Cover not available
Article published In:
Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 6:1 (2015) ► pp.57–100

Traversativity and grammaticalization

The aktionsart of 过 guo as a lexical source of evidentiality

| University of Lancaster
This paper discusses the new aktionsart of traversativity, here defined as the category marking the phase of ‘getting-through’ an event or a situation. Different from completives and resultatives (cf. Bybee et al. 1994), traversatives do not profile a phasal contiguity with the telos of a situation, and thus detach the actionality of the event from a subsequent resultant phase. This entails that, along a perfective cline of change, the aktionsart of traversatives triggers aspectual discontinuity or anti-resultativity (cf. Plungian & van der Auwera 2006). Drawing on this, the present work focuses on the grammaticalization of the traversative particle 过 guò in Mandarin Chinese towards experiential perfect (cf. Cao 1995, Lin 2004, Liu 2009) and interpersonal evidential (IE) usages (cf. Tantucci 2013, 2014a, 2014b). I argue that the experiential and evidential reanalyses V-过 guò are semantically and pragmatically prompted by the original traversative aktionsart of the particle 过 guò. I further discuss this phenomenon through a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis shedding light on the correspondence between specific written genres and the synchronic employment of V-过 guò either as a phasal, an experiential or an interpersonal evidential (IE) marker. Finally, I suggest that actional discontinuity or anti-resultativity constitutes a productive semantic-pragmatic trigger of further evidential reanalyses of a construction.
Keywords: traversativity, anti-resultativity, grammaticalization, interpersonal evidentiality, experiential perfect, Mandarin
Published online: 10 September 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.6.1.03tan
References (106)
Aarts, Bas. 2004. “Modelling Linguistic Gradience.” Studies in Language 281: 1–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. Syntactic Gradience: The Nature of Grammatical Indeterminacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2004. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Lloyd B. 1982. “The ‘Perfect’ as a Universal and as a Language-Particular Category.” In Tense-Aspect: Between Semantics and Pragmatics, ed. by Paul J. Hopper, 227–264. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ameka, Felix K. 2008. “Aspect and Modality in Ewe: A Survey.” In Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages, ed. by Felix K. Ameka and M.E. Kropp Dakubu, 135–194. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Binnick, Robert. 1991. Time and the Verb: A Guide to Tense and Aspect. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bybee, Joan. 1985. Morphology: A Study of the Relation between Meaning and Form. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, J., and Ö. Dahl. 1989. “The Creation of Tense and Aspect Systems in the Languages of the World.” Studies in Language 13 (1): 51–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cao, Guang Shun. 1986. “Zutangji zhon de “di” (di), “que”, “zhao” “ Zhongguo Yuwen [Spoken and Written Languages of China] (3).Google Scholar
. 1995. Jindai hanyu zhuci [The auxiliary particles of Modern Chinese]. Beijing: Yuwen chubanshe [Language & Culture Press].Google Scholar
Carey, Kathleen. 1994. “Pragmatics, Subjectivity and the Grammaticalization of the English Perfect.” PhD, University of California.
. 1995. “Subjectification and the Development of the English Perfect.” In ed. by D. Steinand and S. Wright, 83–102. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chao, Yuan Ren. 1968. A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Oakland: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Chappell, Hilary. 2001. “A Typology of Evidential Markers in Sinitic Languages.” In Chinese Grammar: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives, ed. by H. Chappell, 56–85. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Qian Rui. 2007. “Cong juwei “le” dao ciwei “le” [From the sentece final “le” to the post-verbal “le”].” Yuyan Jaoxue Yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies] (3).Google Scholar
. 2008. Hanyu timao yanjiu de leixingxue shiye [A study on the aspectual system of Mandarin from a typological perspective]. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Zhong. 2008. ““V wan le” he “V hao le” de tihuan tiaojian jiqi liju. [“The conditions and mechanisms of interchangeability of “V wan le” and “V hao le” ].” Zhongguo Yuwen [Spoken and written languages of China] 2 (1): 120–128.Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard. 1976. Apect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Croft, William. 2003. Typology and Universals. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
. 2007. “Beyond Aristotle and Gradience: A Reply to Aarts.” Studies in Language 311: 409–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012. Verbs: Aspect and Argument Structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Croft, William, and D. Alan Cruse. 2004. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Culpeper, Jonathan, and Kyto Merja. 2010. Early Modern English Dialogues: Spoken Interaction and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Östen. 1985. Tense and Aspect Systems. Blackwell: Oxford.Google Scholar
Dahl, Östen, and Eva Hedin. 2000. “Current Relevance and Event Reference.” In Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, ed. by Ö. Dahl, 385–402. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dai, Yao Jing. 1997. Xiandai hanyu shiti xitong yanjiu [A study of Aspect in Modern Chinese]. Hangzou: Zhejiang Educational Press.Google Scholar
Evans, Vyvyan. 2007. A Glossary of Cognitive Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Faller, Martina. 2002. “Semantics and Pragmatics of Evidentials in Cuzco Quechua.” PhD, Stanford University.
