[Lingtyp] query: "come here" > "hey" grammaticalization in spoken and sign language
Chao Li
chao.li at aya.yale.edu
Wed Sep 4 01:22:26 UTC 2024
Dear David,
In the case of Mandarin *lái*, a joint activity is common but is not a
necessary condition for this use. In the second example I used, it can be
uttered to a single addressee (and the singing action, if realized, will
then be performed by one person, i.e. the addressee alone). This use of
*lái* to serve some vocative function is by no means fully grammaticalized
in Mandarin, and certainly it is not obligatory to use *lái* at the
beginning of an utterance when the need for drawing the addressee’s
attention arises. Related to this, *lái* also cannot be used in your
example regarding raining.
With respect to ‘come’ vs. ‘come here’, it might be worth considering the
fact that a request of “Come here” will be simply and naturally rendered as
过来 *Guòlái* or 来 *Lái* (plus an accompanying gesture) rather than as 过来这儿
*Guòlái* *zhèr* or 来这儿 *Lái zhèr* in Mandarin, in which 这儿 *zhèr* means
‘here’.
Best regards,
Chao
On Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 8:57 AM David Gil <dapiiiiit at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Chao,
>
> Thanks for this very interesting example. But I would be interested to
> know whether Mandarin *lái* can also be used to attract the
> interlocutor's attention in cases not involving the proposal of a
> subsequent joint activity. For example, I wonder whether it can be used in
> the sentence "*Lái* it is raining".
>
> (In Hebrew, simple "come" cannot be used non-literally in such a context,
> whereas "come here" can.)
>
> Best wishes,
>
> David
>
> On Mon, Sep 2, 2024 at 3:55 PM Chao Li <chao.li at aya.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>> Dear David,
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you for your observation of this interesting phenomenon. I believe
>> that Mandarin 来 lái (‘to come’ when used as a verb) is related to what
>> you requested. (Particularly when the speaker intends to invite the
>> addressee(s) to jointly participate in the action expressed by the verb in
>> the remaining part of the utterance), he or she, to draw the addressee(s)’
>> attention, may use 来 or 来来来 at the beginning of a Chinese utterance
>> (two 来’s in a row for this use appear to be less common; others may
>> correct me if my intuition is wrong here). I didn’t gloss 来 in the
>> following examples, but its vocative function appears to be clear.
>>
>>
>>
>> (1) 来，再唱一遍。
>>
>> Lái, zài chàng yí biàn.
>>
>> again sing one time
>>
>> ‘Hey, let’s sing it one more time!’ or ‘Hey, please sing it one more
>> time.’ (depending on the context)
>>
>>
>>
>> (2) 来，唱一遍给我们听听。
>>
>> Lái, chàng yí biàn gěi wǒmen tīngtīng.
>>
>> sing one time for us listen
>>
>> ‘Hey, please sing it for us.’
>>
>>
>>
>> (3) 来来来，咱们好好看看。
>>
>> Lái lái lái, zánmen hǎohǎo kànkàn.
>>
>> we carefully watch/examine/study
>>
>> ‘Hey, let’s examine it carefully!’
>>
>>
>>
>> (4) 来来来，再敬你一杯!
>>
>> Lái lái lái, zài jìng nǐ yì
>> bēi!
>>
>> again respectfully.offer you one cup
>>
>> ‘Hey, another toast to you!’
>>
>>
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Chao
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 31, 2024 at 4:20 PM David Gil via Lingtyp <
>> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am interested in an apparent path of grammaticalization in which an
>>> expression meaning "come here" is reinterpreted as an exclamation whose
>>> effect seems to be to draw the interlocutor's attention to the speaker.
>>> I am familiar with two such cases and would like to know if any of you
>>> happen to be familiar with others.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The first is from Hebrew, in which *bo hena* (come.IMP.2SGM here),
>>> reduced to *boena*, may be used to begin an utterance, with an effect
>>> rather like English *hey*, as in
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Boena yored gešem
>>>
>>> BOENA descend.PRS.SGM rain
>>>
>>> 'Hey it's raining'
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The reduced nature of the form is often reflected by its orthographic
>>> representation as a single word: בוא הנה > בואנה.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The second case is from the home sign used by a single deaf child and
>>> his hearing friends in Sorong, on the western tip of New Guinea. The
>>> signers make use of a "come here" gesture that is widespread in many parts
>>> of the world, in which the hand is extended forward with the palm facing
>>> downward, and then makes one or more sweeping downward motions,
>>> iconically suggesting movement from the interlocutor to the signer. However,
>>> in this usage, the same gesture is used not to mean "come here", but rather
>>> to attract the interlocutor's attention, as a prelude to a further signed
>>> message.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would appreciate any other examples you might be familiar with of
>>> similar paths of grammaticalization derived from "come here", in either
>>> spoken or signed language. For what it's worth, Heine and Kuteva's
>>> (2002) *World Lexicon of Grammaticalization* provides examples of COME
>>> > HORTATIVE grammaticalization, which is perhaps in the same ballpark, but
>>> not quite the same thing.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> David Gil
>>>
>>> Senior Scientist (Associate)
>>> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
>>> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
>>> Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
>>>
>>> Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com
>>> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
>>> Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lingtyp mailing list
>>> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>>>
>>
>
> --
>
> David Gil
>
> Senior Scientist (Associate)
> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
> Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
>
> Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com
> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
> Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20240903/1ea6d11f/attachment.htm>
More information about the Lingtyp
mailing list