A Research of Compound Verbal Measuring Double-object Construction in Pingyao Dialect
It is observed that"V-gei"double object constructions in Pingyao dialect can license verbal measure words,forming a special"compound verbal measuring double-object construction"(henceforth VMDOC),such as"踢给兀家一脚""冻给狗日一晚间"and"跌给你一跤",etc.This pa-per claims that VMDOC in Pingyao dialect can express both"giving"and"causation"meanings.VM-DOC exemplified by"踢给兀家一脚"belongs to ditransitive constructions in which actions are identi-fied as transferred objects.While VMDOC exemplified by"冻给狗日一晚间""跌给你一跤"should be categorized as causative constructions which includes"permissive"and"general"causatives.In the former"gei"express"giving"meaning and verbal measure words are quasi-classifiers.While in the latter"gei"express"affective"meaning and verbal measure words are true classifiers.With the func-tional change of"gei"and verbal classifiers,VMDOC evolved from ditransitives to causatives.