Sinitic Languages Research Articles

From Colloquialism to Metaphorical Expression: A Diachronic Study of Chinese Dialect Words Based on Chán Buddhist Literature

Chán Buddhist literature is not only an important source for the study of religious thought during the Chinese late medieval and early modern periods, but also constitutes a treasure trove for investigating the development of the colloquial language of the respective periods, both in terms of semantics and syntactic constructions. Since the editors of Chán Buddhist literature—such as the Recorded Saying and Transmission of the Lamp texts—claimed to convey the “living words” of the patriarchs and masters, numerous vernacularisms were integrated in the dialogue sections of the texts, and the use of traditional Buddhist terminology was often reduced to a minimum. Frequently, Chán Buddhist texts are among the earliest sources in which these colloquialisms surfaced. In this paper, we focus on expressions which derive from the colloquial language of the late Táng and Sòng periods, and which were integrated in Chán Buddhist literature, often assuming a particular metaphorical meaning in the rhetorical structure of the texts. We reconstruct their original meaning, their use in the Chán texts, as well as their further development in Sinitic languages and dialects. Besides contributing to a better understanding of the vocabulary used in the enigmatic language of Chán literature and the metaphorical mapping of originally colloquial expressions in a religious context, in this preliminary study, we also hope to contribute to a better understanding of the development of semantic items from the perspective of historical linguistics, their complex paths of metaphorical extensions, as well as their usage in local linguistic contexts. In addition, the case studies also illustrate the transformative force of religion on the development of language, and the complex interplay between religious ideas and linguistic expression.

Indefiniteness, interrogativity, and speaker stance: Insights from the extended uses of ‘what’-words in Chaozhou

This paper examines how ‘what’-words extend from referential to non-referential uses, with special attention to their extensions from indefinite and interrogative pronominal uses to negative attitudinal uses. Using conversational data from Jieyang Chaozhou, a Sinitic language, this study examines the attitudinal uses of ‘what’-words ▪, ▪, ▪, and ▪ along two grammaticalization pathways. Along the indefiniteness pronoun pathway, all four ‘what’-words have developed placeholding functions, with ▪ and ▪ also recruited in the formation of attitudinal constructions (e.g. ▪ ‘so whatchamacallit’, which could express either a positive or negative speaker attitude depending on the inferred meaning of placeholder ▪). Along the interrogative pronoun pathway, in addition to the frequent use of ▪ as a mirativity marker, the ‘what’-words ▪, ▪, and ▪ have also evolved attitudinal marking functions, typically negative in tone and often used to express the speaker's annoyance, dismissiveness and challenge toward someone, something, some event or some state of affairs raised in the prior speech turn. Crucially, this study sheds light on the intimate relationship between indefiniteness, interrogativity and speaker stance, with both indefinite and interrogative uses of ‘what’-words often interacting to form attitudinal constructions with stronger negative overtones.

Formation and constraints of scalar structure in Taiwanese Southern Min

AbstractThe paper explores the formation and constraint of an aspect of scalar structure in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM). The scale structure as we understand it is realized as a relation between the degree adverb and the gradable predicates it selects. The gradable predicate that the degree adverb selects must bear the feature of degree. There are two approaches to compose the degree adverb and the gradable predicates it modifies: (1) the top-down construal and (2) the bottom-up construal. The first approach is simple and straightforward and applicable in most cases. However, there will be difficulties when the immediate modified element is an ambivalent element. A way out of the dilemma is the second approach. We give a unitary account ofu7-headed VP constructions in terms of the bottom-up approach, and if viable, it attains a measure of economy. This study also touches on the parametric variations in TSM vis-à-vis Mandarin in the patterns of degree expressions. Such variations in the degree expressions have some implications in the studies of Sinitic languages as well as language universals.

On Structural Particles in Sinitic Languages: Typology and Diachrony

In the Chinese linguistic tradition, the term ‘structural particle(s)’ (jiégòu zhùcí 结构助词) is used to refer to functional elements that mainly act as markers of adnominal modification, nominalisation, adverbial modification and in the so-called verb complement constructions. In Standard Mandarin, the three commonly used structural particles are all realised as /tə/, but they are written with different characters (的, 地 and 得), which somehow reflect their distinct origins. However, the same functions are mapped onto different markers in other Sinitic languages, and each of the functions listed above may be associated to more than one construction. In this paper, we provide an overview of the range of variation in the domain of structural particles in Sinitic, based on the analysis of a convenience sample of 77 Chinese dialects. We highlight some areal and genealogical trends in the distribution of these forms, and we discuss some hypotheses on their origins and on their evolution: specifically, we focus on the markers of adnominal and adverbial modification. We argue that markers of adnominal and adverbial modification may sometimes arise from different sources and undergo formal merger, due to structural analogy and/or to phonetic similarity.