Fleischman, Suzanne. 1983. “From Pragmatics to Grammar: Diachronic Reflections on Complex Pasts and Futures in Romance.” Lingua 601: 183–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freed, Alice. 1979. “The Semantics of English Aspectual Complementation.” PhD, University of Pennsylvania. DOI logo
Givón, Talmy. 2001. Syntax: An Introduction. Vol. 11. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harris, Martin. 1982. “The ‘Past Simple’ and the ‘Present Perfect’.” In Studies in the Romance Verb, ed. by Nigel Vincent and Martin Harris, 42–70. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd, and Tania Kuteva. 2007. The Genesis of Grammar: A Reconstruction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul J. 1979. “Aspect and Foregrounding in Discourse.” In Syntax and Semantics, ed. by T. Givón, 213–241. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
. 1982. “Aspect Before Discourse and Grammar.” In Tense-aspect: Between Semantics and Pragmatics, ed. by P.J. Hopper, 3–18. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1991. “On Some Principles of Grammaticization.” In Approaches to Grammaticalization, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Bernd Heine, 17–35. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iljic, Robert. 1990. “The Verbal Suffix -guo in Mandarin Chinese and the Notion of Recurrence.” Lingua 811: 301–326. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jin, Li Xin. 1998. “Shilun “le” de shiti tezheng [A tentative discussion about the aspectual features of LE].” Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies (1): 105–119.Google Scholar
Johanson, Lars. 2000. “Viewpoint Operators in European Languages.” In Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, ed. by Ö. Dahl, 27–188. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Knappert, Jan. 1967. Traditional Swahili Poetry. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W. 1985. “Observations and Speculations on Subjectivity.” In Iconicity in syntax, ed. by J. Haiman, 109–150. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1987. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar: Theoretical Prerequisites. Vol. I1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
. 1990. “Subjectification.” Cognitive Linguistics 1 (1): 5–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1991. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar: Descriptive Application. Vol. II1. Standford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
. 2002. Concept, Image, and Symbol. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 2008. Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. Investigations in Cognitive Grammar. Vol. 421. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lazard, Gilbert. 1996. “Le médiatif en persan.” In L’énonciation médiatisée, ed. by Z. Guentchéva, 21–30. Louvain: Peeters.Google Scholar
. 1999. “Mirativity, Evidentiality, Mediativity, or Other?” Linguistic Typology 3 (1): 91–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leech, G. 1992. “Corpus Linguistics and Theories of Linguistic Performance.” Directions in Corpus Linguistics: Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 8 , Stockholm.
Li, Charles, and Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, David C.S. 2011. “‘Perfective Paradox’: A Cross-linguistic Study of the Aspectual Functions of -guo in Mandarin Chinese.” Chinese Language and Discourse 2 (1): 23–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lin, Jo Wang. 2006. “Time in a Language without Tense: The Case of Chinese.” Journal of Semantics 231: 1–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “Predicate Restriction, Discontinuity Property and the Meaning of the Perfective Marker Guo in Mandarin Chinese.” Journal of East Asian Linguistics 161: 237–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lin, Xin Nian. 2004. “Shixi Tang Song shiqi de “guo” yufahua jincheng chihuan de yuanyin [An analysis of the slowdown in the grammaticalization process of guo during the Tang and Song periods].” Yuyan Kexue [Linguistic Sciences] 61: 42–52.Google Scholar
Lindstedt, Jouko. 2000. “The Perfect - Aspectual, Temporal and Evidential.” In Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, ed. by Ö. Dahl, 365–384. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Liu, Jian. 2009. “Shitai zhuci de yanjiu yu VO guo [A study on tense particles and the VO guo construction].” In Hanyu shiti de lishi yanjiu [Diachronic study on the tense and aspect system of Chinese], ed. by Feng Li, Yang Yong Long, and Zhao Zhang Cai. Beijing: Yuwen Chubanshe [Language & Culture Press].Google Scholar
Liu, Jian, Jiang Lan Sheng, Bai Wei Guo, and Cao Guang Shun. 1992. Xiandai xanyu xuci yanjiu [The particles of Modern Chinese] Beijing: Yuwen Chubanshe [Language and Culture Press].Google Scholar
