Pan-Sinitic equatives in their Asian context

Pan-Sinitic equatives in their Asian context Hilary Chappell EHESS, Paris Shanghai Jiao Tong University 5th April 2017 Invited lecture as ‘High-level foreign specialist’ professor (高端外国专家) 1 Introduction to comparison Comparative constructions in the languages of the world are generally classified into four main types: 1. Positive 原级 2. Equality 等比句 3. Inequality 差比句 (i) Superiority 优级比较 (ii) Inferiority 次级比较 4. Superlative 最高级 2 English comparative degrees 1. She is clever. 2. She is as clever as you. (i) She is more clever than Bill. (ii) She is less clever than Bill. 4. She is the most clever. (cleverer, cleverest also possible) Special feature of comparatives – neutrality with respect to degree of quality 3. 3 4 Equative constructions have not been as thoroughly researched crosslinguistically as their ‘relatives’, the constructions for the comparison of inequality (cf. Henkelmann 2006). Main studies: Ultan (1972), Haspelmath & Buchholz (1998), Henkelmann (2006), Haspelmath & Equative consortium (forthc.); Bisang (1992, 1998) includes data on equatives in five Asian languages Definition of an equative In equative constructions, one entity (A, the Comparee) is used as a benchmark against which to judge another (B, the Standard) in order to express that both possess an equal degree of the given dimension or quality (the Parameter). There are typically five possible components in an equative or comparison of equality: 5 Five components of equatives 1. Comparee or comparatum 主体 2. Standard Marker 基准标记 3. Standard Noun 基准 4. Parameter Marker 谓语标记 5. Parameter 谓语 (‘参数’) (Note: terminology used by Haspelmath & Buchholz, Bisang & Henkelmann) 6 European equatives: correlatives Haspelmath & Buchholz observe that in many of the core European languages (Romance, West Germanic, Slavic, Balkan), the equative construction is composed of a former demonstrative adverb (of manner) and a relative or interrogative pronoun. Marie est aussi intelligente que Guillaume. Hildegard ist genauso intelligent wieWilhelm. 7 Typologies of equatives & samples ! Haspelmath & Buchholz (1998), Henkelmann 8 (2006) and Haspelmath et al (forthc.) propose slightly different classifications for equatives in the languages of the world ! these cover different sets of constructions with Henkelmann’s more elaborate ! Ultan (1978): 30 languages ! Haspelmath & Buchholz (1998): 47 European languages ! Henkelmann (2006): 25 languages world-wide ! Haspelmath et al (forthc.): 119 lges world-wide ! elaborate and inclusive Semantic sources for equative markers and constructions Basically, the main equative types involve: I. Correlatives with AS ADJ. AS II. Equative markers < ‘AND’, ‘WITH’ used alone III. Equative markers < ‘AND’, ‘WITH’ used with EQUAL or RESEMBLE verbs IV. REACH verbs and more rarely V. POSSESSIVE constructions and NOMINALIZATIONS. 9 Part I: Typology of Sinitic equatives in an Asian context Sinitic equatives: Types ! In terms of structure and grammatical meaning, there are three main types of Sinitic equatives: (cf. Chao 1968) ! Type I: CONJOINED EQUATIVE ! Type II: REACH EQUATIVE inc. have verbs ! Type III: RESEMBLE EQUATIVE ! Consider examples from Standard Chinese as a 11 starting point. TYPE I. CONJOINED EQUATIVE [A AND B] ‘EQUALLY’ PARAMETER Standard Chinese 普通话 这个跟那个一样大. NPA Preposition gēn 跟 ‘and’ NPB Comparee St.Marker Standard Zhège gēn nàge this.CL SMand that.CL ‘This is the same size as that.’ Adverbsame Verb PaM Parameter yīyàng dà. same big (literally : ‘this one and that one are equally big’) This is labelled ‘Primary Equative Unified’ by Haspelmath et al (forthc.) 12 TYPE II: REACH EQUATIVE ! A second type is the REACH equative construction which combines reach or have verb ! with an intensifying adverb based on a manner deictic ‘such’, ‘so’ or ‘that’ ADJ . ! Semantically, it fits in with the ‘Primary reach unified’ type of Haspelmath et al (forthc.). ! However, it also uses a manner deictic 那么/ 这 么 /那样 etc as the parameter marker (not given in the structural formula for the REACH type). 13 II. HAVE EQUATIVE = ‘REACH’ TYPE ‘A HAS B SO PARAMETER’ NPA [Verb1 yǒu 有‘have’] NPB (Adverbso) Verb2 Standard Noun (Parameter Marker) Parameter Comparee (3) Wǒ de xiǎo nǚ’er yǒu zhuōzi zhème/nème gāo le. 1SG GEN small daughter have table so high CRS ‘My small daughter has now reached the height of the table (literally : is now as tall as the table).’ 我的小女儿有桌子这么(那么)高了. Note:no standard marker Are there any semantic differences from Equative type in (2)? 14 Semantic features A special feature of Type I is that the comparee and the standard, NPA and NPB, may be interchanged in this Conjoined Equative but not so in Type II, the REACH equative since it codes the notion of the comparee NPA attaining the same level as the standard NPB (Liu Zhenping 2010). In fact, Chao (1968: 681-682) calls it ‘the equaling degree, where X approaches Y from below and equals it on the scale of A’. This is why I have labelled it the REACH Equative, even though the main verb is have. 15 TYPE III. RESEMBLE equative:像 This equative makes use of a verb ‘to resemble’, ‘be like’. Lexical verb usage of xiàng 像: Similative verb (6) 这家伙像个狐狸。 Zhè jiāhuǒr xiàng ge húli. this guy resemble CL fox ‘This guy looks like a fox.’ (7) Simple resemble equative with xiàng 像 Nĭ xiàng wŏ yīyàng. 你像我一样. 2SG like 1SG same ‘You’re like me.’/ ‘You’re the same as me.’ 16 Complex resemble equative with xiàng 像 including a parameter (8) Nĭ xiàng wŏ yīyàng 2SG like 1SG same ‘You’re as tall as me.’ 你像我一样高. gāo. tall Bisang (1998) claims that xiàng is a coverb. Since it is xiàng 像 that may be negated and not yīyàng 一样, this is not entirely convincing. 17 Negation of the equative construction ! In the study of equatives, it is useful to consider the negated form of each structure for both reasons of typology and diachronic development. ! Often the negated form preserves an older structure. ! It may serve as the comparative of inferiority depending on the structure. ! Chao (1968 : 680-686), for example, gives a detailed description of the methods of negation for each type of comparative construction in Mandarin Chinese. 18 Negated form of conjoined equative in Standard Mandarin Comparee NEG1 SM Standard Noun PAM Parameter Wǒ bù gēn tā yīyàng gāo. 1SG NEG with 3SG same tall ‘I’m not as tall as him.’ (=negation of entire proposition) 我不跟你一样高 . Can the negative adverb be placed before yīyàng (parameter marker)? ?我跟你不一样高. Acceptable? (Yes, according to Chao 1968) : Conjunction or preposition? 19 Some internet examples ! ! 20 这跟他平常的生活程序多么不一样啊！ 这个春天当然跟他经历过的任何春天不一样 Negated forms of REACH and RESEMBLE equatives in Standard Chinese Comparee NEG2 SM Standard Noun PAM Parameter 他没有老三那么聪明. méi yǒu Lǎo Sān nàme cōngmíng. Tā 3sg NEG have (name) so clever ‘He’s not as clever as Lao San .’ 他一点也不像我第一个老板 (lexical similative verb) ‘He isn’t anything like my first boss’. 塑胶不像金属那样会生锈。[+ parameter] Plastics aren’t as rust-prone as metals/don’t rust like metals. 