The plural markers in the Guanzhong dialect primarily fall into four categories: the de type, the xie type, the men type, and the huo type. These plural markers exhibit certain differences in terms of geographical distribution, scope of application, and semantic expression. Among them, the plural marker men has the widest geographical distribution, while the plural marker xie has the narrowest. The plural markers men, de, huo, huoli, and xiege can only be attached to human-referring nominal elements to denote plurality, whereas the plural marker xie is not subject to this restriction and can also be attached to non-human-referring nominal elements to indicate plurality. The plural markers huo, huoli, and xiege can only express ordinary plural, while the plural markers men and de can express both ordinary plural and associative plural. The plural marker xie, on the other hand, can express ordinary plural, associative plural, and similative plural. The divergent origins of these plural markers are the primary reason for these observed differences.

Based on a tri-domain perspective (content, epistemic, and speech-act), this paper examines the differentiation of “V qilai” in modern Chinese and the generative mechanism of its connective function. Corpus analysis reveals that “V qilai” exhibits a progressive differentiation across the three domains. In the content domain, it functions as a verb-complement structure, connecting actions syntactically through temporal sequences. In the epistemic domain, it serves as the initial component of the “V qilai AP” construction, establishing a perspectivized evaluative framework for supra-sentential inferential connection. In the speech-act domain, it acts as a discourse marker, organizing text through stance negotiation. The study shows that the three domains of “V qilai” form a continuum across three parametric systems: syntactic hierarchy (syntactic → supra-syntactic → textual), subjectivity (objective → subjective → intersubjective), and functional orientation (propositional → inferential → discursive). The connective function of “V qilai” results from the interaction of cognitive domain shifts, subjectivization, and syntactic regulation.

Xiang serves as an incipient proximative marker in the Xuzhou dialect. Compared with fully grammaticalized proximative markers, it exhibits a wider range of syntactic and semantic properties characteristic of the early stages of grammaticalization. Drawing on the synchronic syntactic differences of xiang across its diverse semantic functions, a more comprehensive grammaticalization pathway from desiderative verbs to proximative markers can be constructed, enabling a deeper exploration of the evolutionary mechanism underlying this grammaticalization. Previous studies on proximative markers have rarely addressed the following syntactic features of xiang: (1) When the subject is a human and xiang is followed by a dynamic non-volitional situation, a distinction arises between subject-oriented and speaker-oriented readings, with the former encoding the subject’s perception; (2) When the subject is a human and xiang is followed by a dynamic volitional situation, xiang can convey the proximative reading only in highly constrained contexts, and in most cases retains its core desiderative meaning. According to feature (1), it is clear that the grammaticalization of desiderative verbs commences with the functional expansion of xiang to subsequent verbs. Taken together, features (1) and (2) demonstrate that the polysemous stage - where desiderative and proximative readings co-occur - emerges after the proximative has developed, rather than immediately following the desiderative verb stage.

This paper investigates applicative constructions in Northwestern Chinese dialects and compares them with those found in Mandarin Chinese. As in Mandarin, the applicative marker in Northwestern Chinese dialects typically derives from the verb gěi ‘give’, which is suffixed to the verb and serves to increase verbal valency. When occurring with trivalent verbs of giving, however, the applicative marker is optional and does not give rise to a valency-increasing effect. Applicative constructions in different Northwestern Chinese dialects display both shared and dialect-specific properties. The semantic roles of applicative objects are mainly beneficiaries and recipients. Influenced by contact with minority languages, the word-order patterns of applicative constructions across dialects show both convergence and divergence, forming a continuum in their distribution. Overall, applicative constructions marked by the suffix gěi ‘give’ constitute a salient grammatical feature of Northwestern Chinese dialect grammar.

It is widely assumed that yi ‘one’-CL-NP phrases in Mandarin are consistently interpreted as indefinite, whereas numeral phrases with numbers greater than one can receive definite interpretations. This paper challenges that assumption, arguing instead that Mandarin numeral phrases do not intrinsically encode distinct semantic properties. The observed contrast in definiteness between yi-CL-NP and num(>1)-CL-NP phrases, as well as the apparent restrictions on the anaphoric use of yi-CL-NP, are best explained in terms of their competition with bare nouns. Adopting the principle Minimize DP! (Patel-Grosz & Grosz 2017), this paper proposes that when a yi-CL-NP phrase and a bare noun denote the same entity, and no independent factor licenses the former, the syntactically and semantically simpler bare noun is obligatorily preferred in definite contexts.