Is it in Colloquial Singapore English

Colloquial Singapore English (CSE, commonly known as Singlish) is a linguistic variety used in Singapore, a Southeast Asian nation home to three major ethnic groups: the Chinese (74.35% of the citizen and permanent resident population), the Malays (13.43%), and the Indians (9%) (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2019). It is one of the best known post-colonial varieties of English and has been documented since the emergence of the field of world Englishes (e.g., Greenbaum, 1988; Richards & Tay, 1977). Linguistically, the grammar and lexicon of CSE are systematically imported from other non-English languages used in the island nation (Leimgruber, 2011). From a creolist perspective, it can be viewed as an English-lexifier creole that contains influences from Sinitic languages such as Hokkien, Cantonese and Mandarin, as well as Malay, Tamil and other varieties in the Singapore language ecology (McWhorter, 2007; Platt, 1975). Several distinct features across various levels of language have been investigated in CSE, including phonetics (Starr & Balasubramaniam, 2019), morphosyntax (Bao, 2010; Bao & Wee, 1999), semantics (Hiramoto & Sato, 2012), and pragmatics (Hiramoto, 2012; Leimgruber, 2016; Lim, 2007).

Debating ‘Chineseness’ and ‘national identity’ in the Sinophone Malaysian films The Journey (2014) and Ola Bola (2016)

Adopting the theoretical framework employed in Sinophone studies, this article focuses on Sinophone Malaysian filmmaker Chiu Keng Guan, whose films mark the revival of commercial Sinitic language filmmaking in Malaysia. Through textual analysis of Chiu’s two filmsThe Journey(2014) andOla Bola(2016), this article examines how the narratives and languages used in these Sinophone Malaysian films portray the place-based culture and experience of the Sinophone communities and other ethnic groups in Malaysia. It also looks at how ‘Chineseness’ is employed by Chiu as a strategy to construct a collective identity and memory for Sinophone community members in order to connect them with their cultural roots as well as generate interest in the film, as demonstrated in the filmThe Journey. The example of the movieOla Bolais used to assess how the filmmaker Chiu, who is Malaysian Chinese, questions the idea of ‘national identity’ by twisting the film plot, which was itself inspired by a real event.

Chinese linguistics: an introduction (1.st ed.). Arcodia, G. F., & Basciano, B. (2021). Oxford University Press, 341 pages, ISBN: 978-0-19-884783-0

Book review of Chinese Linguistics - An Introduction by Giorgio Francesco Arcodia and Bianca Basciano. The book is a functional text on Chinese languages, which a focus on Modern Standard Chinese. As stated in the first chapter, the aim of the book is to give a general presentation of the most important matters of Chinese linguistics research, both in and out of China. The book includes many current topics about the Chinese languages and their research, which are treated at length; for example what's Chinese linguistics, an overview of Sinitic languages, explanation about Chinese dialects, syntax, phonology, morphology and writing, etc.

On a dichotomy of question types: the case of Mandarin Chinese and Changsha Xiang

AbstractContrary to the conventional three-way distinction of questions: polar questions, disjunctive questions, andwh-questions, we argue for a more revealing two-way distinction of polar versus constituent questions, the latter with two subtypes: disjunctive andwh-questions. Following Bhatt, Rajesh & Veneeta Dayal. 2020. Polar question particles: Hindi-Urdu kya. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 38. 1115–1144 proposal that polar questions denote singleton sets of propositions and the standard view that disjunctive andwh-questions denote sets with multiple propositions, we further characterize this dichotomy pragmatically as confirmation-seeking (CS) and information-seeking (IS), i.e., polar questions seek confirmation of the proposition put forth, while constituent questions seek information specifically targeted by the interrogative constituent. This dichotomy is formally detected in Mandarin Chinese via the question particlemaversusne, dichotomy of fragment questions, adverbnandao‘don’t tell me’ versusdaodi‘after all’, respective (in)ability to serve as indirect questions, and an intervention effect on constituent questions. We then discuss the typological implications of this two-way distinction and demonstrate that the Changsha dialect of Xiang, another Sinitic language, has no CS polar questions as the alleged polar questions are all disjunctive questions. This fact suggests that, while there are two major types of questions cross-linguistically, CS polar questions are not universal.