21 Other Sinitic languages ! Many other Sinitic languages possess similar structures for which unfortunately the data is not always described in the relevant reference materials. ! Next, some of the equative constructions found in various Sinitic languages, including nonstandard Mandarin varieties, will be examined. ! The data are incomplete since not all types of equatives are discussed, if any. 22 Sinitic Conjoined Equatives A cursory look at data in a variety of Sinitic languages shows quite clearly that they all share at least the type which I have labeled the ‘conjoined equative’. X – with – Y – PARAMETERA COMPAREE STANDARD – sameParameter Marker DJ For example, in Shaowu, a variety of Northwestern Min: 23 Shaowu NW Min 邵武话 (闽语) ⽼三帮你个样⾼。 NPA Comparee Lau55-san21 old-three preposition St. Marker pɔn21 PREP NPB [adverbsame verb]V P Standard Par. Marker Parameter xieŋ35 kə0-iɔŋ35 kau21 2SG the-same tall ‘The third child in the family is as tall as you. ’ (Data from S. Ngai forthc.) 24 ERB HRASE Standard Markers in Sinitic The preposition which serves as the Standard Marker of equative comparison in many Sinitic languages has a comitative or benefactive preposition as its source. For example, pɔn21帮 < ‘for’ in Shaowu Northwestern Min, kei35 给 in Central Plains Mandarin, təʔ5 得 in Ningbo Wu, kaʔ7-8 合 < ‘and’, ‘with’ in Hui’an Southern Min, and tùhng 同 < ‘with’ in Hong Kong Cantonese Yue. 25 Parameter Markers in Sinitic The Parameter of comparison located in the verb phrase is obligatorily modified by an adverb meaning ‘same’ or ‘equal’ which codes the constituent of Parameter Marker in this analysis. This adverb is frequently a lexicalization of one-CLF, even in Shaowu. 26 Parameter markers in Sinitic Examples: kə0-iɔŋ35 个样 in Shaowu Northwestern Min in (1) above, yāt-yeuhng 一样 ‘same’ in Hong Kong Cantonese and i35pan55一般 ‘same’ in Central Plains Mandarin. The Min dialect group stands out with e.g. pin2-4 平 ‘same, equal’ in Hui’an Southern Min (Please see Table 1: Standard and degree markers – 27 separate handout) HISTORICAL DEPTH OF CONJOINED EQUATIVES IN SINITIC LANGUAGES The conjoined equative is a structure that flourished in use from the Yuan dynasty onwards (13th c.), the beginning of the Modern Chinese period, albeit with different markers (Peyraube 1989, Zhang Cheng 2004). 28 Lao Qi Da 老乞大 For example, in the 14th century Lao Qi Da 老乞大, a Mandarin primer for Korean merchants trading in Northern China, we can identify a precursor to the contemporary structures : (9) X – hé和‘with’ – Y– ADJ – yībàn一般‘same’ què hé zhèli jǐngshéng sǎzi yībàn qǔ shuǐ. but and here well.rope bucket same get water ‘But (the method of) getting water with a rope and a bucket is the same as here.’ 却和这里井绳洒子一般取水. 29 Shangshui Central Plains Mandarin ! We find a similar parameter marker in Shangshui: (10) Shangshui Central Plains Mandarin 商水 话 (中原官话): uo55 kən35 tha55 li11 fən35 i35pan55 1SG SM 3SG GEN grade same ‘Her marks are as high as mine.’ 她跟我里分一般多。 30 tuo55 many Shangshui Central Plains Mandarin 31 商⽔中原官话 Shangshui also uses a benefactive kind of oblique marker for the standard marker: uo55 kei35 tha55 li11 thou31fo51 i35pan55 1SG SM 3SG MOD hair same tsaŋ55 long ‘My hair is as long as hers.’ 我给她⾥头发⼀般 长。 Data fromYujie Chen Min dialects 闽语 ! MIN DIALECTS ! The most singular amongst the small sample of languages I investigated is clearly the Min group. ! This heterogeneous group of languages is claimed to belong to one of the earliest splits from the Sinitic family tree, which took place some time during the Han dynasty (206BC – 220 AD) ! appears to preserve a large number of archaic features in addition to some unusual innovations. 