Profiling analytic causative construction in Chinese: a multifactorial analysis of diachronic change

Abstract

Abstract Taking a multifactorial approach, this article profiles the formal and semantic changes of Chinese analytic causative construction (CACC for short) and its jiao 1 , jiao 2 , ling, rang and shi micro-constructions. It is found that CACC micro-constructions have undergone two types of formal change. Building on a data-driven periodization of diachronic data, this study analyzes semantic changes of CACC and its micro-constructions from semasiological and onomasiological perspectives and at local constituent and global construction levels. Major findings are as follows: six stages are identified in the semantic development of CACC micro-constructions. Semasiologically, diachronic semantic prototypicality of CACC remains constant while that of its micro-constructions changes with time. A general polysemization route is followed by CACC and its micro-constructions, with the superordinate CACC governing the subordinate micro-constructions in semantic change pathway. Onomasiologically, diachronic semantic division of labor among CACC micro-constructions varies over time. For CACC micro-constructions, semantics of local causer, causee and effected predicate tends to change in concert with global constructional semantics at early and late periods of semantic development, whereas local and global semantic changes during the intermediary stages are usually partially coordinated. This study has demonstrated the application of collostructional analysis in investigating diachronic semantic change of a construction.