Author(s)

Wu Yannan ¹, Xiang Yuxin ¹, Wu Yupei ¹, Hou Rongjie ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China

Corresponding Author

Wu Yannan

ABSTRACT

The Chinese term "kanlai" is employed in three distinct contexts: "kanlai1" denotes visual observation or perception and falls within the domain of action; "kanlai2" signifies sensory perception or opinion and falls within the domain of knowledge; "kanlai3" conveys a conjectural mood and pertains to the domain of discourse. The semantic evolution of "kanlai" involves its transformation from a collocational phrase "kanlai1" composed of "kan" (see) and "lai" (come), to a coalesced cognitive verb "kanlai2" and subsequently to a discourse marker "kanlai3" which is detached from any syntactic constituent. This trajectory embodies the process of grammaticalization. Throughout its diachronic evolution, mechanisms including disyllabification, semantic generalization, subjectification and syntactic position have contributed significantly to the grammaticalization of "kanlai".

KEYWORDS

Kanlai; Three Domains; Grammaticalization; Mechanisms

CITE THIS PAPER

Wu Yannan, Xiang Yuxin, Wu Yupei, Hou Rongjie, The Semantic Evolution and Grammaticalization of "Kanlai". Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2023) Vol. 6: 1-6. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2023.061401.

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