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20 May 2021, Volume 53 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Typological reflections on continuous and imperfective aspect CHEN Qianrui & Vittorio TaNTuCCi 2021, 53 (3):  323-335.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save The notion of continuous aspect (Comrie 1976: 25) has traditionally been a highly controversial one. Bybee et al. (1994: 139) suggest that there is not a consistent gram type for the continuous aspect, while Chappell (1992) and Hintz (2011: 51) respectively consider the Mandarin -zhe and the South Conchucos Quechua -yka: as examples of continuous aspect markers. The present study holds that these two continuous markers include resultative, progressive and imperfective functions. The imperfective meaning is to be distinguished from lexical strategies expressing habitual, resultative (in its broad sense) and present-state usages. At early stages of change, the English progressive construction comprised a variety of functions. Some of the original stative meanings of the construction can be analysed as ‘broad’ resultatives and can be seen as the source of the subsequent development of progressive, imperfective and perfect usages. Apart from being a source for the development of perfect, resultatives are also sources of progressives. Although the latter is a typologically sporadic phenomenon, it is yet concentrated across North East Asia, India, Nepal and neighbouring regions, and can be considered as one of the distinctive typological features of the languages of North Asia in general. Related Articles | Metrics

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A phase-head driven analysis on the agreement of the internal components in DP AN Fengcun & ZHAO Lei 2021, 53 (3):  336-348.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save The agreement correspondence and morphological co-variation of the internal components in DP are common linguistic phenomena. Previous studies mainly focused on the agreement between phrasal elements, but ignored the agreement in DP. It is found that the main components of agreement correspondence and morphological co-variance in DP are determiners, modifiers and noun heads, which involve notions such as definiteness, person, number, gender and countability. Based on the phasal properties of DP in the framework of Phase Theory, this paper proposes that the uF on the internal phase heads of DP is the motivation for the agreement between the internal components in DP. Related Articles | Metrics

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On the mechanism of causative alternations in Japanese compound verbs ZHANG Nan 2021, 53 (3):  349-361.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save This paper analyzes the grammatical nature of the preceding verb in compound verbs, so as to clarify the de-causal conditions and the mechanism of causative alternations in Japanese compound verbs. The results show that when compound verbs are de-causative, it is necessary to realize not only the background of the preceding event, but also its semantic restriction on the subsequent event, so as to ensure that the preceding verb participates in both the conceptual and argument structures. Moreover, the compound verb derived from de-causative actions, whose preceding verb represents the “result like state” of the changed object, is designated as the subordinate of BE in the semantic conceptual structure, and further defines the “result state” shown by the following verb. This conclusion helps to explain the applicability of the “Unique Path Constraint” to Japanese compound verbs and the hypothesis of “Result Regression”. Related Articles | Metrics

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The position change of the negator and its causes in modern Chinese — With “jianyi bu + VP” and “bu jianyi + VP” as examples CHU Zexiang & SHEN Xiaoyang 2021, 53 (3):  362-373.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save The negator bu (not) in Chinese originally could not directly negate jianyi (propose), forming a bu jianyi expression. But around the time of May 4th Movement, there appeared the expression “bu jianyi + VP” in Chinese. It is analysed in this paper that the expression resulted from the Chinese-English contact at the end of the Qing Dynasty and in the early years of the Republic of China. Since the expression “bu jianyi + VP” has such pragmatic functions as of euphemism and leeway, it does have its own value of existence in Chinese. Related Articles | Metrics

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A study on Chinese EFL learners’ processing of English Neg-Raising Constructions HAN Baijing & ZENG Tao 2021, 53 (3):  374-386.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save There exists an ever-lasting debate between the syntactic model and the inferential model concerning the processing mechanism of Neg-Raising Constructions (NRC). Using an acceptability judgment task, the present study investigates Chinese EFL learners’ NRC processing mechanism on three indicators (lower-positioned negatives in deep structures, syntactic movement operations and Neg-dependent distances) in three types of contexts (the neutral context and the contexts biased towards the syntactic model and the referential model respectively). The results reveal that the relevant indicators are significant in the biased contexts, especially in the one towards the referential model; but not in the neutral one. It concludes that the syntactic model is preferred to the inferential model in terms of the predictions for the NRC processing mechanism. Both the results and the conclusion can be well accounted for under the Hypothesis of Explicit Neg (-Position) -Sensitive Markers (ENSM) proposed in this study. Related Articles | Metrics

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Bidirectional conceptual transfer in motion events of Chinese EFL learners Liu Xuehui & CHEN Yaping 2021, 53 (3):  387-399.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save Conceptual transfer is a new research trend in the field of language transfer, yet previous studies mostly based their analyses on the linguistic level rather than the conceptual level. Moreover, the bi-directionality of conceptual transfer has been seldom touched upon. Targeting the conceptual domain of motion events, this study investigated the expressions and conceptual schemas of motion events of low- and high-proficiency EFL learners and compared them with native speakers of Chinese and English with the data collected from two tasks (i.e. a story retelling task and a similarity judgment task using E-Prime), to explore whether bidirectional conceptual transfer exists and how it is related to L2 proficiency. The results show that 1) Chinese EFL learners underwent bi-directional conceptual transfer, evidenced by their expressions and conceptual schemas of motion events different from native speakers of Chinese and English; 2) expressions and conceptual schemas of motion events of low-proficiency EFL learners were closer to those of native Chinese speakers while those of high-proficiency learners more approximate to native English speakers. This seems to suggest that the higher the English proficiency, the less prominent the forward transfer and the more prominent the backward transfer. Related Articles | Metrics