Intertwined model of syntactic borrowing in the Gansu-Qinghai linguistic area

This paper studies two grammatical cases in the Gansu-Qinghai linguistic area. Accusative-dative, a syncretic case largely attested in Sinitic languages, is also found in Bao’an and Tu, even if in a very limited use. The Sinitic languages have acquired this syncretic case marking through pattern reduplication due to language contact, while Bao’an and Tu have this innovation owing to the internal mechanisms of their language. The second phenomenon concerns possessor constructions in which the subject-possessor must be marked by a dative case. This marking is seen in all non-Sinitic languages in the Gansu-Qinghai linguistic area and has begun to appear in Sinitic languages. Multiple paths for borrowing between and inside languages in this area present an intertwined model of language borrowing. Linxia City and its closest counties should be the spreading center of these new syntactic devices, and Muslim populations speaking different languages may form a spreading net.

Differential argument marking and the multifunctional case marker -ha in Wutun: Between the argument structure and information structure

This paper discusses the various functions of the multifunctional case marker -ha in Wutun, a mixed Sinitic language with Northwest Mandarin lexicon and Amdo Tibetan syntax spoken in Tongren County, eastern part of Qinghai Province, Amdo Sprachbund. I will show that the use of -ha is connected to Differential Argument Marking and it is motivated partly by semantic factors and partly by information structure. The case marker -ha often occurs on the Recipient, Patient or Causee argument in clauses with two animate arguments and it can therefore be used to disambiguate arguments. Its use is also connected to affectedness, which can be operationalized in terms of definiteness and saliency. Patient arguments are more likely to be marked with -ha if they are totally affected (e.g. The dog ate the dumplings) than only partially affected (e.g. The dog ate some dumplings). However, the use of -ha cannot be explained solely on the basis of semantic factors and it is often connected to information structure, such as expressing contrastiveness, activating previously mentioned topic or differentiating between topical and focal parts of the sentence. In summary, -ha is used with highly affected non-Agent arguments that often play a special role in information structure.

On a possible convergence area in Northern China

Abstract The received view that the differences among Sinitic languages are mostly limited to their phonology and, to a lesser extent, to the lexicon (Chao 1968), has been challenged in recent years, with plenty of studies showing that Chinese ‘dialects’ are, indeed, diverse at all levels, including morphology and (morpho-)syntax (see Chappell 2015a for an overview). Some major differences within the Sinitic branch follow areal patterns, in which contact is often claimed to play a crucial role. In our contribution, we would like to propose that there is an area within Northern China, spread over the Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, in which we find Sinitic languages possessing some features not seen (or, at least, uncommon) elsewhere. These include: 1. reduced/nonconcatenative morphology (see Arcodia 2013, 2015; Lamarre 2015); 2. object markers based on speech act verbs (see Chappell 2013); and 3. structural particles with an l-initial (see Chen A. 2013, a.o.). Based on our own survey of a sample of 96 dialects, we shall discuss the distribution of these features, as well as their possible origins.

What is transnational Chinese Cinema today? Or, Welcome to the Sinosphere

ABSTRACT A decade ago, I wrote a piece called ‘What Is Transnational Cinema? Thinking from the Chinese Situation’. It argued that knowledge is situational and perspectival; what transnational cinema is depends on when and where you are looking from and writing about. It observed and analysed two current phenomena relevant to understanding what Chinese transnational cinema was then: the growth of cross-border Chinese film production involving the People’s Republic, Hong Kong, Taiwan and more, known as ‘Chinese-language cinemas’ (huayu dianying); and the larger phenomenon of globalisation. This article asks what has changed since and proposes ‘cinemas of the Sinosphere’ as an idea to encompass those changes. However, the term refers to two very different phenomena. First, it responds to the higher profile of films that are part of a Chinese cultural sphere but not in a Sinitic language, rendering the idea of ‘Chinese-language cinemas’ inadequate. Second, it acknowledges the re-emergence of the nation-state and what some people call the ‘Second Cold War’ or what I call a ‘Two Globalizations’ phenomenon, and it refers to the cinema of the People’s Republic of China under the conditions of the Belt and Road Initiative and the non-Chinese cinemas that respond to it.

