Cover not available
Part of
Give Constructions across Languages
Edited by Myriam Bouveret
[Constructional Approaches to Language 29] 2021
► pp. 195–222

Chapter 8
GEI

Towards a unified account

| Ghent University

Gei, ‘give’ in Mandarin Chinese, has been object of many studies due to its multifaceted properties and its ability to appear in a number of different structures. However, previous analyses focus only on some of all the possible structures where gei appears, while excluding others. In this paper, I aim at tracing a taxonomy of all the gei constructions found in the literature and elicited in questionnaires, and propose a unified analysis of gei that encompasses as many gei structures as possible. I propose an analysis of gei in terms of structure, interpretation and grammaticalization, one that links all the different occurrences of gei considered as one element in different structures. More specifically, I propose that gei is always a predicate whose different positions and interpretations can be seen as different stages of grammaticalization, which make it either a full verb or a weaker predicate. However, all the distinct stages of grammaticalization in which gei appears within a sentence maintain the general sense of “orientation” (in terms of Paris 1978, 1992). When gei is not a full lexical verb itself, its presence with its “orientation” general meaning has an effect on the transitivity of the verb that precedes or follows: when preverbal, gei highlights the role of the agent of the verb, when postverbal, gei reinforces the role of the recipient.

Keywords: dative constructions, mandarin chinese, gei constructions, give, grammaticalization, syntactic structures, orientation, taxonomy, grammatical categories
Article outline
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2.Data and categories
    • 2.1 Gei as full lexical verb
    • 2.2Post-verbal gei
    • 2.3Two gei in one sentence
    • 2.4Preverbal gei
    • 2.6 gei in passive constructions
    • 2.7Interim conclusions
  • 3.Orientation
    • 3.1Agent-oriented preverbal gei
    • 3.2Recipient-oriented post-verbal gei
  • 4.Grammaticalization
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.29.08bad
References
Aikhenvald, A. Y.
(2006) Serial verb constructions in typological perspective. In Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald & R. M. W. Dixon (Eds.), Serial Verb Constructions: A Cross-linguistic Typology, (pp 1–68). Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Arcodia, G. F.
(2013) Grammaticalization with coevolution of form and meaning in East Asia? Evidence from Sinitic. Language Sciences 40, 148–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Basciano, B
(2010) Verbal compounding and causativity in Mandarin Chinese. PhD Thesis. Università di Verona.
Bisang, W
(2004) Grammaticalization without coevolution of form and meaning: the case of tense–aspect–modality in East and mainland Southeast Asia. In Bisang, W., Himmelmann, N.P., Wiemer, B. (Eds.), What Makes Grammaticalization? A Look from its Fringes and Its Components (pp. 109–138). Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin–New York. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Grammaticalization and the Areal Factor – the perspective of East and Mainland South East Asian languages. In López-Couso, M.J., Seoane, E. (Eds.), Rethinking Grammaticalization (pp. 13–35). John Benjamins, Amsterdam–Philadelphia. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Grammaticalization in Chinese – a constrution based account. In Elisabeth C. Traugott & Graeme Trousdale (eds.), Gradience, Gradualness, and Grammaticalization (pp. 245–277). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: Benjiamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Problems with primary vs. secondary grammaticalization: the case of East and mainland Southeast Asian languages. Language Sciences 47(B), 132–147.Google Scholar
Brinton, L. J. & Traugott E
(2005) Lexicalization and Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chappell, H. & Peyraube, A.
(2006) The diachronic syntax of causative structures in Early Modern Southern Min. In Dah-an Ho (Ed.), Festschrift for Ting Pang-Hsin (pp 973–1011). Taipei: Academia Sinica.Google Scholar
(2011) The diachronic syntax of ditransitive constructions from Archaic Chinese to early Southern Min (Sinitic). Paper presented at the 7th Conference of the European Association of Chinese Linguistics (EACLF-7), September 16–15, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
Chao, Y.-R.
(1968) A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Chirkova, K.
(2008) Gei ‘give’ in Beijing and beyond. Cahiers de linguistique Asie Orientale 37(1), 3–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Durie, M
