Continuation and Change in Reference Point Relationship——A Study on the Grammaticalization of Dadi(大抵)
Originating from a nominal component,Dadi(大抵)has evolved into a scope adverb,degree adverb,and modality adverb.Used as a scope adverb,Dadi(大抵)mainly modifies the structure indicating events and quantities,while as a degree adverb,it describes the degree of actions or states.They all express the meaning of"approximate quantity".Due to the change in reference point relationship,highlighting the"approximate quantity"gives way to highlighting uncertainty.As a result,Dadi(大抵)has evolved into an adverb indicating probable epistemic modality.
Reference point relationshipDadi(大抵)Grammaticalization