20.2506, Diss: Historical Ling/Syntax/Typology: Chin: 'The Verb GIVE and the...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-20-2506. Wed Jul 15 2009. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 20.2506, Diss: Historical Ling/Syntax/Typology: Chin: 'The Verb GIVE and the...'

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1)
Date: 14-Jul-2009
From: Andy Chin < hkseattle at gmail.com >
Subject: The Verb GIVE and the Double-object Construction in Cantonese in Synchronic, Diachronic and Typological Perspectives
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:31:10
From: Andy Chin [hkseattle at gmail.com]
Subject: The Verb GIVE and the Double-object Construction in Cantonese in Synchronic, Diachronic and Typological Perspectives

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Institution: University of Washington 
Program: Department of Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2009 

Author: Andy C. Chin

Dissertation Title: The Verb GIVE and the Double-object Construction in
Cantonese in Synchronic, Diachronic and Typological
Perspectives 

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     Syntax
                     Typology

Subject Language(s): Chinese, Yue (yue)


Dissertation Director(s):
Anne O. Yue-Hashimoto

Dissertation Abstract:

This dissertation examines the double-object verb [pei] ? and the
double-object construction in Cantonese in diachronic, synchronic and
typological perspectives.

Apart from being a verb, [pei] ? also performs a number of syntactic
functions as a result of grammaticalization. Our survey on other Chinese
dialects and genetically unrelated languages shows that some of these
functions (i.e. as an indirect object marker and a causative verb) are
cross-linguistically attested while some (i.e. as a passive marker and a
verb introducing instruments) are not. The chronological development of
these functions in Cantonese will also be examined.

As for the indirect object marker function of [pei] ?, we propose that two
types of indirect object markers can be identified in Cantonese, which are
cross-linguistically attested: The go-type and the give-type. The former is
performed by directional verbs such as ? in the 19th century Cantonese
dialects while the latter is played by the double-object verb [pei] ? in
modern Cantonese. Our survey on the oracle-bone inscriptions and other
dialects shows that the go-type usually predates the give-type.

With reference to the pre-modern Cantonese dialect materials and the recent
field work data on the Conghua dialect, we will explore the syntactic and
semantic factors contributing to the switchover from the go-type to the
give-type.

The major syntactic construction in which GIVE involves is the double-object
construction. Two typological patterns in terms of the word order of the
objects are found across the Chinese dialects: IO DO and DO IO. The former
is found in the Northern dialects while the latter in most of the Southern
dialects. Over the last two decades, the non-native IO DO word order
pattern has been gaining its ascendency in Hong Kong Cantonese due to the
increasing influence of Putonghua and Modern Standard Chinese. A field work
with 40 native speakers of Hong Kong Cantonese was carried out to find out
the degree of usage and acceptance of the non-native patterns. We will also
compare the results among the speakers in terms of age and occupation,
which are correlated to their exposure to Putonghua or Modern Standard Chinese. 




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