Sinitic as a typological sandwich: revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization

Abstract Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have effectively dispelled the common myth that these languages share a single “universal Chinese grammar”. Yet, the underlying cause of their grammatical variation is still a matter for debate. This paper focuses on typological variation across Sinitic varieties. Through comparing the typological profiles of various Sinitic languages with those of their Altaic and Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) neighbors, we discuss to what extent the variation within the Sinitic branch can be attributed to areal diffusion. Taking into account over 360 language varieties of seven different genetic affiliations (Sinitic, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic) and 30 linguistic features, we conduct a typological survey with the aid of the phylogenetic program NeighborNet. Our results suggest that convergence towards their non-Sinitic neighbors has likely played a pivotal role in the typological diversity of Sinitic languages. Based primarily on their degree of Altaic/MSEA influence, the Sinitic varieties in our database are classified into four areal groups, namely 1) Northern, 2) Transitional, 3) Central Southeastern, 4) Far Southern. This classification scheme reflects the intricate interplay between areal convergence, regional innovations, and retention of archaic features.

From language to meteorology: kinesis in weather events and weather verbs across Sinitic languages

Interactions among the environment, humans and language underlie many of the most pressing challenges we face today. This study investigates the use of different verbs to encode various weather events in Sinitic languages, a language family spoken over a wide range of climates and with 3000 years of continuous textual documentation. We propose to synergise the many concepts of kinesis that grew from Aristotle’s original ideas to account for the correlation between meteorological events and their linguistic encoding. It is observed that the two most salient key factors of weather events, i.e., mass of weather substances and speed of weather processes, are the two contributing components of kinetic energy. Leveraging the linguistic theory that kinesis underpins conceptualisation of verb classes, this paper successfully accounts for the selection of verbs for different meteorological events in all Sinitic languages in terms of both language variations and changes. Specifically, weather events with bigger weather substances and faster weather processes tend to select action verbs with high transitivity. The kinesis driven accounts also predict the typological variations between verbal and nominal constructions for weather expressions. The correlation between kinesis and the selection of verbs is further corroborated by an experiment on the perception of native Sinitic language speakers, as well as analyses of regional variations of verb selections that do not follow general typological patterns. It is found that such typological exceptions generally correspond to variations in meteorological patterns. By explicating the pivotal role of kinesis in bridging weather events and the linguistic encoding of weather, this study underlines the role of cognition as the conceptualisation of physical and sensory inputs to sharable knowledge encoded by language.

Directionality of Atmospheric Water in Chinese: A Lexical Semantic Study Based on Linguistic Ontology

Why are fog, dew, and frost said to “fall” in some languages when they don’t in the physical world? We explore this seeming infelicity to study the nature of linguistic conceptualization. We focus on variations and changes of the morphosemantic behaviors of weather words in Mandarin and other Sinitic languages with an interdisciplinary approach to establish links between linguistic expressions and scientific facts. We propose that this use of directionality is the result of conventionalization of Chinese people’s inference from shared daily experience, and is well motivated in terms of a linguistic ontology that reflects a scientific account of natural phenomena. We further demonstrate that the semantically relevant orthography shared by Chinese speakers can be directly mapped to Hantology, a formal linguistic ontology based on Suggested Upper Merged Ontology (SUMO). In this mapping, the radical 雨 yǔ “rain,” derived from the ideograph of “rain” to represent atmospheric water, provides crucial clues to the use of directional verbs and the parts of speech of weather words. Our findings also lend support to language-based reconstruction of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and lay foundation for TEK research in the Sinosphere.

