<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp5c9270b9yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-size: 16px; font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><div style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;">Dear Ian and Ellen:<br><br> I feel it is difficult to get the 'able' meaning from <span><em style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">dào </em><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">到 in Mandarin.<br><br> 'V1de V2' is a construction exclusively for ability / possibility, and any verbs occurring in this construction will convey the meaning of able or can.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> chi1 de wan2</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> eat de finish can finish the food</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> pa2 de shang4</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> climb de up can climb up</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> zou3 de jin4</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> walk de enter can walk in</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;">We cannot say that all words occurring as V2 denote ability or possibility.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> Danqing</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><span><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></div><div style="font-family: lucida console, sans-serif;"><br></div>
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On Tuesday, January 5, 2021, 08:19:39 PM GMT+8, JOO, Ian [Student] <ian.joo@connect.polyu.hk> wrote:
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<div>Dear Ellen,<br clear="none">
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in Mandarin (and many other Sinitic languages):<br clear="none">
<em>dào </em>到 `to, until, up to; to arrive, to be able to (similarly to French <em>arriver à faire qqch</em>)’<br clear="none">
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Example:<br clear="none">
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(1) 到 今 天<br clear="none">
<em>dào jīn tiān</em><br clear="none">
until this day<br clear="none">
`until today'<br clear="none">
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(2) 看 得 到<br clear="none">
<em>kàn de dào</em><br clear="none">
see degree arrive<br clear="none">
`able to see (something)'<br clear="none">
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I hope this helps.<br clear="none">
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>From Hong Kong,
<div>Ian</div>
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<div class="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984yqt7395828513" id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984yqtfd41866"><div>On 5 Jan 2021, 8:12 PM +0800, Smith-Dennis, Ellen <E.Smith-Dennis@warwick.ac.uk>, wrote:<br clear="none">
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Happy New Year all!</div>
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Could you help?<br clear="none">
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<span class="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984d2edcug0 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984hpfvmrgz ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984qv66sw1b ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984c1et5uql ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984rrkovp55 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984a8c37x1j ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984keod5gw0 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984nxhoafnm ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984aigsh9s9 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984d3f4x2em ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984fe6kdd0r ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984mau55g9w ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984c8b282yb ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984iv3no6db ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984jq4qci2q ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984a3bd9o3v ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984knj5qynh ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984oo9gr5id ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984hzawbc8m"><br clear="none">
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<span class="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984d2edcug0 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984hpfvmrgz ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984qv66sw1b ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984c1et5uql ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984rrkovp55 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984a8c37x1j ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984keod5gw0 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984nxhoafnm ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984aigsh9s9 ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984d3f4x2em ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984fe6kdd0r ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984mau55g9w ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984c8b282yb ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984iv3no6db ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984jq4qci2q ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984a3bd9o3v ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984knj5qynh ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984oo9gr5id ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984hzawbc8m">I'm looking for languages where the word for 'able, can' is polysemous/homophonous
with 'until, up to, for (X amount of time)'. This is the case in Papapana (Austronesian, Papua New Guinea) and Tok Pisin (pidgin/creole, PNG) so I'm especially (but not only!) interested in languages of the Pacific region.<br clear="none">
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<font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;text-transform:none;">Many
thanks in advance,<br clear="none">
</span></font></font></span></font></div>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><span style="font-size:16px;text-transform:none;">Ellen<br clear="none">
</span></font></span></font></div>
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<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;text-transform:none;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black" style="background-color: inherit;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">E.Smith-Dennis@warwick.ac.uk</span></font></font></span></font><br clear="none">
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<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;"><b><br clear="none">
</b></span></font></div>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;"><b>Dr. Ellen Smith-Dennis, FHEA</b></span></font></div>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">Assistant Professor</span></font></div>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">Widening Participation/Schools Liaison Officer<br clear="none">
</span></font></div>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">Centre for Applied Linguistics</span></font><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">,
The University of Warwick, <font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black" style="background-color: inherit;">
<span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">Coventry, CV4 7AL</span></font></font></span></font></span></font></div>
<font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;"></span></font></font></span></font></div>
<font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;"></span></font></font></span></font></div>
<font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"></font></span></font>
<div style="text-indent:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><font size="3" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" color="black"><span id="ydp7c4dec45yiv6109563984divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;"><font face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" style="background-color: inherit;"><font size="2" face="Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;text-transform:none;">Email:
E.Smith-Dennis@warwick.ac.uk OR E.L.Smith@uon.edu.au </span></font></font></span></font></div>
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