Tonal variation is a central topic in the field of sociophonetics. Huantai dialect belongs to the Zhanghuan sub-group of the Canghui group of Jilu Mandarin. Traditional linguistic surveys suggested that the Yangpingshang in the Huantai dialect is a high-level tone, denoted as /55/. Acoustic studies by Dong & Liu (2021) indicated that the Yangpingshang is not a typical high-level tone, showing phonetic variation between the old and young speakers. This study examines Yangpingshang’s variation through acoustic and perceptual experiments. Acoustic analysis reveals a downward trend in the pitch curve of theYangpingshang, with the old showing a more significant decrease than the young. Additionally, there is a partial overlap in pitch distribution among the three tones, i.e., the Yangpingshang, the falling, and the entering tone. Regarding tone perception, the identification and discrimination experiments indicate a categorical perception between the Yangpingshang and the falling tone, while a quasi-categorical perception pattern exists between the Yangpingshang and the entering tone. According to the perceptual judgment scheme of level tones, this result suggests that, compared to the falling tone, the Yangpingshang is closer to the entering tone in terms of tone contour. Combining the results of acoustic and perceptual experiments, the rate of sound change is faster in the young than in the old, and the female exhibits a faster rate than the male. Regarding the direction of sound change, the overall tone contour of the Yangpingshang changes from falling to level, especially the young females. Lastly, combined with the dispersion theory, this study argues that native speakers adopt different discrimination strategies in different tonal contrasts to distinguish theYangpingshang, which is undergoing variation, from other tones in the tonal system.

Referentialization in Mandarin Chinese has long been a controversial and challenging research topic due to the lack of morpho-syntactic markers. Faced with the difficulty, the paper follows the line of Generative Typology: by providing a multilingually compatible syntactic schema which is based on semantic functions, the insights inspired by explicit functional markers in Indo-European languages could be integrated into the analysis of referentializations in Mandarin Chinese. The resulting classification is further examined in 1300 sentences extracted from the People’s Daily. Overall, the paper addresses mechanisms of how predicative constituents in different forms are referentialized, their commonalities and differences in syntactic-semantic properties, and scopes of these referentializing mechanisms. The study of referentialization also deepens the understanding of syntactic category and argument structure.

There are three forms in Hebi dialect corresponding to the Mandarin Chinese particle “l （了）”“l u”“l  ” and “l Ａ ”. The word “l u”represents three grammatical meanings: “action completion or result achievement” , “time mark”, and “conditional mark”. The word “l  ” represents two grammatical meanings: “completion of action process or change process” and “completion of the action and continuity of the state” ; The word “l Ａ ” means three meanings: “completion of the event” “realization of the new situation” , and the subjective tone. Among them, the usage of “l u” and “l  ” is roughly equivalent to “了₁” and “l Ａ ” is roughly equivalent to “了₂”. This paper describes and analyzes the syntactic usage of “l u” “l  ” and “l Ａ ” in Hebi dialect, compares the corresponding forms with those in related dialects in Henan, Shanxi and Hebei provinces and sums up the distribution types of the corresponding forms in different dialects and the historical relationship for their non-synchronous development.

Modern linguistics, alongside disciplines such as computational science, psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, is considered a subfield of cognitive science. However, as the cornerstone of modern linguistics, theoretical linguistics has primarily adhered to the categorial approach since its inception, distinguishing itself from other cognitive science subfields where probability theory is more prevalent. By introducing pioneering theoretical linguistic research that integrates probability theory, this paper seeks to draw the attention of theoretical linguists in China to these innovative approaches. The ultimate goal is to foster the advancement of theoretical linguistics both domestically and internationally and to contribute to ongoing interdisciplinary discussions.

In this interview, Chomsky emphasizes that while AI systems like ChatGPT are remarkable achievements, they remain far from understanding language and cognition as humans do. True language understanding requires a grasp of the internal structure of language, which is what AI models lack. He notes that humans innately possess a universal grammar, an innate cognitive structure enabling language acquisition, and suggests that AI might benefit from a similar foundational structure.He challenges the notion that language dictates thought, pointing out that our innate cognitive structures likely influence both language and perception.Chomsky also addresses the nature of human thought and the challenges it poses for study. He draws parallels between language, music, arithmetic, and other cognitive domains, suggesting that they might share common underlying structures. He proposes that this core cognitive structure of universal grammar likely emerged alongside modern humans and is relatively stable, while languages themselves change over time. Chomsky also highlights the significance of computational efficiency principles in understanding language evolution and change.In conclusion, while ChatGPT and AI systems showcase impressive feats, Chomsky’s insights highlight the enduring complexities that language and cognition present, pushing the boundaries of both scientific inquiry and technological advancement.

