The emergence ofso-complementation in Chinese Pidgin English

Abstract

AbstractSentential complementation is generally unmarked in Chinese Pidgin English (ChnP). However, around the middle of the 19th century, the wordsobegan to be used as a complementizer. This paper focuses on the origins ofsoas a complementizer in ChnP. An examination ofsoand another closely related expressionso fashion(‘so, like this’) shows that their meanings and functions can largely be attributed to the corresponding expressions in the source languages, namely Cantonesegam2(‘so, like this’) and Englishsoin its anaphoric function. As Cantonesegam2and Englishsoare not complementizers, it is hypothesized thatso-complementation is the result of reanalysis by which the anaphoricsois reinterpreted as a complementizer. It is further argued that the emergence ofso-complementation is facilitated by a common grammaticalization pathway whereby deictic expressions acquire grammatical functions such as that of complementizer.