Ji in Malaysia Mandarin: A perspective from dialect contact and grammaticalization. (In Chinese)
从语法化和方言接触看马来西亚华语“几”
Liping Sun 孙利萍
Abstract 摘要
Compared with its counterpart in Mainland China Mandarin, the degree adverb jĭ几in Malaysia Mandarin is not only widely used, but also commonly found in unique constructions such as “jĭ + verb/adjective + yíxià”. From the perspectives of grammaticalization and language contact, this paper argues that the usage of the degree adverb jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin has been influenced by the southern Chinese dialects, especially Cantonese, and represents as a case of “grammatical replication” (Heine and Kuteva 2003). Specifically, this study finds that the degree adverb jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin has three main functions: (a) to indicate a general degree in interrogative sentences; (b) to indicate any degree; (c) to indicate a high degree. Moreover, this study investigates the historical development of jĭ and proposes that its evolution from a quantity word to a (subjective) degree adverb is a process of grammaticalization. Finally, based on an investigation of Chinese southern dialects where jĭ can be used as a degree adverb, as well as the language situation in Malaysia, this study proposes that the unique features of jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin can be attributed to the Cantonese spoken in Malaysia via language contact, and the whole process is a result of grammatical replication.
Subject Keywords 主题词
Malaysian Mandarin 马来西亚华语 Degree adverb ji 程度副词“几” Grammaticalization 语法化 Dialect contact 方言接触 Grammatical replication 语法复制
Journal of Chinese Linguistics vol.48, no.1 (January 2020): 147-173
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