In a numeral-classifier phrase, the approximative duo has three possible syntactic positions: post-classifier, between the numeral and classifier, and within the numeral constituent. This paper terms this the floating phenomenon of approximative duo. Starting from this phenomenon and base on the cardinal-multiplier analysis and the phrase structure hypothesis for numerals, we proposes a novel analysis of the Chinese numeral-classifier structure: the Chinese “numeral” should be decomposed into a series of Cardinal Phrases (CardP), headed by a cardinal word (e.g., shi ‘ten’, bai ‘hundred’) and taking a multiplier word (e.g., yi ‘one’, er ‘two’) as its specifier. Within this analysis, the approximative duo is argued to be a special type of multiplier word, and classifiers are analyzed as special types of cardinal words. The essential nature of duo’s floating phenomenon is thus that duo functions as the multiplier for different cardinal words.

Interrogatives can be categorized into polar questions and constituent questions based on the dichotomy of question types. The former seeks confirmation of the proposition put forth, while the latter seeks information specifically targeted by the interrogative constituent. In the Hanzhong dialect of Shaanxi, “…ba” interrogatives can also be divided into two types: the confirmation-seeking polar question with ba and the information-seeking constituent question “VP ba”. By analyzing the nature of ba and the usage, syntactic, and semantic characteristics of “VP ba”, we argue that “VP ba” essentially belongs to the category of A-not-A questions. Since the fact that the Hanzhong dialect is spoken in the transitional zone between Zhongyuan Mandarin and Southwest Mandarin, “VP ba” is inevitably influenced by multiple internal and external factors of the language system. There are four stages in the evolution from A-not-A questions to polar questions. “VP ba” is at the third stage of the evolution chain.

The adverb guozhen carries an independent syntactic function. It deals with the relationship between the preceding information and the current sentence, whose core meaning is “the aforementioned information has been verified”. The semantic structure of guozhen includes three parts: the information to be verified, the act of verification, and the result of verification, which reflect respectively the speaker’s epistemic stance of uncertainty, intention to seek verification, and acceptance of the verified result. The information state therefore changes from unverified to verified. The difference between guozhen and guoran lies mainly in the speaker’s attitude and the semantic functions they perform. With guozhen, speakers tend to take a skeptical stance, intending to verify the preceding information. With guoran, speakers often assume a believing stance, and the subsequent propositions typically support the preceding information. In some discourses, the speaker’s attitude may be omitted and their stance is unknown, making guozhen and guoran interchangeable. However, the semantic structures they activate remain different.

This article explores the impact on the Chinese language of three major historical language contacts, using the formation of jialai/jiaqu ‘come home/go home’ as a guiding thread. The foreign languages involved in these contacts shared the same typological profile - all were SOV languages with case-marking systems. Consequently, their overall influence on Chinese grammar progressively deepened in a particular evolutionary direction. Via the Silk Road, ancient Indian languages - first introduced to China via Chinese translations of Buddhist sutras - exerted a profound influence on Chinese. Many syntactic features that later became characteristic of Chinese had already begun to emerge in these Buddhist translations, and were often more prominent than in contemporaneous native Chinese writings. Jialai/Jiaqu appeared only sporadically after the second contact, increased gradually during the third contact, and eventually became integrated into the common Chinese language. The emergence of jialai/jiaqu was subject to interference from postpositional locative words, which were themselves influenced by case marking in the contact languages. Once external influence waned, internal grammatical pressures within Chinese suppressed the further expansion of postpositional constructions; only then did jialai/jiaqu come into being.

Guided by Semantics Grammar and based on corpus and logic, this study limits the syntactic environment of the preposition lun to the anti-expectation discourse of “quadratic contrast”, extracts its grammatical meaning as “expectation based on order”, and summarizes its construction feature as “interaction and juxtapositon”. Firstly, reviewing previous research, it is proposed that the preposition usage of lun needs to be described more delicately. Secondly, the syntactic-semantic structuring of lun is reconstructed at the level of discourse and it is pointed out that the lun construction must be placed in an anti-expectation discourse to become an utterance, be it in a typical turning discourse or an atypical out-turning-and-in-causal discourse. Thirdly, the syntactic collocation and semantic selection of lun are described and verified from the level of sentence, where it is pointed out that the requirement of anti-expectation discourse could be attributed to the construction’s one-sidedness, which is reflected in the “orderliness” of the fact-clause and the “preference” of the opinion-clause. Fourthly, the grammatical meaning of lun is generalized as “expectation based on order”, i.e. by positioning things within a certain frame of reference, a preferred expectation is generated, which in turn creates the need for quadratic contrast in communication. Therefore, all lun constructions arise from the question-answer interaction. Finally, this study reflects on the semantics research of prepositions.

