CONTACT OR COGNATE: A CASE STUDY OF THE SOUND CORRESPONDENCES BETWEEN CUN AND HLAI IN HAINAN Chuntao Liu and Boyang Ni Abstract Chinese and Hlai serve as two main sources of Cun vocabulary. The coronal initials of Cun’s Chinese-sourced words have undergone the chain shift *t>ɗ→*s>tθ, in which the involved sound classes of Middle Chinese are different from the surrounding Chinese dialects, indicating Cun’s independent evolution in the language contact. Though Cun being defined as a vernacular of Hlai by previous studies, regular correspondences of coronal initials cannot be established between Cun and Hlai dialects. This paper proposes that Chinese-sourced words are inherent, whereas the Hlai-sourced

ON TWO TYPES OF VOLITIONAL MODAL PARTICLES IN CHINESE DIALECTS Xiaoxue Huang Abstract In Chinese dialects, there is a kind of volitional modal particles used at the end of volitional sentences (including imperative sentences and volitional sentences) to enhance language force. Volitional modal particles are partly derived from the resumptive pronouns used at the end of the sentence such as “ta 他/它”, “qu 渠/佢” and “yi 伊” while part of them come from the directional verbs meaning “go” and “come” like “qu 去” and “lai 来”. The syntactic context in which the resumptive pronoun and the directional verbs “qu去/lai来” grammaticalize into volitional modal particles is used

VERBAL COMPLEMENTATION IN DGEBSHES HORPA Qianzi Tian and Jackson T.-S. Sun Abstract This paper analyzes the structures and typology of verbal complementation in the Dgebshes variety of Central Horpa (Sino-Tibetan). Dgebshes employs multiple types of complement clauses and complementation strategies to relate a primary state of affairs with a secondary state of affairs. Selection of complementation structures is determined to a large extent by the degree of semantic integration between the predicates of the two associated states of affairs. The tighter the semantic integration, the more likely the occurrence of deranked complement clauses and monoclausal complement strategies. Comparative evidence suggests that the two salient traits of

LINGUISTIC STRATA OF CONTACT AND METHOD OF REFERENCE Shenqing Guo, Xiajun Liu, Shanshan Yan and Qi Cai Abstract Only noticing the external performances, Method of Comparison (historical-comparative linguistics) ignores the main cause, heterogeneous contact, during the reconstruction of the linguistic history of pedigree of homogeneous differentiation through language comparison. Partly recognizing the function of contact and introducing the idea of strata(layering) in language evolution, Method of Strata Analysis (the historical analytic hierarchy method) takes it as written-spoken layers from superficial borrowing. But in linguistic strata (layering) of contact there are two basic forms: visible superimposition and invisible superimposition, which are essentially different. The former, visible superimposition,

Response to Ho Dah-an William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart Abstract: Ho Dah-an’s 2016 review of our book Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction (2014) contains little discussion of the book’s main themes or proposals: he focuses instead on “errors” which, according to him, “reflect the outdated concepts of the authors and the insufficiency of their basic training.” In this response to Ho’s review, we consider his discussion of these “errors.” On two points (discussed below), he has actually found errors (a faulty interpretation of an entry in the Shuōwén jiězì and one incorrect citation), which we are glad to be able to correct. Neither materially affects our conclusions. The other

Probing the evolution history of Naish languages with reference to Tibetan, Burmese and rGyalrong: The open-syllable rhymes Zihe Li Abstract: This paper reconstructs the Proto-Naish open-syllable rhyme system. Data from 3 Naish languages—Lijiangba, Malimasa, and Yongning—are employed in the reconstruction. Rhyme correspondences revealed by comparing the three languages are interpreted by referring to conservative languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, in particular Tibetan, Burmese and rGyalrong. Other related languages, such as Tangut, and other Naic languages, such as Namuyi and Xumi, are taken as references. Five open-syllable rhymes, *-a, *-e, *-i, *-u, *-o, are reconstructed to Proto-Naish. Some general tendencies of the sound changes of the Naish languages are summarized, and their

Do new words propagate like memes? An internet usage-based two-stage model of the life cycle of neologisms Menghan Jiang, Kathleen Ahrens, Xiangying Shen, Sophia Yat Mei Lee and Chu-Ren Huang Abstract: Neologisms reflect new ideas or new concepts in our life and play an important role in cultural transmission and the vitality of human language. The explosion of neologisms, especially in the past two decades, can also be ascribed to the popularity and accessibility of digital content and social media. In this paper, we focus on the issue of how neologisms arise by looking at the trajectory of developments in terms of their usage over time, i.e., their life

A study of pattern path expressions in Mandarin Chinese from the perspective of motion event typology Sai Ma Abstract: Given that pattern paths, one type of fictive motion, have been understudied so far, this paper examines pattern path expressions from the perspective of motion event typology. Through manually collecting Mandarin pattern path data from books and magazines, we first explored the semantic elements in pattern path expressions with a focus on the Figure and the Ground, and then investigated their lexicalization pattern by studying the grammatical slots encoding the Path, the semantic elements integrated in the verb, the expression of manner information, and the complexity of

Conversational uses of Mandarin Chinese buran (‘not so’) in casual conversations Yu-Fang Wang, Wayne Schams, Ming-Fang Lin and Shih-Yao Chen Abstract: Chinese buran, literally meaning ‘not so,’ can be a marker of negative conditionality expressing the speaker’s (un)desirability toward some event and can be used to introduce a proposal or suggestion. Although many studies have analyzed buran, most of them have examined its usage in written texts and have focused on its meaning and/or functions as a negative conditional conjunct. In conversation, buran frequently co-occurs with questions in “nonconventional uses” and as such deserves closer attention. This study attempts to explore both the conventional and nonconventional uses of buran in casual

The topics were conditionals: The origin and evolution of a rGyalrong topic marker (in Chinese) You-Jing Lin 摘要:专论话题标记来源的相关研究中，尚未有文献提到话题标记可能来自条件结构。尽管学界接受Haiman(1978)“条件就是话题”的主张，但有学者进一步陈明：“话题不是条件”(Shin 1987)。本文考察嘉戎语口语材料，论证嘉戎语话题标记=mənaŋorə的来源为动词条件结构mə-na-ŋôs=rə [COND-PFV-COP=TOP]。笔者认为卓克基话的条件句之所以能发展成话题，主要因素有三。第一，条件动词的主要词干是不具语义的系词；第二，条件小句一如嘉戎语大多数小句，是动词置于句末；第三，条件小句与主要小句的相对位置不具对调的弹性。条件标记赋予了系词标示“已知”、“预设”信息的功能，系词条件小句在信息属性和补语与动词相对位置两方面，都与带话题标记的名词短语雷同，从“条件小句+主要小句”演变为“话题—述题”就万事俱备了。基于以上论据，加上嘉戎语和突厥语族语言的相关例证，我们可以说在这些语言中“话题曾是条件”。