32 Southern Min pin2平 ! Hui’an 惠安话 and other Southern Min varieties, also ! ! ! ! 33 Puxian 莆仙话, make use of a highly distinctive form for the degree marker which is typically reduplicated : pin2平 which means ‘equal’ or ‘equally’. Southern Min group and the Puxian isolate use a comitative for the standard marker 合 Shaowu (exemplified above) belongs to a different subgroup (Northwestern Min) makes use of an oblique marker whose source is in the verb ‘help’ in conjunction with a degree marker ‘same’. Here are some examples from these three languages : Puxian isolate 蒲仙 (11) Puxian conjoined equative (Min isolate) ty 21 e11 thau453uai21 kɛʔ21 kua533 e11 phã533 - ã11 2SG POSS hair with 1SG POSS equal-equal nŋ24 long ‘Your hair is as long as mine.’ 汝厄头发合我平平长。 (Note : reduplication of phã533 phã533 equal –equal results in phonological reduction to phã533 - ã11) Data fromWu Jianming 34 Hui’an Southern Min 惠安话 (闽南语) 這垛合迄垛平大。 (12) Hui’an conjoined equative (Southern Min) tsit7-8-tǝ5 kaʔ7-8 hit7-8-tǝ5 pin2-4 tua5 this-CL and that-CL equal big ‘This (table) is as big as that.’ It is even possible to triplicate the parameter marker pin2平, as in the Funing dialect of Northeastern Min: pin2-pin2-pin2tua5平平平大. Data fromWeirong Chen 35 Shaowu (Northwestern Min) In the northwestern corner of Fujian province, Shaowu does not pattern like Southern Min or Puxian in terms of markers: (13) Shaowu (Northwestern Min) xu35 fa35 kə0 ny22 pɔn21 tsin21 kə0 ny22 3SG draw MOD cow SM real MOD cow kə0-iᴐŋ35 kə0 one-type PRT ‘The cow she drew was like a real one.’ 她画个牛帮真个牛个样个。 36 VPs as Comparee and Standard The comparee and standard slots may be filled by the nominalized verb phrases. Such is the case of the next example which is not necessarily possible in all the languages in the sample : (15) Hui’an conjoined equative (Southern Min) i1 tsau3 kaʔ7-8 ua3 sa1saŋ2-4 ken3 3SG run and 1SG same fast ‘He runs as fast as me (literally : his running and mine are equally fast).’ 伊走合 我相口 緊. Different structure in Standard Chinese with 跑得 37 Clausal comparison: Jilin Mandarin 吉林官话 我唱得和他一样好 wɤ 213 tʂhɑŋ53 tə xɤ24 tha44 ji24jɑŋ53 xɑu213 1SG sing COMP with 3SG one.same good ‘I sing as well as he does.’ Data from Liu Boyang Jixi Hui 绩溪徽语 （2）我跑仂tsoʔ32 渠一样快。 ɑ55 pʰɤ55 nə ʦoʔ32 ke32 iʔ32-35iõ223 kʰuɑ324 1sg run PRT PREP 3sg same fast ‘I run as fast as he does.’ Data fromWang Jian 38 NEGATION OF THE CONJOINED EQUATIVE ! Negation of the equative essentially produces the comparative of inferiority in Sinitic languages, that is, the equivalent of X is less ADJ thanY, depending on the type. ! The negative adverb precedes the standard NP thereby replacing the standard marker, as in the Yichun variety of Gan, spoken in Jiangxi province : 39 Yichun Gan: X-NEG-Y-(SAME)-ADJ NPCOMPAREE–NEGATIVE ADVERB– NPSTANDARD– (yīyàng一样 ‘same’ )– PARAMETERADJ (19) Yichun Gan 宜春话 (赣语) siɛu42 tɕioŋ34 mau44 siɛu42li42 Xiaozhang NEG Xiaoli ‘Xiao Zhang is not as tall as Xiao Li.’ 小张冇小李高。 40 kao42. tall Yichun Gan (20) kaŋ42 in.terms.of liʔ5tɕhi44, ŋo34 mau44 strength 1SG NEG ȵi34 ioŋ213 thai213 2 SG same big ‘In terms of strength, I am not as strong as you.’ 讲力气，我冇你样大。 Data from XuPing Li 41 Negation in Jilin Mandarin Uses an archaic form among others: He isn't strong as my brother 他不如我哥哥（那么)壮。 