The jiaomo-type words, functioning as verbs, adverbs, and conjunctions, occur in various forms. The most common form is the verb “jiao (pro) mo”, which derives from dissuasive-interrogative constructions of the pattern “jiao pro mo VP”, originally meaning “to allow to proceed unhindered”. Historically, these forms were carried into central regions by migrants from Jiangxi who settled in present-day Hunan and Hubei. Through grammaticalization, the verbal construction underwent syntactic reanalysis in certain contexts, evolving into a concessive conjunction equivalent to jinguan ‘despite’. These migrants outnumbered the local population in areas such as Huangzhou and De’an, leading to a contiguous distribution of jiaomo-type words in northeastern Hubei, while other regions exhibit a more scattered distribution. With further grammatical development in the Changyi dialect of Xiang, jiaomo-type verbs have been reanalyzed via inferential contexts into adverbs meaning “why not”. Geographically, jiaomo-type words are primarily distributed in the Huangxiao dialect and can be regarded as its dialect characteristic words.

This paper examines the semantic functions and diachronic evolution of the directional verbs luo and xia in Hakka dialects from the late 19th century to the 1950s. Initially, luo and xia exhibited semantic opposition related to their differing emphases on the reference frames of motion. Over time, however, their semantics gradually converged. Through diachronic and cross-dialectal comparisons, this study argues that this change resulted from semantic replication triggered by contact with Mandarin, which drove a renewed “secondary classification” within the directional verb system of Hakka dialects. This process ultimately led to a re-division between form and semantics.

The issue of how lexical words become coordinating conjunctions through grammaticalization has always interested scholars in linguistic typology, and, in recent years, many have examined the universal patterns of conjunction grammaticalization using cross-linguistic comparisons. This study is based on fieldwork from 2010 to 2025 and covers 1,533 coordinating conjunctions drawn from 426 languages and 367 Chinese dialects along the Silk Road, aiming to analyze their grammatical features and grammaticalization pathways. Two main findings are reported. (1) The grammaticalization pathways of coordinating conjunctions in Silk Road languages can be divided into “co-agent type” - which tends to link animate nouns - and “co-patient type” - which tends to combine inanimate nouns. (2) Many conjunctions in these languages are homophonous with numerals, leading to two subtypes: one where “and” corresponds to the numeral “one” (such as Georgian -dan ertad, Uyghur bilan), and the other where “and” aligns with the numeral “two” (such as Dongxiang guala in Gansu and Qinghai, and lia, liangge in some Mandarin dialects of the area). This research demonstrates the diversity of conjunctions in Silk Road languages, supplying important data and fresh insight for typological studies.

This paper provides a systematic analysis of the syntactic structure of the “NP₁ + V + you ‘have’ + NP₂” construction in the Jiyuan dialect, examining the grammatical functions of you ‘have’ and exploring its grammaticalization process and conditions. The research findings are as follows: (1) You ‘have’ serves multiple functions, including possession, existence, completion-persistence, and focus marking, forming a continuum that ranges from “spatial existence” to “temporal completion”. (2) It has undergone an evolution characterized by a progression from “possession > existence > completion-persistence > focus marking”. (3) In comparison to Mandarin, high transitive verbs such as duo ‘chop’, chi ‘eat’, and you ‘swim’ can freely enter this construction in the Jiyuan dialect. Additionally, the role of “NP₁” has expanded from locative expressions to include agent subjects. (4) The grammaticalization of you ‘have’ is influenced by several factors: the reduction of verb reduplication prompts a reanalysis of the structure (V^D + you ‘have’ →V⁰ + you ‘have’), semantic appropriateness facilitates its transition from spatial contexts to temporal ones, and frequent usage accelerates its grammaticalization process. The multifunctionality of you ‘have’ in the Jiyuan dialect illustrates its evolutionary trajectory from being spatially driven to temporally driven.

