot’ in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese: Counting and Measuring 78 3.4 The ‘One’-Phrase in Early Mandarin 80 3.4.1 The Development of the PPI Sense of ‘One’-Phrases in Early Mandarin Chinese 81 3.4.2 The Development of the NPI Sense of ‘One’-Phrases in Early Mandarin Chinese 87 3.4.2.1 The Minimizer Sense in the Preverbal Position 88 3.4.2.2 The Minimizer Sense in the Postverbal Position 89 3.4.2.3 Rhetorical Questions and Conditionals: Scalar Reversing 92 3.4.3 Categorical Expansion: Adverbials 94 3.4.4 Emphatic Function from a Definite Minimal Quantity 97 3.5 Expansion of the Polysemous Network Across Periods 98 3.5.1 Diachronic Association of the ‘One’-Phrase with Existing Constructions 99 3.5.2 Directionality in Productivity, Schematicity, and Compositionality 103 3.6 Association and Inheritance in the Diachronic Development: A Polysemous Network 105 4 The Emergence of Scalar Particles dou and ye in the OV Word Order in Mandarin Chinese 106 4.1 Differences and Similarities of dou and ye in Modern Mandarin 108 4.1.1 dou as a Multi-functional Quantifier 108 4.1.1.1 Distributivity of dou 109 4.1.1.2 Universal Quantifier dou 111 4.1.1.3 The Association Between dou and Scalar Constructions 111 4.1.2 Ye as an Additive Particle 114 4.1.3 Interchangeability of dou and ye: The lian ... dou/ye Construction 116 4.2 A Diachronic Perspective on the Association of dou and ye with Scalar Constructions 119 4.2.1 Diachronically Unchanged Properties of the OV Word Order 120 4.2.1.1 OV Order as a Grammatical Category 120 4.2.1.2 Preverbal ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers: A Scalar Construction 125 4.2.2 The Emergence of dou and ye in OV 127 4.2.2.1 Involvement of ye in OV in Early Mandarin Chinese 129 4.2.2.2 Involvement of dou in OV in Early Mandarin Chinese 135 4.3 Constructional Development of dou and ye in OV 138 4.3.1 Information Structure of Mandarin Chinese OV Construction 138 4.3.2 Compatibility of the OV Construction with dou and ye 142 4.3.3 Compatibility Between the Preverbal Minimizer Construction and dou/ye 146 4.3.3.1 Characteristics of the Preverbal Minimizer Construction 146 4.3.3.2 dou and ye Incorporated in the Scalar OV Construction 149 4.4 Summary of the Emergence of Scalar Particles in Mandarin Chinese 153 5 Scalar Inferences of Minimizers in Numeral Classifier Languages 155 5.1 Formation of ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers 156 5.1.1 Particles Required for ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers 158 5.1.2 Semantics Covered by the Particles Co-occurring with Minimizers 160 5.2 Prosodic Prominence for ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers 165 5.3 Word Order Determining Interpretations of ‘One’-Phrases 167 5.3.1 Mandarin ‘One’-Phrases in Different Types of Word Order 167 5.3.1.1 Positional Variation in Interpreting ‘One’-Phrases in Mandarin Chinese 167 5.3.1.2 Asymmetry Between Preverbal and Postverbal Mandarin Minimizers 171 5.3.1.3 Variation of Mandarin ‘One’-Phrases and Types of Inferences 175 5.3.2 Interpretations Determined by Word Order of Numeral Phrases in Japanese 179 5.3.3 Interpretations Determined by Word Order of Numeral Phrases in Korean 185 5.3.4 Semantics and Pragmatics of Japanese and Korean Floating Quantifier Construction 187 5.4 ‘One’-Phrases as a Distinct Class of NPIs in Numeral Classifier Languages 189 5.4.1 Minimizers as Strict NPIs 189 5.4.2 Arrangement of Alternatives on a Scale: Contrast Between Minimizers and Other NPIs 194 5.5 Strategies of Profiling Constituents in Numeral Classifier Languages 198 6 Synchronic Variations: ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers in Modern Mandarin Chinese 199 6.1 The Preverbal and Postverbal Minimizers in Modern Mandarin 200 6.1.1 Skewed Distribution of ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers Under Non-existential Negation 203 6.1.2 ‘One’-Phrases as Minimizers Under Existential Negation: Constraints of Modification 210 6.2 Construction-Based Diachronic Changes 217 6.3 Classifier Phrases as Minimizers: Asymmetry in VO and OV 226 6.4 Synchronic Variation: Maximizing the Emphatic Effects 231 7 A Minimal Quantity with Maximal Effects 233 7.1 Approaching Mandarin Minimizers from Different Perspectives 234 7.2 The Properties of Syntactic and Semantic Changes in Chinese 236 7.3 A Network of Constructional Changes 237 7.4 Word Order and Pragmatic Effects 239 References 241