tha44 3SG pu53ʐu24 NEG.like wɤ 213 kɤ44kɤ 1SG brother tʂwɑŋ53 strong Also: pu53tɕi24不及 ; kan213pu24ʂɑŋ53 赶不上 42 na53mə that III. RESEMBLE EQUATIVES IN SINITIC ! Less data available on the use of ‘resemble’ to form equatives: ! Hakka and Hong Kong Cantonese stand out with their use of standard markers which date back to Late Archaic Chinese : ju1如 (or yi2thung2 如同) and hóchíh 好似 all meaning ‘be like’, ‘resemble’. ! replaced by the time of Early Modern Chinese with comitative prepositions 和 etc in most of the branches of Sinitic, as Table 1 shows and the bulk of the preceding examples. 43 ! Meixian Hakka 梅县客家话 (16) Meixian Hakka ‘resemble’ equative (Guangdong province) an3 go1 ŋai2 ju1 ŋ2 1SG like 2SG degree tall ‘I’m as tall as you.’ (M. Hashimoto 1973) 我如你咁高。 44 Bao’an Hakka ‘resemble’ equative (17) Bao’an Hakka (Guangdong province) Šong4ti4 oi4 ngai2 teu1 God love 1PL tso4 fu4mu1 sa2 oi4 do parent NOM love nyin2, yi2thung2 people like kya1 tsɨ3-ng3 yit6yong4 3POSS child same ‘God loves us like parents love their children.’ 上帝愛我 兜人如同做父母儕愛囗子女一樣. (Basel Evangelische Missions-Gesellschaft materials, 1909) 45 Hong Kong Cantonese (18) Cantonese ‘resemble’ equative:好似 kéuih 3SG hóu-chíh gājē gam leng. resemble older.sister so pretty ‘She is just as pretty as her (older) sister.’ (Matthews & Yip 2011) 46 Asian equatives In terms of the linguistic area of East and Southeast Asia to which Sinitic languages clearly belong (Chappell 2015), it seems that representative SE Asian languages prefer the RESEMBLE equative with or without a reciprocal affix: Vietnamese, Thai, Khmer all use verbs that either mean ‘be.like’ or ‘be.equal’ to form the equative: Vietnamese: nhu’ ‘be.like’ < rú 如 Khmer: do:c ‘be like’ Thai: thâw (-kab) ‘be equal (-with)’，myǎn-kan ‘be.like – reciprocal; Lao: khùù2 ‘be.like’ See Bisang (1998) on equatives in Vietnamese, Khmer, Thai and Japanese 47 Khmer RESEMBLE equative TYPE I: Comparee Parameter RESEMBLE Standard (i) __a: kraoj nih thom do:c klo:k ANA last this big be.like squash ‘This last-named (had a head) as large as a squash.’ (ii) Kluan tloap kmee:ng self use.to young knia dae tee:taeu companion also actually ‘You were once young like us/me.’ Data from Haiman (2012: 200) 48 do:c be.like Lao RESEMBLE equative 49 (i) mùng2 khùù2 kuu3 1SG 2SG be.like ‘You are like me.’ (similative) (ii) mùng2 kap2 kuu3 2SG with 1SG ‘You and I are alike.’ khùù2 –kan3 be.like-COLL Kan3 = collective action, - a reciprocal marker ‘each participant performs the action in the same way’ Lao equatives TYPE II: Comparee Parameter PAM WITH Standard (iii) ..suung khùù2 –kan3 kap2 naaj2 be.like RECIP with boss tall ‘(She’s) tall like her boss.’ Data from Enfield (2005) Hence, these four Southeast Asian languages share the basic RESEMBLE equative but also have a more complex form with RESEMBLE-RECIPROCAL and a coordinative phrase with WITH/AND. Little data available – more research needed! 50 Theoretical issues I In the next section on diachronic change in syntax, we will examine the curious situation that comparatives in Modern Chinese, both of the equative and superiority types, do not conform to the predictions of language universals in typology. Why? The combination of [standard marker + standard noun] together precede the parameter (=Adjective or VP). And this is predicted for SOV languages, not for SVO! 51 Theoretical issues II 52 Another interesting issue is that Haspelmath & Buchholz (1998) claim that the Mandarin Conjoined Equative has no standard marker, that is, 跟 gēn is not the standard marker but merely a conjunction. Moreover, the construction represents a kind of reciprocal. But: If there is no standard marker, since this would mean that the isomorphic comparative of superiority in Sinitic similarly has no standard marker which is certainly not the case. What about 他比我高 : Is neither 跟 gēn nor bǐ 比 a standard marker? Plural subjects + Standard Marker Consider examples with plural subjects: Baoding Mandarin, Jilu subgroup 保定话 (冀鲁官话) (3)咱俩一般儿沉，都是100斤。 