Mccauley, James D. 1971. “Tense and Time Reference in English.” In Studies in Linguistic Semantics, ed. by C. Fillmore and T. Langendoen, 96–113. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
McCoard, Robert W. 1978. The English Perfect: Tense-choice and Pragmatic Inferences. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.Google Scholar
McEnery, Anthony, and Zhonghua Xiao. 2004. “The Lancaster Corpus of Mandarin Chinese: A Corpus for Monolingual and Contrastive Language Study.” Religion 171: 3–4.Google Scholar
Mei, Zu Lin. 1981. “Xiandai hanyu wanchengmao jushi he ciwei de laiyuan [Studies in Language and Linguistics].” Yuyan Yanjiu (1).Google Scholar
Michaelis, Laura A. 1998. Aspectual Grammar and Past-time Reference. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Moens, Marc, and Mark Steedman. 1988. “Temporal Ontology and Temporal Reference.” Computational Linguistics 14 (2): 15–28.Google Scholar
Moyse-Faurie, Claire. 1993. Dictionnaire futunien-francais avec index francaise-futunien: Avec index français-futunien. Leuven: Peeters Publishers.Google Scholar
Nedyalkov, Vladimir P., (ed.) 1988. Typology of Resultative Constructions. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nedyalkov, Vladimir P., and Sergej Je. Jaxontov. 1988. “The Typology of Resultative Constructions.” In Typology of Resultative Constructions, ed. by V.P. Nedyalkov, 3–62. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olsen, Mari Broman. 1997. A Semantic and Pragmatic Model of Lexical and Grammatical Aspect. New York: Garland Press.Google Scholar
Pan, Wei Gui, and Yang Tian Ge. 1984. “Song Yuan shiqi ‘le” zi de yongfa, jian tan “Ie” zi de xuhua guocheng [The uses of Ie in the Song and Yuan dynasties and the grammaticalization of Ie].” Yuyan Lunji. [Chinese People’s University Press]: 72–90.Google Scholar
Pan, Haihua, and Peppina Lee. 2004. “The role of pragmatics in interpreting the chinese perfective markers guo and le.” Journal of Pragmatics 36 (3): 441–466. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Plungian, Vladimir A., and Johan van der Auwera. 2006. “Towards a Typology of Discontinuous Past Marking.” Language Typology and Universals 59 (4): 317–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pinkster, Harm. 1987. “The Strategy and the Chronology of the Development of Future and Perfect Tense Auxiliaries in Latin.” In Historical Development of Auxiliaries, ed. by Martin Harris and Paolo Ramat, 193–223. Berlin: Mouten de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Portner, Paul. 2003. “The (temporal) Semanstics and (modal) Pragmatics of the Perfect.” Linguistics and Philosophy 26 (4): 459–510. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rubovitz, Tali. 1999. “Evidential-existentials: The Interaction between Discourse and Sentence Structure.” Journal of pragmatics 31 (8): 1025–1040. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwenter, Scott A. 1994. “The Grammaticalization of an Anterior in Progress: Evidence from a Peninsular Spanish Dialect.” Studies in Language 18 (1): 71–111. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Smith, Carlota. 1997. The Parameter of Aspect, (2nd ed.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soga, Matsuo. 1983. Tense and Aspect in Modern Colloquial Japanese. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Sun, Chaofen. 1996. Word-order Change and Grammaticalization in the History of Chinese. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Johanson, Lars. 2000. “Viewpoint Operators in European Languages.” In Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, ed. by Ö. Dahl, 27–188. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Tai, Tian Chen Fu. 1958. Zhongguoyu lishi wenfa [A diachronic grammar of the Chinese Language]. Translated by Shao Yu Zhang and Xu Chang. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe [Peking University Press]. Reprint, 1987.Google Scholar
Tantucci, Vittorio. 2013. “Interpersonal Evidentiality: The Mandarin V-过 guo Construction and other Evidential Systems beyond the ‘Source of Information’.” Journal of Pragmatics 571: 210–230. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014a. “Epistemic Inclination and Factualization: A Synchronic and Diachronic Study on the Semantic Gradience of Factuality.” Language and Cognition. FirstView. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014b. “Immediate and Extended Intersubjectivity: Synchronic and Diachronic Interplay among Evidentiality, Factuality and other Domains.” PhD, English Language and Linguistics, Lancaster University.
Tatevosov, Sergei. 2001. “From Resultatives to Evidentials: Multiple Uses of the Perfect in Nakh-Daghestanian Languages.” Journal of Pragmatics 331: 443–464. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth C. 1972. A History of English Syntax. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
. 1999. “From Subjectification to Intersubjectification.” Fourteenth International Conference on Historical Linguistics , Vancouver, Canada.