The de-type compound marker gezai in early Wu dialect literature has tense-aspect functions. Compared to zai, gezai cannot report hot news in on-site context. In narrative discourse, VP+gezai can only show non-main event line and cannot advance the event chain forward, whereas VP+zai has no such restriction. This distinction indicates different tense-aspect meanings encoded by gezai and zai. Gezai denotes the relative-past tense and expresses the completion of an event before the reference time, while zai denotes the meaning of “change of event” besides relative-past tense.

Heijianglai is a frequently used temporal noun in the Jin dialect, mainly distributed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and parts of Inner Mongolia. It derives from the “V + jiang + lai” construction in Late Mandarin. Its lexicalization was triggered by supernormal collocation, and further shaped by metaphor, metonymy, and analogy within specific syntactic structures and contexts. The specific lexicalization pathway of heijianglai can be summarized as: hei + jiang + lai (phrase) → hei + jianglai (phrase) → heijianglai (compound word). The degree of lexicalization of heijianglai varies across different sub-regions of the Jin dialect. The occurrence of retroflexion and the suffixation of “-zi” indicate a relatively high degree of lexicalization.

The causative verb zhuo in early modern Chinese has experienced a process of “to place>to use>to cause”. The change of “to place>to use” is semantically resulted from the metonymy. And semantic metaphor and syntactic reanalysis are involved in the change of “to use>to cause”. The latter change is quite typical in ancient Chinese, which can also be seen from shi in archaic Chinese, qian in medieval Chinese, and shi in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Evidence of dialects and typology demonstrates the relationship between semantic categories of instrumental and causative as well. The causative verb zhuo appeared in the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, developed in the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and declined quickly in the Qing Dynasty.

Dharmaksema (385-433 CE) was a renowned Buddhist monk of the Northern Liang Dynasty who translated numerous Buddhist scriptures. This paper examines the transcriptions of dhāraṇīs, proper names and aksara transliterations in his translations to explore the initial system of Hexi Chinese in the 5th century. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Voiced obstruents were pronounced as unaspirated consonants; (2) Labiodental and bilabial consonants had not yet differentiated; (3) The duān group and zhī group were largely differentiated, with the zhī group pronounced as retroflex consonants; (4) The zhāng group were palatal consonants, and the chán initial was an affricate; (5) Voiced nasal initials were pure nasals without stop components; (6) The correspondances of the xiá initial fell into three categories. Overall, the initial system of Chinese reflected in Dharmaksema’s translations does not exhibit features that can establish a historical link with later Northwestern Chinese dialects, but rather aligns closely with the common language of his time. Moreover, the corresponding forms of the transliterated terms indicate that, while the underlying language of Dharmaksema’s translations contained some Prākrit elements, the degree of Sanskritization was already quite high. This also demonstrates the validity of using Sanskrit as an intermediary for phonological studies of early monks’ translations.

This paper describes the sentence-final particle keh in declarative and interrogative sentences in Jinhua Wu dialect. In declaratives, keh exclusively occurs in verbal predicate clauses but is barred from nominal predicate clauses, typically conveying confirmatory assertion. In interrogatives, keh optionally appears under pragmatic conditions to reinforce interrogative force, signalling high response expectations of the speaker. The study further compares functions of sentence-final de- type particles across seven Wu dialects, revealing their robust functional development in all cases, with Jinhua dialect being particularly prominent. Specifically, keh exhibits syntactic obligatoriness in assertions of confirmation, and its functionality has historically expanded to yes-no questions, alternative questions, and tag questions, serving to strenthen interrogative force and heighten interactive expectations.

The present study focuses on the syntax of the sentence-final particle gaa3 in Cantonese from a cartographic perspective. Gaa3 can be observed in three distinct constructions (exclamative, declarative and interrogative) with respect to five different contexts (plain statement, simple information-seeking question, exclamation, warning, and quick-answer-demanding question). By examining the grammatical properties and interpretations of each gaa3, this paper offers a unified syntactic analysis for the different occurrences of gaa3. We argue that Tang’s (2020) framework can well account for the different occurrences of gaa3, which involve different underlying movements. This adds weight to the neo-perfomative approach which aims at syntacticizing properties of speech acts with a fine-grained hierarchy at the left periphery.