언어 지역 유형론적 관점에서 본 漢語와 소수 민족 언어의 파열음 운미 유형 - 중국 중·남부 지역을 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to typologically analyze plosive coda ‘-p, -t, -k’ and areal typology of the Sinitic languages and minority languages distributed in central and southern China, centering on the Yangtze River basin and the southern part of the Yangtze River, and to consider the relationship and influence of ethnic minority languages distributed together in or around the same region from a view of areal typology.<BR> Mainland China is a complex distribution of languages belonging to various language families, such as the Sino-Tibetan languages, Kra-Dai languages, Austronesian languages, Austroasiatic languages, and Altaic languages. Since they have strong linguistic contacts over a long period of time, the study of language typology in mainland China has a very important meaning not only for the study of Chinese but also for the study of world language typology.<BR> First of all, this paper compares and analyzes the classification of Chinese dialect area in the preceding studies to reconsider the criteria and methods for classifying language typology in Chinese dialect area, and discusses the need for subdividing Mandarin dialects and adding other ethnic languages. In addition, by creating a language altas of typology about the plosive coda of the Sinitic dialect and ethnic minority languages, we observe the areal typology of the plosive coda of Sinitic dialects and ethnic minority languages distributed in mainland China from a macro perspective. In addition, in connection with ethnic minority languages distributed in the central and southern regions of China and its neighboring regions, it attempts to analyze the regional type of the plosive coda of the Chinese central and southern regions from a regional typological angle. By observing and analyzing the type of areal distribution of the plosive coda in the same region together based on the plosive coda ‘-p, -t, -k’ and the areal distribution of the plosive coda in the ethnic minority languages, the close language contact and language shift phenomena of the Sinitic languages and ethnic languages are discussed.

From topic marker to case marker

Abstract The case model of the syncretic case [xa] in the Gansu-Qinghai area came from non-Sinitic languages, while the phonetic form came from Sinitic languages (“Sinitic languages” are usually called “Chinese dialects” in the Chinese linguistic community). The paper shows that this marker [xa] may come from a topic marker and topic chain markers in Sinitic languages. The accusative/dative marker formation was motivated by pragmatic factors. This phenomenon is also found in other languages. The syncretic use of cases is commonplace in languages across the world, whereas the accusative/dative marker [xa] is one of the prominent features in Sinitic languages in the Gansu-Qinghai area. The accusative/dative case formation did not know an even speed in Sinitic languages. It seems that Wutun and Tangwang evolved rapidly while Linxia and Gangou changed with an intermediate rhythm. Qinghai languages are the closest to Tibetic languages, but paradoxically they seem to be more conservative and do not adopt dative markers in possessor and experiencer constructions which are seen overwhelmingly in Tibetic languages. However, other Sinitic languages have adopted this marking progressively and steadily. The language model of the syncretic marker [xa] is not from a single language. Amdo Tibetan as well as Mongolic languages have contributed to the case formation of [xa] in Sinitic languages. This paper proposes that an Intertwining Model helped the spread of case formation in this zone. Languages of one group or of one language family have influenced each other at different periods. The results of case formation we note today constitute a net-like relationships connected to various languages, but not a neat and linear path.

Chinese Fort Creolization: on the Origin of Xining Mandarin

Abstract Xining Mandarin (Qinghai province, Northwest China) strikingly diverges from the usual syntactic profile of Sinitic languages, featuring an array of head-final categories which are inherent instead to the local substrate languages. In this paper, the formation of the dialect is considered from a historical perspective and it is seen to have emerged in a fort creolization (Bickerton, 1988) scenario, comparable to that found for European lexifier creoles along the West African coast. Linguistically relevant aspects of the socio-historical scenario underlying the dialect are reconstructed and Xining Mandarin is argued to have formed as the language of Ming dynasty Chinese colonists was acquired imperfectly due to poor access to Chinese among the local population. The speed of creolization and the role of language shift is evaluated, and it is argued that Ming creolization was gradual (rather than abrupt), reflecting cases of fort creolization elsewhere in the world.

A Typological Approach to Sinitic Languages focused on Plosive Consonants

A Typological Approach to Sinitic Languages focused on Plosive Consonants

Analyse phonologique comparative entre le Xiang de Cenchuan et le Xiang de Changsha

This paper aims to present some special phonological phenomenons in a Sinitic language – the Cenchuan dialect. Belonging to the Xiang group, the Cenchuan dialect manifests some phonological characteristics which are rarely attested in this group. In order to explain these “atypical” features, we have conducted a phonological comparison between the Cenchuan dialect and a representative Xiang dialect — the Changsha dialect. We try to provide a plausible explanation for these special phonological features in Cenchuan by comparing it with Middle Chinese and other Sinitic languages in the same area in terms of consonantic, vocalic and tonal differences. Our hypothesis is that the phonological specialties of the Cenchuan dialect can be explained by the retention of Middle Chinese and the influences of other Sinitic languages.