tsa22 lia213 i45pɑ45 ̃ tʂhɛ̃22 2IN two same heavy to45 ʂʅ i45 all COP one pɛ213 tɕiɛ̃45 hundred MES ‘You and I both weigh 50 kilos’. Data from Song Na 53 Changsha Xiang – plural subjects 你的头发跟我的一样⻓长。 ɳi41 ti t u13fa k n33 ti i24ian21 2SG MOD hair 1SG MOD same tsa 13 ‘Your hair is as long as mine.’ 54 我们两个的头发一样⻓长 o41m n lan41ko ti t u13fa i24ian21 1PL two-CL MOD hair same ‘The two of us have hair the same length.’ Data fromWuYunji o41 STM tsa long 13. Part 2. Diachronic change in word order for comparatives in Chinese A brief sketch of comparative history ! The diachronic development of similatives, equatives and comparatives of superiority is closely intertwined in Chinese from the 5th century BC onwards with a least two major construction types developing from equatives into comparatives of superiority at different stages in linguistic history. ! In Late Archaic and Pre-Medieval Chinese, the word order was the same for both the equatives and the comparatives of superiority. Nonetheless, their standard markers were distinct morphemes (Peyraube 1989): 56 Change in word order Adj–Marker–Y ParameterADJ – Standard Marker – Standard NP (5thc. BC – 12th c. AD) Early Modern Chinese order and that of most Sinitic languages today: (12th century – ): Marker–Y–Adj or: Standard Marker–Standard NP–ParameterADJ 57 Typological harmony ! This second word order became established from approximately 12th century onwards (Chappell & Peyraube 2015). ! Note that only the former is completely harmonic with prepositional languages including Sinitic, according to Greenberg’s Universal 22 (1963) on comparatives ! (see also Chappell & Peyraube 2015, Haspelmath et al, forthc.). 58 Greenberg’s Universal 22 ! In other words, this harmony is respected by Archaic and Medieval Chinese, as we will see, but not by Modern Chinese, nor by contemporary Sinitic languages. ! (21) Greenberg’s Universal 22 If in comparisons of superiority the only order, or one of the alternative orders, is standard-marker-adjective, then the language is postpositional. With overwhelmingly more than chance frequency if the only order is adjective-marker-standard, the language is prepositional. (Greenberg 1963 : 110-113) 59 Equality 等比 > Superiority 优比 ! Furthermore, as part of this complex diachronic change, the original construction with a postverbal standard marker (originally a similative verb) further develops into a comparative of superiority ! -a grammaticalization pathway given for the same class of similative verbs in Creissels’s crosslinguistic study (2014: 642). 60 RESEMBLE equatives ! In Late Archaic (5th – 3rd c. BC) and right up until the end of Early Medieval Chinese (9th c. AD), what were to become the standard markers for expressing the equative construction are three verbs: RÚ 如, RUÒ 若 and SÌ 似, all meaning ‘to be like, to be similar’. Each can be used as the main verb in the transitive structure: RÚ 如 X -- RUÒ若 -- Y SÌ 似 ! as in the following examples from different periods. 61 Similatives (RESEMBLE verbs) (22) Similative with SÌ 似=‘be like’ 其顙似堯。 «史记 :世纪孔子世家» qí sǎng sì yáo 3SG forehead be.like Yao ‘His forehead is like Yau’s.’ (Shi Ji: Kongzi Shijia Records of the Great Historian, 1st c.) (23) Similative with RÚ 如 =‘be like’ 在寺不修如西方心恶人。 «六祖坛经36» zài sì bù xiū rú xīfāng xīn è rén be.in temple NEG practise be.like western mind evil person ‘(If you) are in a temple but do not practise, (you) are like the evilminded people of the west.’ (Liuzu Tanjing 36, Platform Sutra 10th c.) 62 Conclusions (3) They form the basis for the equative constructions that contain a parameter in a second syntactic structure in postverbal position, typically with the marker following an adjective: RÚ 如 X -- ADJ -RUÒ 若 -Y SÌ 似 63 (26) Similative comparative with RÚ 如 < ‘be like’ (NP ) –VP – STANDARD MARKER rú如– NP 猛如虎，狠如羊，贪如狼。 (史记 : 项羽本纪) měng rú hǔ powerful SM tiger hĕn rú yang, tān rú láng. ferocious SM ram greedy CM wolf ‘(Be) as powerful as a tiger, as ferocious as a ram, as greedy as a wolf.’ (Records of the Great Historian, Shĭ jì, 1st c. BC) = Completely harmonic with Universal 22. COMPAREE 64 PARAMETER STANDARD Equative > Superiority Significantly for this analysis, the equative/ similative construction in (26) begins to take on the additional function of coding the comparative of inequality (superiority subtype) by the time of Late Medieval Chinese (9th – 12thc.). 65 Comparative of inequality (superiority) with SÌ 似 < ‘resemble (28) NP – VERB – SM( 于, 似) – NP 本寺远于日 (姚合诗) yuǎn yú rì, bĕn sì this temple far SM sun 新诗高似云。 xīn shī gāo sì yún. new poem high SM cloud ‘This temple is farther away than the sun, the new poems are higher than the clouds.’ 28Yáo Hé shī, 9th c.) COMPAREE 66 PARAMETER YÚ SÌ STANDARD ! The first line uses the Archaic Chinese marker of the superiority comparative,YÚ 于 ‘at, to’. Consequently, the obvious parallelism between the two lines of this poem mean that SÌ 似 in the second line functions most likely as a marker of superiority - and not of equality. ! This is of course debated by linguists and literature critics alike! (see Peyraube 1989 for a discussion) 67 Transitional period: 9th – 12th c. ! For the next two or three centuries (9th – 12th c.), the construction (NP – VERB – SM – NP ) with the postverbal markers RÚ 如 and SÌ 似 remained ambiguous, expressing both a comparative of superiority and the equative. ! In postverbal position, these slowly became, however, the most prevalent form for the comparative of superiority during the subsequent Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1206-1368) dynasties, that is, a change from an equative to a superiority comparative (Peyraube 1990, Zhang Cheng 2004), as also in the example below from a 14th century text. COMPAREE 68 PARAMETER STANDARD Postverbal rú > superiority Comparative of superiority with RÚ 如 < ‘be like’ NP – VERB – SM( 如) – NP 这但轻如你底。 (任⻛风子) zhè dàn qīng rú nĭ dĭ. this load light SM 2SG MOD ‘This load is lighter than yours.’ (Rèn fēngzi, 14th c.) (29) COMPAREE PARAMETER RÚ STANDARD Peyraube (1989) claims that this is on the basis of analogy with the older canonical form with YÚ 于 used in Late Archaic Chinese, as in example (27) above. 69 SONG-YUAN PERIOD: 10 -14 CENTURIES: LATE MEDIEVAL AND PRE-MODERN CHINESE TH TH It seems that its ambiguity may have provided the motivation for the formation of a new construction for equative comparison and the expression of similitude. Beginning in roughly the same period (10th – 14th c), the construction with the form NP emerged, – SM( 如, 似) – NP – VP which now had the standard markers RÚ 如 and SÌ 似 in preverbal position. COMPAREE 70 RÚ SÌ STANDARD PARAMETER Equative/similative construction in Early Modern Chinese (30) Equative/similative construction in Early Modern Chinese with preverbal RÚ 如 < ‘be like’ NP – STANDARD MARKERrú如 – NP – VPPARAMETER 臉如紅杏鮮妍 (小孫屠) COMPAREE liǎn STANDARD rú hóng xìng xiǎn yán. face SM red apricot fresh beautiful ‘(Her) face is as fresh and beautiful as a red apricot.’