A Corpus-based Study of Chinese RVC qilai and Its Interaction with State Predicates
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Date
2019-05
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Ohio State University. Libraries
Abstract
This study expands on Xiao and McEnery's (2004) theory of aspect by investigating the interaction of qilai, whose main function is that of directional Resultative Verb Complement (RVC) meaning 'up/upward,' with verbal aspect and situation types. One hundred and fifty utterance featuring states, i.e. adjectival predicates, co-occurring with qilai were examined from lexical, sentential, and pragmatic perspectives. The data were retrieved from the Weibo collection included in the BCC Corpus (Beijing Language & Culture University Corpus Center). The survey revealed that when adjectival predicates occur with qilai, they undergo a situation-type change, from states to processes, therefore qilai should not be considered only an inceptive marker focusing on initial point, ingressive dynamicity and continuity, as proposed by Xiao and McEnery, but perhaps also a "situation-type-change marker." This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the rather understudied structure 'adjectival predicate + qilai,' which is employed almost exclusively in colloquial registers.
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Keywords
Aspect, situation types, states, processes, resultative verb complements, inceptive marker
Citation
Cherici, Alessia. "A Corpus-based Study of Chinese RVC qilai and Its Interaction with State Predicates." Buckeye East Asian Linguistics, vol. 4 (May 2019), p. 35-45.