The disyllabic tentative marker kanqiao in the Nanjing dialect conveys meanings of both attempt and warning, each exhibiting distinct syntactic distributions. Kanqiao is derived from the contraction of kankanqiao and has undergone grammaticalization to become a tentative marker through syntactic reanalysis. Kanqiao mostly conveys the meaning of pseudo attempt (warning), showing functional differentiation from the monosyllabic tentative markers kan/qiao, which typically indicate genuine attempts. This phenomenon is prevalent in Chinese dialects, and its fundamental motivation lies in the different perspectives of human cognition and understanding of the attempted action.

Hang and me in the Wenshui (Hulan) dialect in Shanxi Province have many commonalities in syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. However, there are also obvious differences in expression function. Hang and me belong to the typical subjective evaluative morphology and are related to the subjective quantity, which is the relevant motivation behind the commonality of the two. Hang belongs to the subjective decrement and me belongs to the subjective increment, which lead to the difference in usage between the two.

This paper investigates sluicing-like constructions (SCs) in Mandarin, Mongolian, and Uyghur, contributing to ongoing debates concerning the nature of anaphoric elements in SCs. Through a comparative analysis, we challenge existing diagnostics for distinguishing between surface and deep anaphora, which draws on the availability of “sloppy” identity readings (contra Wang & Wu 2006) or on the c-command condition on such readings (contra Wei 2009). We expand the current discussion by considering the availability mix “sloppy” readings as a diagnostic test and its correlation with (anti-)case-matching effects and facts about extraction from SCs. Our findings suggest that SCs in Mandarin and Uyghur involve deep anaphora, while SCs in Mongolian exhibit characteristics of surface anaphora. This research offers new insights into the typology of anaphora in SCs.

Through the analysis of dialect materials from the Tang and Song dynasties, the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the modern era in Northwest China, it is found that in the northwest dialects during the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasties, the de, mai, mo-II rhymes (three Middle Chinese rhyme categories) had already been merged, with the main vowel being [e]. In a few cases, [e] was raised to [i], which led to the merger with the zhi, xi, xi rhymes (three Middle Chinese rhyme categories). During the Western Xia period, after these vowels reached the highest degree of raising, they began to undergo breaking, following the pattern of e > i > iə > ie. Such phonetic changes continued and developed in the Lanyin Mandarin of the Ming and Qing dynasties and in the modern Jin dialect. From the perspective of the identity and difference of phonetic changes, this characteristic of the Northwest Chinese dialects is of a cognate nature, not a result of contact-induced convergence. Under the influence of the Central Plains Mandarin, this phonetic change in the northwest dialects gradually retreated. Nowadays, it is only limited to the Jin dialect and the Lanyin Mandarin, mostly involving labial initial characters, and shows a declining trend. Rounded syllables do not participate in this phonetic change, and the phonetic changes of yangsheng rhymes and rusheng rhymes are not synchronized.

We discuss a method of identifying verbal classifiers in archaic and early medieval Chinese based on the analysis of two groups of words: zā, zhuàng, bèi and fā, hé, xíng. We point out that the task of identifying verbal classifiers is to decide whether X in the sequence “Verb (+Obj) + Numeral + X” is a verbal classifier. We provide the syntactic structure of the sequence when X is a noun, a nominal classifier, a verb, or a verbal classifier respectively as the basis for deciding the grammatic identity of X. In contrast to previous work that views the two groups of words as verbal classifiers, we argue that the first group should be identified as nouns and the second group should be identified as verbs to better account for their distributions. Based on the analyses of the two groups of words, we suggest that one should rely on syntactic analysis instead of semantic interpretation of the sequence above to decide whether X is a verbal classifier.

