Author(s)

Hong Li

Corresponding Author

Hong Li

Abstract

There is a sentence pattern in modern Chinese--”guan ta shenme X”. In this sentence pattern, “guan ta “ has become a word, and the semanteme of “shenme” is delexical, and X can be a word, a phrase or a minor sentence. The sentence pattern expresses the attitude of denying any condition. This paper first describes in detail the structural and semantic features of “guan ta shenme X” and then examines its grammaticalization process. It is found that this minor sentence is a value judgment or understanding made by the speaker while ignoring a certain premise or consequence. Specifically, it includes two types: ignoring the condition and ignoring the result. In addition, “guan ta shenme X” is grammatically transformed into an unconditional pragmatic marker in unconditional compound sentences, and expresses the speaker's subjective knowledge and emotions during this evolution.

Keywords

Pragmatic marker; “guan ta shenme x”; Grammaticalization; Subjectivazation