Yunbo Cao
The “A huqi A/A'” structure is a unique pattern in Chinese for expressing semantic intensification, persisting from the pre-Qin period to the present day. Based on a constructional perspective, this paper systematically examines its historical evolutionary trajectory. The study finds that the constructionalization of this structure began with the trans-layered juxtaposition of hu and qi in the ancient period. It progressed through the initial framing and reanalysis in the medieval period, the deepening of construction and expansion of productivity in the early modern period, culminating in the convergence of schemas, prominence of prototypes, and complete constructionalization in the modern period. The constructional meaning evolved from early state depiction to the intensification of subjective extreme quantity and emotional expression. The core features of this constructional system are: a three-tier hierarchy of construction types, strong solidification of constants, components primarily being relative qualitative adjectives, and the intensifying constructional meaning emerging through juxtaposition, contrast, comparison, and pragmatic inference. Reanalysis, analogical extension, and conventionalization are important mechanisms for its formation, while the dual expressive needs of “elegance” and “popularity” serve as its motivation. Its success mainly stems from the effective expansion of extreme quantity expression, and the rise of vernacular Chinese was the ultimate force driving its complete constructionalization. During the process of constructionalization, the constant huqi exhibits infix-like features in form, but its nature and function must be understood within the construction as a whole, and it can be regarded as a constructional infix marker. This paper argues that the constructional perspective can provide a new analytical approach to the study of Chinese infixes.
