A Revisit on the Diachronic Evolution of the Lexicalization Patterns of the Motion Events in Chinese

Peicui Zhang

doi:10.65961/crcl-2026-0013

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Current Research in Chinese Linguistics ›› 2026, Vol. 105 ›› Issue (1) : 241-267. DOI: 10.65961/crcl-2026-0013

A Revisit on the Diachronic Evolution of the Lexicalization Patterns of the Motion Events in Chinese

Peicui Zhang

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Abstract

The diachronic evolution of “V→S” of Chinese motion events has received great attention. However, there is still a controversy regarding whether “V→S” has been completed or not in Chinese history. This study advocates that Chinese motion event has finished the change of “V→S”, displaying a cyclical pattern of “V→E→S→(V)” (V being in parentheses indicates that Modern Chinese has not become a typical V-language). Adopting both qualitative and quantitative research methodology, this study follows the grammaticalization cline of the PATH verbs in Chinese and constructs a model of “The Cyclical Change of Chinese Motion Events”. To test the feasibility of the model, we conduct a quantitative study of the diachronic change of the PATH verb lai. This paper reveals that the transition of “V→S” had already been completed during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and since then Chinese tended to change from S-language to V-language. V-framed representations are tending to be predominant in Modern Chinese. The cyclical change in the lexicalization pattern of Chinese motion events is the result of the interaction between “clarity” and “economy”, and also the outcome of the influence of multiple factors, such as disyllabification, grammaticalization, and lexicalization. This study is a preliminary attempt to observe the evolution pattern of Chinese language from the perspective of “linguistic cycle”, which will stimulate deeper understandings of the Chinese typology and its diachronic changes.

Key words

motion event / lexicalization patterns / linguistic cycle / diachronic evolution

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Peicui Zhang. A Revisit on the Diachronic Evolution of the Lexicalization Patterns of the Motion Events in Chinese.Current Research in Chinese Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.65961/crcl-2026-0013 2026 , 105(1): 241-267

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