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Let's give our spotlight to our LT PhD student CHEN Xiuting, supervised by Prof. LIU Meichun, for her two rewarding achievements.
(1) Xiuting has received the Best Paper Award, titled Mandarin Influence on Cantonese Comparative Constructions since the Ming–Qing Dynasties, at the Biannual Conference of the Guangdong-Province Association of Linguistics on 16 Nov.
Abstract: The distribution of comparative constructions in Cantonese has undergone substantial readjustment since the Ming and Qing dynasties. The findings reveal that the evolution of comparative constructions in Cantonese followed a trajectory from the dominance of a single pattern in the Ming and Qing periods, through functional readjustments induced by diffusion, to the coexistence of two major comparative constructions under conditions of intensive language contact.
(2) Recently, Prof. Liu and Xiuting also published an article, named Co-occurrence and Constraints of Degree Adverbs in Chinese bi-Comparative, on a journal Language Studies《语言研究》included by CSSCI (Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index).
Abstract: The co-occurrence of degree adverbs with the bǐ（比）comparative construction in Modern Chinese is subject to constraints, leading traditional classification of degree adverbs in previous literature, with the underlying mechanism being unclear. A collostructional analysis reveals that the construction exhibits distinct constructional features, with degree adverbs predominantly postposing bǐ to modify the Attribute, thereby emphasizing the degree of disparity. Functionally, these adverbs fall into two subtypes: (i) polarity-implicated degree adverbs (e.g., gèng（更）, hái（还）), which exhibit the strongest association with the construction and highlight a high degree of Attribute; and (ii) measure-implicated degree adverbs (e.g., shāo（稍）, lüè（略）), which denote minimal differences and frequently co-occur with indefinite quantitative complements. These two subtypes, semantically compatible and functionally complementary, constitute comparative degree adverbs. In contrast, non-comparative degree adverbs (e.g., hěn（很）, fēicháng（非常）) and comparative adverbs (e.g., jiào（较）, zuì（最）) function similarly to [bǐ+Y], serving as operators in qualitative evaluation constructions. Due to the principle of linguistic economy, they generally do not co-occur with the bi-comparative construction.
(1) Xiuting has received the Best Paper Award, titled Mandarin Influence on Cantonese Comparative Constructions since the Ming–Qing Dynasties, at the Biannual Conference of the Guangdong-Province Association of Linguistics on 16 Nov.
Abstract: The distribution of comparative constructions in Cantonese has undergone substantial readjustment since the Ming and Qing dynasties. The findings reveal that the evolution of comparative constructions in Cantonese followed a trajectory from the dominance of a single pattern in the Ming and Qing periods, through functional readjustments induced by diffusion, to the coexistence of two major comparative constructions under conditions of intensive language contact.
(2) Recently, Prof. Liu and Xiuting also published an article, named Co-occurrence and Constraints of Degree Adverbs in Chinese bi-Comparative, on a journal Language Studies《语言研究》included by CSSCI (Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index).
Abstract: The co-occurrence of degree adverbs with the bǐ（比）comparative construction in Modern Chinese is subject to constraints, leading traditional classification of degree adverbs in previous literature, with the underlying mechanism being unclear. A collostructional analysis reveals that the construction exhibits distinct constructional features, with degree adverbs predominantly postposing bǐ to modify the Attribute, thereby emphasizing the degree of disparity. Functionally, these adverbs fall into two subtypes: (i) polarity-implicated degree adverbs (e.g., gèng（更）, hái（还）), which exhibit the strongest association with the construction and highlight a high degree of Attribute; and (ii) measure-implicated degree adverbs (e.g., shāo（稍）, lüè（略）), which denote minimal differences and frequently co-occur with indefinite quantitative complements. These two subtypes, semantically compatible and functionally complementary, constitute comparative degree adverbs. In contrast, non-comparative degree adverbs (e.g., hěn（很）, fēicháng（非常）) and comparative adverbs (e.g., jiào（较）, zuì（最）) function similarly to [bǐ+Y], serving as operators in qualitative evaluation constructions. Due to the principle of linguistic economy, they generally do not co-occur with the bi-comparative construction.