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Directions and domains of conceptual transfer: Evidence from motion events ZHANG Sumin 2021, 53 (3):  400-412.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save Using Conceptual Transfer Hypothesis to distinguish concepts and conceptualization, this study investigates the directions and domains of conceptual transfer through 2005 bilingual construals, of the figure, path and background of motion events drawn from 31 short video clips of Chinese EFL learners. It was found that 1) there were systematic errors in the learners’ use of articles without significant frequency differences in their expressions of figure; 2) path satellites were significantly over used in the English expressions of path; and 3) there were much more source information expressions in Chinese than in English though the goal was expressed more than the source in both Chinese and English ground expressions. The results mirror predicted bidirectional transfer with different directions and domains in the motion domain: L1 transfer may occur more likely in lexical and grammatical domains whereas the target language’s reverse transfer may occur more likely in the syntactic domain. Finally, it traces the origin of the semantic elements construal of motion events, proposing that the conceptual transfer directions and domains are dynamic phenomena under the dual effects of the first and the target language conceptual features and thinking paradigms. Related Articles | Metrics

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English or the neighboring languages: Foreign language planning in ethnic minority areas of Yunnan Province of China HAO Xingyue & YIN Zhiping 2021, 53 (3):  413-423.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save Being rich in language resources, the Yunnan ethnic border areas of China deserve special attention when foreign language (FL) planning is carried out. Though the targets are obvious with such FL as English and neighboring languages to be planned, a proper and scientific planning of these FL is no easy job. This is because such factors as frontier, cross-border and ethnic minorities need to be included in the planning. Most importantly, the planning of these FL must be carried out within the framework of the national language policy. Thus, we suggest taking both macro and micro perspectives in FL planning in these areas. On the macro level, there is a need of constructing national language competency and promoting trans-language communication required by the Belt and Road Initiative; on the micro level, there exist special sociolinguistic factors such as geographical closeness, cultural relationship and language family ties. With all of these in mind, we present three models for FL planning in these particular areas and analyze their legitimacy and applicability. Related Articles | Metrics

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Reflections on transition from language teaching to language education in Arabic major at Chinese universities XUE Qingguo 2021, 53 (3):  424-433.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save While Arabic teachers at Chinese universities have paid more attention to the skills training and knowledge transfer on foreign language teaching (FLT), they seldom contemplate the importance of foreign language education (FLE). As a result, the overall qualities of FL major students have not been satisfactory in terms of their humanistic literacy, cross-cultural communication competence and critical thinking ability. This paper suggests that Arabic instructions should be redirected from FLT to FLE in view of the new challenges that China faces in international interactions in the post COVID-19 epidemic world. In order to solve the difficulties faced by some Arabic majors, the paper proposes several ideas to reform the curriculums, textbooks, and teaching strategies. Related Articles | Metrics

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Evolution of Portuguese education in the Chinese mainland and Macao from the perspective of inter-state interactions: A discussion on the path of diversifcation SUN Yi, SONG Haoyan & YAO Jingming 2021, 53 (3):  434-443.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save This article combines studies of international relations and foreign language education and tries to establish a causal relationship between the “foreign language departments growth” and “relationship between China and target countries”. It concludes that international relations have played roles of positioning, orientation, quantitative and qualitative configuration in building foreign language departments. This article focuses on the impacts of the interaction between China and Portuguese-speaking countries on the construction and development of Portuguese departments in the Chinese mainland and Macao. Based on recent development trends between these countries, the paper proposes a possible diversified education of Portuguese majors. It suggests that Portuguese-speaking majors should be cultivated with economic and trade expertise as well as cultural knowledge of the regions concerned, which can be better achieved by exploring the potentials for cooperation between mainland universities and Macao universities. Related Articles | Metrics

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Pound regards Chinese as an ideal language: Foundations and signifcance of his arguments PENG Shuixiang & LIU Lihui 2021, 53 (3):  444-455.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save With the Aryan languages as his reference, Pound mainly compared the similarities and differences between English and Chinese. From the perspective of poetics, he derived ideas and inspirations from Chinese written characters, formed and proposed the ideogrammic method to push forward the modernist poetry movement and the reform of English poetry. His efforts not only changed the path of English literature to some extent, but also promoted the spread of Chinese ideogrammic civilization in the West. Pound considered the visual presentation of Chinese characters universally relevant and explored the significance of Chinese as a poetic language for building up an intellectual fabric in defense of ideogrammic civilization. He applied ideogrammic method to writing poetry so as to show the responsibility of language for the world. Pound’s view on Chinese language has certain theoretical foundations and factual evidence (although it also contains some elements of imagination and farfetched analogies), which is enlightening for revitalizing western poetics and ruminating over western civilization. Related Articles | Metrics

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The linguistic foundation of the French Enlightenment: A cultural history of classical French in the 17th & 18th centuries XU Qianjin 2021, 53 (3):  456-467.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save The classical French had approximated perfection in the late 17th century. On the one hand, it broke the monopoly of Latin in French culture. On the other hand, it provided a stable language foundation for French Enlightenment. In addition, French was also an important analytical method, which expanded the research scope of French Enlightenment to the field of linguistics and analyzed the main issues in a different way from traditional research, including the formation of public sphere, educational reform and national identity. Therefore, the perfection of classical French is not only a linguistic issue, but also a political-cultural issue. Related Articles | Metrics

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F. Ibánez et al. (eds.): Constructing Families of Constructions: analytical Perspectives and Theoretical Challenges (2017) JIA Hongxia & LI Fuyin 2021, 53 (3):  468-472.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save Related Articles | Metrics

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A. Aikhenvald: Serial Verbs (2018) ZHAO Xu 2021, 53 (3):  473-477.  Abstract ( 0 )   Save Related Articles | Metrics