[本刊编辑部按] 在《语言科学》创刊一周年之际，本刊曾推出《〈语言科学〉刊发论文的学术规范》一文。此后每年，为加强学风建设，保障学术自由，促进学术交流、学术积累和学术创新，规范语言科学研究工作，《语言科学》都会重新发表《规范》的修订版，与学界同仁共勉。本文的撰述是《语言科学》编辑部为致力于语言学论文写作和发表过程的学术规范所做的一种尝试；也有增加本刊编辑过程的透明度，敬请广大读者与作者加强对本刊工作监督之意。学术规范是一项长期的制度建设，希望我们大家共同遵守，共同推动语言学学术规范的建设。由于这方面的学术规范还没有一个统一的标准，本文尚存在不少问题，欢迎读者们提出进一步的建议。本文的撰写参阅了国际上一些有影响的刊物的规范与通行的标准，还吸收了学术界的一些研究成果。

There has been a controversy over the function of “shuo” in Gan-Qing Mandarin. This article proposes that “shuo” in Linxia dialect has two types of functions, namely the quotative marker and the hearsay evidential marker. They differ significantly in terms of (i) the sentence types they mark; (ii) the verb type they co-occur with; (iii) whether they contribute to the semantics of the sentence; (iv) whether the source of the information is clear. We argue that “shuo” in these two cases have different syntactic status. The quotative marker “shuo (说¹)” is projected into the CP (complementizer phrase), while the hearsay evidential marker “shuo (说²)” occurs at the right peripheral position of the sentence and is projected into the EvidentialP (evidential phrase). Under the influence of language contact, “shuo” in Linxia dialect borrows the grammatical function of the quotative verb “ge-” of the Mongolic languages. This hypothesis is supported by the following evidence. First, both “shuo” in Linxia dialect and “ge-” in Mongolian has the dual function of a quotative marker and a hearsay evidential marker, and these two types of marker can co-occur in the same sentence. Second, both “shuo” in Linxia dialect and “ge-” in Mongolian introduce a finite clause.

In a Chinese modifier-head construction consisting of adjective plus noun, the co-occurrence of multiple adjectives follows a specific word order, namely, state adjective>qualitative adjectives/qubieci (non-predicate adjective). The ordering rule is mainly generalized from the collocation between monosyllabic and polysyllabic adjectives. Nonetheless, it is open to argue whether the rule is really applicable in disyllabic adjectives. To this end, we used eye-tracking experiment to investigate the cognitive mechanism of co-occurring multiple adjectives, i.e., how ordering variations in disyllabic adjectives of different sub-categories affect the processing of the modifier-head constructions in which the adjectives occur. The results can be concluded in four aspects. Firstly, state adjectives are more difficult to process than qualitative adjectives, demonstrating the dichotomy of adjective is psychologically real. Secondly, the processing of modifier-head construction is harder when modifying adjectives co-occur in the preferred order than in the corresponding reversed order. Under the condition of adjectives in reversed order, the construction containing qubieci plus state adjective is more difficult to process than the one with qubieci plus qualitative adjectives. Thirdly, overall, the co-occurring multiple disyllabic adjectives follow the preferred word order as “state adjectives>qualitative adjectives>qubieci (>means precede)” from the perspective of processing difficulty. Fourthly, the subjects’different sensitivity towards collocation order of adjectives also contributes to the processing of modifier-head construction, and multiple factors cause more response mistakes beyond expectation.

靖远是舌尖元音最丰富的汉语方言点之一。文章根据声学和发音生理数据对靖远方言、、、等四个舌尖元音的语音特征进行语音学分析。靖远方言舌尖元音发音生理方面的特征，在舌尖位置的前后、高低及唇形的圆展上都有表现。舌尖后元音与舌尖前元音声学方面的区别主要在F2和F3：音与音的区别表现在F2，其F3分布得较为离散；音与音的区别主要在F3，其在基于F1、F2声学空间中的分布范围与舌尖前元音大面积重叠。从声学、生理及方言音韵角度观察，靖远方言蟹止摄开口三四等字已基本上全部舌尖化，帮组、端组、泥组、见系字韵母的今读应当与精组及部分知系字的韵母一同归并入音位//。

本刊编辑部按 近日，本刊主编、江苏师范大学语言能力省部共建协同创新中心主任杨亦鸣教授就世界语言大会及成果文件《苏州共识》，接受教育部语言文字应用研究所访谈。值此世界语言大会召开十周年、教育部语言文字应用研究所成立四十周年之际，本刊编辑部特刊登该访谈录以为纪念和祝贺。

The structure of ancient characters and original meanings of “xin”（辛） “xin”（新） and “xin” （薪）are closely related. The ancient character of “xin”（辛） is written as  ，and the original image of the character “xin” （辛）is the tender new growth of a tree. The character “  ”(新) is derived from “jin”（斤） and “xin”（辛），which means “chopping wood with an axe and acquiring firewood”. “The harvest from chopping wood” is equivalent to “firewood”（薪）. The character “xi”（析） is similar to “splitting wood”, which refers to further processing of “core wood” by cutting and splitting. The ancient character of “xin”（新） is related in meaning to the character “新”(new).