(1997) Grammatical structures in verb serialization. In Alex Alsina, Joan Bresnan & Peter Sells (Eds.), Complex Predicates, (pp 289–354). Stanford: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Feng, Shengli
(2003) Light Verb Syntax in Classical Chinese. Paper presented at the Conference on Research and Pedagogy in Classical Chinese and Chinese Language History. Columbia University, New York.
Grimshaw, J. & Armin Mester
(1988) Light Verbs and Theta-Marking. Linguistic Inquiry 19, 205–232.Google Scholar
Halliday M. A. K.
(1961) Categories of the theory of grammar. Word 17, 241–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Her, O.-S.
(2006) Justifying part-of-speech assignments for Mandarin gei. Lingua 116(8): 1274–1302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Higginbotham, J.
(1995) Sense and syntax. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hopper, P.J.
(1991) On some principles of grammaticalization. In Elizabeth Traugott, & Bernd Heine (Eds.), Approaches to Grammaticalization (pp 17–35). Benjamins: Amsterdam. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopper, P. & S. Thompson
(1980) Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 56, 251–299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopper, P. J. & E. Traugott
(2003) Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Original edition 1993]. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James
(1993) Reconstruction and the structure of VP: Some theoretical consequences. Linguistic Inquiry 24, 103–138.Google Scholar
(2013) Variations in non-canonical passives. In Artemis Alexiadou and Florian Schaefer (Eds.), Non-canonical Passives, (pp 95–114). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, C.-R. & K. Ahrens
(1999) The function and category of gei in Mandarin ditransitive constructions. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 27(2): 1–26.Google Scholar
Huang, C. & Mo R.
(1992) Mandarin ditransitive construction and the category of gei. Berkeley Linguistic Society, 18, 109–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jie, Z.M.
(2008) Qing dongci jiashuo yu cidian shiyi [The light verb hypothesis and dictionary definition]. Cishu Yanjiu 4, 30–44.Google Scholar
Leclère, C.
(1978) Sur une classe de verbes datifs. Langue française 39, 66–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, T.-H. & Huang Y.-S.
(2015) Structures of the Mandarin gei constructions. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 24(3), 309–338. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li Charles N. & Thompson Sandra A.
(1981) Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li Y.-H. Audrey
(1990) Order and Constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lin, T.-H.
(2001) Light Verb Syntax and the Theory of Phase Structure. PhD Thesis, University of California, Irvine, CA.
Lin, T. H. J., & Huang, Y. S.
(2015) Structures of the Mandarin gei constructions. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 24(3), 309–338. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, F.-H.
(2006) Dative Constructions in Chinese. Language and Linguistics 7.4, 863–904.Google Scholar
Lord, C.
(1993) Historical Change in Serial Verb Constructions. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCawley, J.
(1992) Justifying part-of-speech assignments in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 20/2, 211–246.Google Scholar
Newman, J.
(1993a) A cognitive grammar approach to Mandarin gei . Journal of Chinese Linguistics 21. 2, 313–336.Google Scholar
(1993b) The semantics of giving in Mandarin. In Richard A. Geiger, Brygida Rudzka-Ostyn (Eds.), Conceptualizations and Mental Processing in Language (pp 433–485). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(1996) Give: A Cognitive Linguistic Study. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ngai, S. S.
(2015) Giving is receiving. In Nolan B., Rawoens Gudrun and Diedrichsen E. (Eds.), Causation, Permission, and Transfer: Argument realization in GET, take, PUT, give and LET verbs (pp. 253–269). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Paris M.-C.
(1979) Les constructions ditransitives en mandarin. Rapport d’ATP de linguistique générale “Lexiques bilingues”. Paris: CRLAOGoogle Scholar
(1982) Sens et don en Mandarin : une approche de gei en sémantique grammaticale. Modèles linguistiques IV(2), 69–88.Google Scholar
(1989) Linguistique générale et lingustique chinoise: quelques examples d’argumentation. Paris: U.F.R.L. & L.L.F. (UA 1028).Google Scholar
Paris M.C.
(1998) Syntaxe et sémantique de quatre marqueurs de transitivité en chinois standard: ba, bei, jiao et rang . In André Russeau (ed.), La Transitivité (pp.355–370). Lille: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, Coll. UL3.Google Scholar
Paul, W
