Research on Grammaticalization in Chinese

Author: Wu Fuxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Chinese has a documented history of over three thousand years and a rich diversity of dialect types. Therefore, in terms of grammaticalization research, Chinese possesses advantages that no other language can match. Grammaticalization is undoubtedly a highly promising research field in Chinese linguistics, particularly in Chinese syntax. In fact, as early as the 1970s, several scholars studying Chinese had already begun to focus on the grammaticalization of Chinese. Although these studies varied in perspective and methodology, they shared a common characteristic: striving to start from the actual use of Chinese, uncovering and describing linguistic facts to reveal hidden patterns and mechanisms, thereby summarizing several grammaticalization principles and theories of linguistic evolution. However, most of these research outcomes have been published as individual papers in domestic and international journals, making them difficult to locate. In light of this, we have compiled the Studies on Grammaticalization in Chinese as an anthology of papers, aiming to summarize the research achievements in Chinese grammaticalization and further promote and advance the study of Chinese grammaticalization and Chinese linguistics.