This article discusses the phenomenon of “voiceless aspirated to voiced” in the border area of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi from the perspectives of phonological structure and phonetic value. From the perspective of phonological structure, “voiceless aspirated to voiced” can be divided into the merging type and the independent type, with the former being similar to the stop consonant pattern of Gan dialect and the latter being similar to the stop consonant pattern of Xiang dialect. In terms of phonetic value, the expression of “voiceless aspirated to voiced” includes voiced sounds, their variants, and breathy voice. The two types of voiced sounds are at different stages of phonation continuity, resulting in two opposing variations of “voiced sounds” in the Rongjiawan Town dialect of Yueyang and the Cenchuan Town dialect of Pingjiang. “Voiceless aspirated to voiced” is also related to the weakening of aspiration of voiceless aspirated and the devoicing of Middle Chinese voiced initials, following different evolutionary paths based on different stop consonant patterns.

Based on the relationship with behavior events, time adverbs can be divided into two categories: time manner and time frame. This paper discussed the semantic sources and formation mechanisms of 27 time adverbs. The semantics of the verbs that evolved into adverbs of time manner were comprehensive, and the process of semantic evolution was that other semantic elements disappeared and only one semantic element left: manner. At the same time, it went through the process of tracing the action conditions of itself to the time conditions of the verbal elements modified, which belonged to the pure metaphorical process. the verbs that evolved into time frame adverbs, meaning as a whole into time meaning. When it evolved into a time frame adverb, it first needed to enter the sequence of events and formed a time frame relationship with events in the discourse, so as to obtained time functions. This path basically had a stage of reanalysis, and the semantic evolution was a metonymy process.

In the current mainstream Chinese grammar, it is generally believed that “jiran（既然）and “yinwei（因为）”sentences belong to causal complex sentences, while “ruguo（如果）”sentence belong to conditional (or hypothetical) complex sentences, and they are opposite. Through the in-depth analysis of linguistic facts, this paper holds that “jiran” sentence actually has two different usages: “jiran1” sentence expresses causality, and its syntactic and semantic characteristics are consistent with “yinwei” sentence, which is a causal sentence. The “jiran2” sentence expresses the conditional relationship, and its syntactic and semantic characteristics are consistent with the “ruguo”sentence, which is a conditional sentence.

This paper analyzes three parameters related to aspirated voiceless stop onsets in 8 dialects of the Dong language: VOT, F0 and harmonic difference H1 H2，which respectively represents the length of aspiration, the pitch of vowels and breathy voice degree. It is found that the similar class of sound from audio impression, the three parameters is not exactly the same in different dialects, even in different tone categories in the same dialect. Basing on these differences we speculate that the process of tone split which caused by aspiration of onsets, is due to the gradual disappearance of aspiration of the onsets and the continuous breathing of the vowels. With the gradual strengthening of breathing, the pitch of the tone gradually lowers, and then divided into different tone categories. At last, the aspiration and difference of phonation disappear completely at some time. It can be seen that the process of tone split caused by aspirated voiceless onsets in Dong language is a complex gradual change process based on multiple features.

Research on nominalization generally suggests that nominalization is a process of transforming non-nominal constituents into nominal ones, overlooking the fact that the inputs of nominalization can also be nominal constituents. Zhu(1961, 1966, 1982) pointed out that the nominalizer “de” （的） in Mandarin Chinese can also apply to nominal constituents, this view has not gained widespread acceptance. Based on this situation, this paper aims to highlight the long-ignored phenomenon of nominal-based nominalization, clarifying that the nominal-based nominalization structure in Modern Chinese is “NP de,” providing rationales for nominal-based nominalization and the “NP de” as a nominalized structure from both cross-linguistic and diachronic perspectives. Acknowledging “NP de” as a nominalized structure allows for a unified treatment of “de” in “VP/AP/NP de” as a nominalizer, meaning that the de-modifiers in nominal modifier-head constructions are nominal in nature. That modifiers are nominal constituents is a typological phenomenon that can be supported across languages and Chinese dialects.

This paper investigates the quotative marker “jiao”（叫） in spoken Chinese, and finds that “jiao” can mark not only the closed quotations but also the open quotations which were proposed in Recanati（2001）. The quotations which “jiao” marks are generally idioms with relatively fixed form and meaning, which is similar to a proper noun. The “jiao+Q” structure usually has an information noun which co-referents with Q in front, followed by words used for further explaining the meaning of Q. The quotation mark “jiao” originates from the verb “jiao” in the naming structure “A jiao B” （A is called B）. The reason for its evolution is the inherent unity of name and quotation in terms of semantics and pragmatics function, namely, a quotation can be regarded as a kind of name, and a name is also a kind of quotation in essence. The quotative marker “jiao” in spoken language can be deleted in written text and replaced by colons, quotation marks and other visual symbols, which inspires us to further think about the differences in coding between “language of listening” and “language of watching ”.