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 1995. “Subjectification in Grammaticalisation.” In Subjectivity and Subjectivisation, ed. by D. Stein and S. Wright, 31–54. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth C. 2003. “From Subjectification to Intersubjectification.” In Motives for Language Change, ed. by R. Hickey, 124–139. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. “Revisiting Subjectification and Intersubjectification.” In Subjectification, Intersubjectification and Grammaticalization, ed. by K. Davidse and L. Vandelanotte, 29–70. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012. “Intersubjectification and Clause Periphery.” English Text Construction 5 (1): 7–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs, and Richard B. Dasher. 2002. Regularity in Semantic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth Closs, and Graeme Trousdale. 2010. “Gradience, Gradualness and Grammaticalization: How Do they Intersect.” In Gradience, Gradualness and Grammaticalization, ed. by Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Graeme Trousdale, 19–44. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tummers, José, Kris Heylen, and Dirk Geeraerts. 2005. “Usage-based Approaches in Cognitive Linguistics: A Technical State of the Art.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 1 (2): 225–261. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vendler, Zeno. 1967. Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verhagen, Arie. 2005. Constructions of Intersubjectivity: Discourse, Syntax and Cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tummers, José, Kris Heylen, and Dirk Geeraerts. 2005. “Usage-based Approaches in Cognitive Linguistics: A Technical State of the Art.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 1 (2): 225–261. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Hong Nian. 1972. Xianggang yueuyu yufa de yanjiu [A study on the grammar of Hong Kong Cantonese]. Hong Kong: Xianggang Zhongwen Daxue Chubanshe [The Chinese University Press].Google Scholar
Zhao, Jin Ming. 1979. “Dunhuang bianwen suojian de “le” he “zhe” [The usages of “le” and “zhe” in transformation texts of Dunhuang].” Zhongguo Yuwen [Spoken and Written Languages of China] (1).Google Scholar
Wang, Li. 1958. Hanyu Shigao [An overview of the History of Chinese]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju “Zhonghua Book Company‘. Reprint, 1980.Google Scholar
Windfuhr, Gernot. 1982. “The Verbal Category of Inference in Persian.” Acta Iranica 221: 263–287.Google Scholar
Wu, Fu Xiang. 2005. “Hanyu tibiaoji “le” “zhe” weishenme bu neng qianzhixing shiyong [Why the aspectual markers “le” and “zhe” are not obligatory].” Contemporary Linguistics (3).Google Scholar
. 2009. “Chongtan “dong + le + bin” geshi de laiyuan he wanchengti zhuci “le” de chansheng [A new discussion about the origin of the “V + le + O” construction and the development of the perfect marker “le”].” In Hanyu shiti de lishi yanjiu [A diachronic study on the tense-aspect system of Mandarin], ed. by Feng Li, Yang Yong Long, and Zhao Chang Cai, 150–165.Google Scholar
Xiao, Richard, and Tony McEnery. 2004. Aspect in Mandarin Chinese: A Corpus-based Study. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xie, Xiao Hui. 2010. “Shitai zhuci “guo” de laiyuan ji fazhan [Origins and development of the tense auxiliary guo].” Zhaotong Shifan Gaodeng zhuanke xuexiao xuebao [Journal of Zhaotong Teachers College] 32 (2): 10–32.Google Scholar
Yeh, Meng. 1996. “Experiential -guo in Mandarin.” Journal of East Asian Linguistics 51: 183–215. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

Čok, Tina
2023. Classification of Verbal Actions in Typologically Unrelated Languages. In Cognitive Implications for Raising Cross-language Awareness in Foreign Language Acquisition, ► pp. 63 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio & Aiqing Wang
2020. From co-actions to intersubjectivity throughout Chinese ontogeny: A usage-based analysis of knowledge ascription and expected agreement. Journal of Pragmatics 167 ► pp. 98 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio & Aiqing Wang
2020. Diachronic change of rapport orientation and sentence-periphery in Mandarin. Discourse Studies 22:2 ► pp. 146 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio & Aiqing Wang
2022. Dynamic Resonance and Explicit Dialogic Engagement in Mandarin First Language Acquisition. Discourse Processes 59:7 ► pp. 553 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio & Aiqing Wang
2024. British Conversation is Changing: Resonance and Engagement in the BNC1994 and the BNC2014. Applied Linguistics DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio
2016. Toward a typology of constative speech acts: Actions beyond evidentiality, epistemic modality, and factuality. Intercultural Pragmatics 13:2 DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio
2016. Textual factualization: The phenomenology of assertive reformulation and presupposition during a speech event. Journal of Pragmatics 101 ► pp. 155 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio
2016. The Multimodal Marking of Evidentiality: Pragmemes of Circumstantial Inference and Mandarin Written News Report. In Pragmemes and Theories of Language Use [Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, 9], ► pp. 477 ff. DOI logo
TANTUCCI, VITTORIO
2017. From immediate to extended intersubjectification: a gradient approach to intersubjective awareness and semasiological change. Language and Cognition 9:1 ► pp. 88 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio
2017. An evolutionary approach to semasiological change: Overt influence attempts through the development of the Mandarin 吧-ba particle. Journal of Pragmatics 120 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Tantucci, Vittorio
2021. Language and Social Minds, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.