The emergence of so-complementation in Chinese Pidgin English

Abstract

Abstract Sentential complementation is generally unmarked in Chinese Pidgin English (ChnP). However, around the middle of the 19th century, the word so began to be used as a complementizer. This paper focuses on the origins of so as a complementizer in ChnP. An examination of so and another closely related expression so fashion (‘so, like this’) shows that their meanings and functions can largely be attributed to the corresponding expressions in the source languages, namely Cantonese gam2 (‘so, like this’) and English so in its anaphoric function. As Cantonese gam2 and English so are not complementizers, it is hypothesized that so-complementation is the result of reanalysis by which the anaphoric so is reinterpreted as a complementizer. It is further argued that the emergence of so-complementation is facilitated by a common grammaticalization pathway whereby deictic expressions acquire grammatical functions such as that of complementizer.