Classification of the Semantic Functions of Sentence-final de and Its Semantic Change
This paper holds that the sentence-final de serves two functions:past-focus and affirmation.The functional classification should not base on the width of the focus of the sentence,but rather on de's grammatical functions:the possibility of being omitted,the possibility of being used in a question,its grammatical restriction on the event stated and the focus,its influence on the textual function,etc.The paper proves that de is a structural particle in both the narrow-focus sentence like"ta shi zuotian dao Beijing de"and the wide-focus sentence like"(zhe shir)shi jingcha ba ta zhua qilai de",while it is a mood particle in the wide-focus sentence like"zhuren mingtian hui lai danwei de".Additionally,the paper proposes a semantic evolution path for de:a nominalization marker → a past-focus particle → a confirmation-mood particle.It further explores the similarities and differences between de and le2,and compares the uses of de-like words and you-like words in Chinese dialects.
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