An Investigation on the Functional Features and Word Formation Processes of"Zaojiu(早就)"
"Zaojiu(早就)"is a commonly used temporal adverb in modern Chinese,which exhibits three different functions,namely,untimed temporal adverb,timed temporal adverb,and critical adverbs,depen-ding on the type of verb phrases with which it is paired,in the context of"Zaojiu+VP[achievement]",the function of"Zaojiu"is to highlight the possibility of the event coming true,and its nature is a critical adverb indicating the dynamic volitive.The functions and uses of"Zaojiu"and"Zaoyi(早已)"are similar but differ-ent:"Zaojiu"is more subjective than"Zaoyi"and tends to be used in non-realistic and speaker-subjective contexts;"Zaojiu"focuses on motivating modal meaning whereas"Zaoyi"focuses on reinforcing the degree of the action.The diachronic development of"Zaojiu"is reflected in the synchronic character of"Zaojiu":when the temporal adverbial parallel structure"Zao(早)+Jiu(就)"is combined with a modal verb phrase,the structure as a whole is detached from the temporal sense and is reanalyzed in the context as an adverbial of crit-ical with a dynamic modality.
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