The modern Chinese sentence-final particle na has two origins: first, it derives from a phonetic change of a when the preceding word has an “-n” coda, denoted as na₁; second, it originates from the syllabic fusion of the sentence-final particles ne and a, denoted as na₂. Drawing on a series of Ho-Kian Fu dialect documents compiled by late Qing missionaries, and supplemented by Beijing dialect documents and contemporary Hebei dialect data, this study demonstrates from multiple perspectives the existence of the consecutive use of the sentence-final particles ne and a, thereby substantiating the plausibility of the syllabic fusion theory for na₂. After ne a fused into na₂, the mood expressed by na₂ has also developed from superimposed mood to composite mood. Specifically, in non-interrogative sentences, na₂ conveys a strong reminding mood; in interrogative sentences, it conveys a mitigated pragmatic force of reminder and inquiry (in information-seeking questions), or the speaker’s critical or reproachful stance (in rhetorical questions). Owing to its multifunctionality and high frequency, na₂ likely exerted an assimilative effect on na₁, which is homonymous and occupies the same syntactic position. This ultimately led to the merger of this portion of na₁ with na₂, together constituting the sentence-final particle na in modern Chinese.

Based on spoken dialogue, this study discusses the stance-taking function of the “Lao A le” structure from an interactional perspective. The findings show that the adjectives used this structure are qualitative and comparative in nature, primarily consisting of monosyllabic and disyllabic words. “Lao A le” reflects the speaker’s distinct epistemic stance, including incremental expression, evaluative expression, and counter-expectation expression. It also conveys a clear affective stance, typically expressing positive emotions. Furthermore, it demonstrates the speaker’s attitudinal stance, that is, inviting the hearer to align with their stance, thereby achieving stance alignment. The analysis of epistemic, affective, and especially attitudinal stance in this article offers a new perspective on the study of stance-taking in Chinese discourse.

There is a sentence-final particle [kəʔ] that expresses realis existence in Haimen dialect. The nature of the particle differs from the focal marker [kəʔ] and the modal particle [kəʔ]. Depending on the semantic type of the predicate, [kəʔ] can be divided into three forms: [kəʔ]_past, which expresses the existence of past events, [kəʔ]_static, which indicates the existence of static states, and [kəʔ]_habitual, which denotes the existence of habitual events. All three forms are used obligatorily. Notably, [kəʔ]_habitual can appear in negative sentences, while [kəʔ]_past and [kəʔ]_static cannot. Functionally, all three forms encode the “existence” aspect, with [kəʔ]_past also indicating past tense and [kəʔ]_static conveying an affirmative tone. The sentence-final particle [kəʔ] in Haimen dialect demonstrates that the sentence-final particle ge in Wu dialect has a tense-aspect function.

The sentence-final particle ge in the Anyuan Dialect shares functional similarities with Mandarin Chinese de, with its core discourse function being to mark the speaker’s assertion towards realistic events and epistemic commitment towards unrealistic events. Other functions of ge/ de, such as explanation, refutation, correction, and reminder, emerge from this core function through interactive contextualization. Notably, the sentence-final ge in the Anyuan Dialect further emerges mirative mood, as well as pursuit questioning, confrontational challenging, admonition, suggestion, and directive functions, with certain functions exhibiting a higher degree of conventionalization.

Buddhist texts constitute the principal body of extant Old Uyghur literature, traditionally recognized as being composed in a standardized written language. Based on the diachronic change of the Turkic language family, scholars generally agree that this written language remained essentially unchanged over the following centuries. However, a comparative analysis of the Old Uyghur translations against their source texts reveals significant historical evolution within the morphosyntactic system. Focusing on several Chinese Buddhist texts translated into Old Uyghur, this paper investigates the historical development of adverbial clauses. The parallel comparison demonstrates that, while translators employed native Uyghur syntactic devices to correspond to the source structures, there was a gradual increase in the use of conjunctions within adverbial clauses. Furthermore, specific leading particles, which correspond fixedly to the original texts, frequently appear at the beginning of main clauses, and various relative nominal constructions were analogically extended. Consequently, the language of these Buddhist translations exhibits increasingly prominent analytic syntactic features. This diachronic development of adverbial clauses further proves the impact of Buddhist scripture translation—a phenomenon of unnatural language contact—on linguistic evolution.

From the perspective of language contact, the current research adopts corpus method to examine whether Chinese plural marking of Chinese-English bilingual children is influenced by English. The results show that unlike Mandarin speakers from Gan-Qing areas and Mandarin learners, the Chinese plural marking in bilingual children is almost not influenced by English. This is because at the age of 1-4, children have not yet acquired the rule of adding plural affixes to nouns to indicate plurality, but instead have acquire words as whole lexical items. The current study also compares the expression of plurality in Ganqing Mandarin, Jin Chinese, Southwestern Mandarin, Mandarin as a second language, and Chinese in Chinese-English bilingual children, further revealing the micro-level changes that have occurred in Chinese spoken in Ganqing area during its contact with Altaic languages.

