Inclusion of the Outsider-Grammaticalization of the Verbal Particle Maai in Cantonese

Winnie CHOR*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper explores the grammaticalization of the verbal particle maai in Cantonese. Originally a verb of movement meaning ‘approach/get close to’ a reference point, maai has undergone grammaticalization to become a directional particle meaning ‘towards’. It then developed into an additive quantifier meaning ‘also/as well’, and has further been reinterpreted as an evaluative marker, marking the speaker’s negative evaluation of the object of the verb to which maai is suffixed. A number of pragmatic processes are involved in maai’s grammaticalization, in particular pragmatic inferencing and subjectification. The evolutionary pathway ‘addition’ > ‘subjective evaluation’ is attested by historical data and is also supported by cross-linguistic evidence.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-62
Number of pages30
JournalTaiwan Journal of Linguistics
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2010

User-Defined Keywords

  • directional particle
  • Cantonese
  • MAAI
  • grammaticalization
  • subjectification
  • 方向助詞
  • 粵語
  • 「埋」
  • 語法化
  • 主觀化

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