The polysemy of the GET/GIVE verb [tie53] in Shaowu: Giving is receiving

Ngai, Sing Sing

doi:10.1075/slcs.167.09nga

Part of

Causation, Permission, and Transfer: Argument realisation in GET, TAKE, PUT, GIVE and LET verbs
Edited by Brian Nolan, Gudrun Rawoens and Elke Diedrichsen
[Studies in Language Companion Series 167] 2015
► pp. 253–269

Giving is receiving

The polysemy of the GET/GIVE verb [tie53] in Shaowu

Sing Sing Ngai | EHESS-CRLAO, ERC SINOTYPE

This paper looks at the polysemous, multifunctional Shaowu verb [tie53] which means ‘to get’ in a mono-transitive construction, and which is relexified to mean ‘to give’ in a ditransitive construction through the process of semantically coerced syntactic change. The morpheme then grammaticalises along a bifurcated pathway to become possibility modal suffix, verb complement marker, dative, benefactive, causative and passive markers, among other things. This poly-functionality may in part be due to language internal change, but may also be attributed to contact-induced grammaticalisation. Various historical documents are examined to follow the diachronic change, whereas languages from neighbouring dialect groups and language families are considered for the likelihood of areal diffusion of certain constructions and functions of the Shaowu GET/GIVE verb of [tie53].

Published online: 14 January 2015

https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.167.09nga

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