(Xiăo Sūn Tú, 14th c.) 71 Minor preverbal rú form in LAC This was similarly based on a revival of an earlier very minor form from both the Late Archaic Chinese and Early Medieval Chinese periods (3rd BC – 7th AD) with the adjectives in final position. This position was filled in the majority either rán 然 ‘same’ or yībàn 一般 ‘same’ (Peyraube 1989): NP – STANDARD MARKERrú如 – NP – ADJ = rán 然 ‘same’ yībàn 一般 ‘same’ (31) 其 游 如 父 子 然。 qí yóu rú fù zĭ rán 3GEN relation be.like father son same ‘Their relationship is like that between a father and son.’ (Shĭ jì, Weiqi Liezhuan 1st c. BC) COMPAREE 72 STANDARD EQUATIVES IN MODERN CHINESE : 13th century -! From the Yuan period onwards, the beginning of the Modern Chinese period, equative structures begin to appear which have undergone lexical replacement of the prepositions hé 和 (example 9) and rú 如 (example 30) by gēn 跟, and the final adjective yībàn 一般 ‘same’ by yīyàng 一样 ‘same’ ! (Peyraube 1989: 610; Peyraube & Wiebusch 1995). ! The latter standard and degree markers represent the pair of markers found in many varieties of Northern Chinese today whereas cognates to these forms exist in both non-standard varieties of Mandarin and in other branches of Sinitic. 73 Fate of postverbal SÌ 似 as 优⽐比句句 RÚ 如 and Towards the end of the Yuan dynasty (14th c.), there is a decrease in the comparatives of inequality using the markers YÚ 于 < ‘at’, ‘to’ and RÚ/SÌ < ‘be like, resemble’ in favour of a new preverbal standard marker, BǏ 比 < ‘compare’. (32) Comparative of inequality with BĬ 比 < ‘compare’ NP – SM – NP – VP (这桥)比在前十分好。 (老乞大) (zhè qiáo) bĭ zài qián shífèn hǎo. (this bridge) SM at before very good ‘(This bridge) is much better than before.’ (Lăo Qĭdà, 14th c.) COMPAREE 74 STANDARD PARAMETER 比字句 ! Becomes dominant in colloquial-style written texts from 75 17th century onwards (the period of the Qing dynasty) ! has diffused from Northern Sinitic –which includes most of the Mandarin dialect groups to all other branches of Sinitic, either replacing their native structures or being used as an alternative comparative of inequality (Li Lan 2003). ! Note that this type of comparative of inequality is similarly disharmonic with Language Universal 22 on comparatives. ! Strikingly, BǏ 比 originally could also be used as an equative in Late Medieval Chinese (Tang period), providing another case of an equative construction undergoing semantic specialization to a potential comparative of superiority. RÚ 如 and SÌ 似 versus BǏ 比 ! This means that the change in word order to the preverbal form for the equative with RÚ/SÌ preceded the comparative of superiority with BǏ 比 ‘to compare’ by several centuries (the preverbal equative with RÚ/SÌ was fully established by the 12th century, whereas the preverbal comparative of superiority with BǏ 比 was only established as the dominant form by the 17th century). ! The outcome of these word order changes that began towards the end of the Late Medieval Chinese period remains bafflingly disharmonic with the typological profile of Sinitic. THE END! 76 谢谢! Merci! Your comments are welcomed! 77 Acknowledgements My heartfelt thanks go to Professor Wang Jian 王健 who both invited me and organised my visits to Shanghai Jiao Tong University from 2015 to 2017. 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