This study reviews extended uses of nominalization constructions in a wide range of Asian languages. It combines typological and diachronic perspectives, and traces how nominalization constructions over time develop from referential to non‐referential uses. The latter include modifying functions (e.g. relativization and adverbialization); in some cases, nominalization constructions further develop into finite clauses, and sometimes are reanalyzed as stand‐alone constructions with mirative, evidential, epistemic, attitudinal, or other speaker mood/stance interpretations. These developments form part of a general tendency for versatile constructions to extend from proposition‐based uses to grammatical and pragmatic uses (a laTraugott 1982, 1989, 1995, inter alia). This review, in particular, focuses on semantic extensions within and beyond the nominal domain, with the latter extensions involving reanalyses in functions whereby nominalization constructions drift from referent identification to event predication and the expression of speaker’s stance.
This paper examines the development of five hearsay evidential markers in Korean, namely,tako,tamye,tamyense,tanunandtanta, and traces their extended pragmatic functions in discourse. We first identify their functions over time, from Middle Korean to Modern and Contemporary Korean, then quantitatively analyze the usage frequency of these functions, diachronically from the 16th century to the early 20th century using the UNICONC historical corpus, and synchronically in present-day Korean using theSejongcontemporary written and spoken corpus. From a pragmatic perspective, we examine how Korean speakers use these hearsay evidential markers to convey the interpersonal and intersubjective stances of interlocutors in natural conversations. Based on the differential rates of grammaticalization of these markers, and on their usage frequency, we also examine the relationship between evidentiality marking and finiteness; more specifically, we analyze the sequences and mechanisms of change whereby different types of non-finite evidential structures develop into finite evidential constructions. Our findings have broader theoretical and crosslinguistic implications for understanding the mechanisms of insubordination, whereby dependent structures become independent, and whereby lexically transparent constructions develop into grammaticalized markers of speakers’ stance.
In this paper, we examine the characteristics of unaccusative 'give' constructions in Chinese, and additionally identify the pathways for their emergence in some Chinese dialects, in particular Southern Min and Mandarin varieties.1 We distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 unaccusative 'give' constructions, the former involving reversible 'escape'-type intransitive predicates, and the latter irreversible 'die'-type intransitive predicates. Type 1 constructions are attested in many Chinese varieties, such as Mandarin, Min, Wu, Hui, Hakka and Cantonese, whereas Type 2 constructions are more rare and thus far are mainly attested in Southern Min and some Mandarin varieties. Two major pathways in the development of unaccusative 'give' constructions are identified in this paper, namely, the causative pathway and the passive-mediated pathway. Our analysis also traces how the unaccusative 'give' construction develops into a marker of adversity and speaker affectedness. The findings of this study have implications for understanding the relationship between changes in valence (i.e., the number of core arguments that are profiled in a given construction) and speaker's subjective stance.
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