In the Gansu-Qinghai Sinitic varieties spoken in Northwest China, zhe denoting imperfectives is used as a typical non-finite marker, and thus typically fails to occur alone at the sentence-final position following the core predicate. However, a few exceptions exist in several Gansu-Qinghai Sinitic varieties where zhe occurs independently at the sentence-final position. Such deviant finite use is in obvious contradiction to its typical non-finite feature. From the dynamic perspective of finitization, the deviant finite use of zhe in the Gansu-Qinghai Sinitic varieties could be provided a more unified account. That is, the non-finite feature is the typical feature of zhe, whereas the finite use is a local and secondary phenomenon. And it is highly possible that the finite use has evolved from its non-finite feature through the dynamic and gradual process of formal finitization. The finitization of zhe is driven by the auxiliarization and particlization of the erstwhile core predicate following zhe, which essentially takes place within the framework of finiteness distinction in the Gansu-Qinghai Sinitic varieties. Rather than negating or deconstructing the finiteness system, the finitization of zhe could, on the contrary, further verify the existence of finiteness distinction in the Gansu-Qinghai Sinitic varieties.

In the Jiyuan dialect, the word lia ‘two’ may follow two or more elements linked by gei ‘and, with’, forming the frame “…gei…lia”. The connected elements can be nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, or nominal and verbal phrases. The study finds that the grammatical function of lia is closely related to its phonetic form: when pronounced with its original tone [lia⁵¹], lia carries a concrete meaning of “two”, and the syntactic structure is […gei […lia]]; when pronounced as [lia²¹], its meaning becomes grammaticalized, with lia referring back to the entire phrase as a comitative case marker, and the syntactic structure is [[…gei…] lia]. The comitative case marker lia in the Jiyuan dialect is a result of contact with the Mongolian language, replicating the grammatical evolution path of Mongolian: “dual number > comitative case”. The grammaticalization path of the postposition liangge (lia) in Chinese dialects evolves from the concrete meaning of “two” to a comitative case marker, then to an expanded dual number marker, and ultimately to a redundant element with its grammatical function fully dissolved.

In the Xinjiang Jimusar Chinese dialect, the probability adverb haohao is placed before negative adverbs and the negative forms of the potential verb-complement construcitions, weakening the degree of negation. Similarly, the adverb shen in the Jimusar Chinese dialect can be employed as both a probability adverb and a degree adverb. Its function as a probability adverb can be attributed to the subsequent evolution of its usage as a degree adverb. It is hypothesized that the probability adverb haohao may have emerged through the following path: the degree adverb hao was placed berore the negative structure, then overlapped and underwent an evolutionary process parallel to that of shen. The evolution of henhen in the Donggan language provides evidence for the evolution of haohao.

Echo reduplication is widely used in the Altaiс language family. Based on data from 40 Altaiс languages, this paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of its forms and functions. The forms are categorized into three types: C-type (consonant replacement), V-type (vowel alternation), and CV-type (initial syllable modification), among which C-type is the most common and exhibits different patterns depending on whether the base form begins with m-. Its primary function is to express similarity or plurality, which has extended to convey negative evaluative meanings, and it can be used across different word classes. Drawing on internal and external linguistic evidence, this paper hypothesizes that echo reduplication initially emerged in the Turkic branch and was subsequently borrowed into the Mongolic and Tungusic branches through language contact.

In the Poyang Gan dialect, the sentence final particle [kɯ] has two pronunciations: an unstressed [kɯ⁰] and a stressed [kɯ¹⁴]. The unstressed [kɯ⁰] corresponds to the Mandarin sentence-final particle de though there are differences in specific usage. Based on its function, [kɯ⁰] can be divided into [kɯ⁰]_Confirmation and [kɯ⁰]_Focus. The stressed [kɯ¹⁴] is mainly used in the “V+ zhi (+O)+[kɯ¹⁴]” structure, emphasizing that the verbal event has been completed. In this context, it serves a partial perfect aspect function. Through a detailed discussion of the two forms of [kɯ], this paper argues that the functional evolution of the two forms of [kɯ] follows the progression: [kɯ⁰]_Focus > [kɯ⁰]_Confirmation > [kɯ¹⁴].