(2008) The ‘serial verb construction’ in Chinese: A tenacious myth and a Gordian knot. The Linguistic Review 25(3/4), 367–411.Google Scholar
Paul, W. and J. Whitman
(2010) Applicative Structure and Mandarin Ditransitives. In Maia Duguine, Susana Huidobro and Nerea Madariaga (Eds.), Argument Structure and Syntactic Relations: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective, (pp.261–282). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peyraube, A
(1986) Shuang binyu jiegou – cong Han dai zhi Tang dai de lishi fazhan [Double-object constructions – Historical development from Han times to the Tang dynasty]. Zhongguo yuwen 3, 204–216.Google Scholar
(1988a) Syntaxe diachronique du chinois: evolution des constructions datives du 14e siècle av. J.-C. au 18e siècle. Paris: Collëge de France, Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises.Google Scholar
(1988b) Syntactic change in Chinese: on grammaticalization. The Bullettin of the Institute of History and Philology 59, 617–652.Google Scholar
Peyraube, A & Li, Ming
(2008) Yuyi yanbian lilun yu yuyi yanbian he jufa yan bian [Theoretical considerations on semantic change and the relations between semantic change and syntactic change]. In Y. Shen & S. Feng (eds.), Dangdai yuyanxue lilun he hanyu yanjiu (Contemporary Theoretical Linguistics and Research on Chinese Language) (pp. 1–25). Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan.Google Scholar
Sebba, M
(1987) Syntax of Serial Verbs: An Investigation into Serialisation in Sranan and other Languages. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shen Y. & Sybesma R.P.E.
(2010), Jufa jiegou biaoji gei yu dongci jiegou de yansheng guanxi [The syntactic marker ‘gei’ and the derivational relations in the structure of the verb]. Zhongguo Yuwen 3, 222–237.Google Scholar
Snyder, W.
(2001) On the nature of syntactic variation: evidence from complex predicates and complex word-formation. Language 77, 324–342. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tang, S.
(2001) A complementation approach to Chinese passives and its consequences. Linguistics 39(2), 257–295. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tang, S.-W.
(2003) A minimalist view on the syntax of BEcome . In Changguk Yim (Ed.), Minimalist Views on Language Design (pp 301–311). Seoul: Hankook Publishing Company and the Korean Generative Grammar Circlfe.Google Scholar
Tang T.-C.
(1979) Double Object Constructions in Mandarin. Guoyu Yufa Yanjiu Lunji [Studies in Chinese Syntax], 363–389.Google Scholar
Tang C.-C.
(1990) Chinese Phrase Structure and the Extended X’ Theory. PhD Thesis. Cornell University.
Teng S.-H.
(1975) A Semantic Study of Transitivity Relations in Chinese. University of California Publications in Linguistics 80. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Tiee, H.H.Y.
(1986), A reference grammar of Chinese sentences. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Ting, J. & Chang, M.
(2004) The category of gei in Mandarin Chinese and grammaticalization. Taiwan Journal of Linguistics 2(2), 45–74.Google Scholar
Traugott, E. C.
(1988) Pragmatic strengthening and grammaticalization. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistic Society, 406–416. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002) From etymology to historical pragmatics. In Donka Minkova & Robert Stockwell (Eds.), Studies in the history of the English Language: A Millennial Perspective (pp 19–49). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsai W.-T. Dylan
(2015) A Tale of Two Peripheries: Evidence from Chinese Adverbials, Light Verbs, Applicatives and Object Fronting. The Cartography of Chinese Syntax, (pp.1–32). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, M.Q.
(1987) Transitivity and the ba-construction in Mandarin. PhD Thesis. Boston University.
Xu, D.
(1994) The status of marker gei in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 22(2), 362–394.Google Scholar
Yu X.-Y. Cécilia & Hu X.-S. Victor
(2014) Gei, gei and gei: Interaction between lexical semantics and syntactic position of gei in Mandarin Chinese. Paper presented at the XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique d’Asie Orientale, Inalco, CRLAO, EHESS, Paris.
Zhang, S.
(1990) Correlations between the double object construction and preposition stranding. Linguistic Inquiry 21(2), 312–316.Google Scholar
Zhu D.
(1979) Yu dongci gei xiangguan de jufa wenti [syntactic issues on the verb gei]. Fangyan 2, 81–87.Google Scholar
Zhu, D.
(1982) Yufa jiangyi [Lecture notes on grammar]. Beijing: Commercial PressGoogle Scholar
Zhu, X.F.
(2005) qing dongci he hanyu bu ji wu dongci dai binyu xianxiang [Light verbs and the phenomenon of Chinese intransitive verbs bearing an object]. Xiandai Waiyu 28(3), 221–231.Google Scholar