The function word “d i ²”(着) in Luqiao Wu Dialect has some special meanings not found in other Chinese dialects, including strengthened resultativeness, small quantity, fault attribution and rapidity. All these meanings have not been reported in existing literatures on “zhuo” (着), and they signal innovation in semantic changes of “zhuo” in Luqiao Dialect. The strengthened resultativeness meaning derived from the synonymous reinforcement that the phase complement “d i ²”  is added before various complements. The small quantity meaning derived from orientational metaphor of the adherence meaning. The fault attribution meaning is the result of ellipsis of the construction containing the cause meaning “d i ²”, and the cause meaning also derived from orientational metaphor of the adherence meaning. The rapidity meaning is the result of the construction containing the quasi-marker of complement “d i ²” experiencing two stages from ellipsis to semantic reanalysis.

This paper discusses the structure of “zenme ge X fa”（怎么个X法） and proposes that the construction is a DP headed by “zenme”（怎么）.“Zenme” is a determiner (D) and “ge”（个） is a classifier (Cl). The classifier is extended by a numeral (Num), which in turn is extended by a determiner. They construct a structure such as “DP[D][NumP [Num][ClP[Cl][…]]]]” and “zenme”,“yi”（一）  and “ge” can be filled in the corresponding position. According to Distributed Morphology, the N extended by a Cl is exactly a root, which in turn must be extended by a light noun (n). Hence, we propose that the Cl extends a light noun and the light noun can be realized as “fa”（法）. “Fa” as a light noun can trigger either a phrasal movement or a head movement. Basing on the statistical data and X’s syntactic behavior, we select the head movement. The verb, adjective or noun can incorporated into “fa” via the head movement, resulting a nominal compound “X-fa” （X法）. 

Wu Chinese and its neighboring dialects feature a distinct set of “emphatic personal pronouns”, a feature not commonly found in most other Chinese languages. These emphatic pronouns typically include the prefix zeh- (是-) and are believed to convey a sense of “discourse prominence”. This paper investigates the functional nature and historical roots of this unique morphological-pragmatic phenomenon by examining the proclitic zeh- in the Gaochun dialect of Wu Chinese, representing an earlier stage of this pronominal prefix. Given Wu Chinese’s status as a highly “topic-prominent” language lacking a specialized topic marker, it heavily relies on “leftdislocation” to fulfill various discourse roles, such as topics, contrastive topics, preposed focus, and other syntactically preposed constituents without specific discourse functions. Functionally, it is argued that the proclitic zeh- in the Gaochun dialect serves as a strategy to differentiate different types of left-dislocated constituents by emphasizing topicality-newness, thereby directing the listener’s attention to its nominal host. This argument is supported by the following evidence: syntactically, phrases containing this proclitic must be dislocated, resembling a topic; and semantically, it only combines with familiarity-based definites, including personal pronouns, determiner phrases, and definite classifier phrases, while excluding indefinites or uniqueness-based definites. However, unlike a topic, phrases containing zeh- cannot denote entities currently capturing the listener’s attention, and they distinguish focus, new-topics, and contrastive topics from given topics, which are pragmatically presupposed. Furthermore, these observations in the Gaochun dialect align with those of emphatic pronouns in other Wu Chinese dialects dialectal variants and early Mandarin as documented in historical literature. Therefore, the interplay between this distinctive form of reference and topic structure may elucidate many similar phenomena across Chinese languages.

The formation and evolution of syntactic structures are constrained by language typology. In the Sino-Tibetan language family, the Hani language possesses a unique reduplicative modifier structure (RMS) that is frequently used and has distinctive features not found in other Sino-Tibetan languages. This paper takes the Akha dialect of Hani  (hereinafter referred to as “Akha”) as the object of study, describes the synchronic characteristics of its RMS in depth, and further considers the formation of this structure. The main features of this structure are: tetrasyllabicity, reduplication, modifier relationship, and tonal marking. The prosody mainly consists of three types: the binomial rhythm, the overlapping law, and the tonal variation law, and is not governed by the prosody of alliteration and rhyme; the choice between the initial or final syllable of a noun for reduplication depends on semantic conditions; whether tetrasyllables can be reduced to disyllables depends on semantic clarity and frequency of the word’s usage.

The character “  ” (jia) in the Wangshan Chu bamboo slips was originally interpreted as “  ” (jia) or “  ” (shi). According to the common format and textual examples of Chu divination slips, “ ” (jia) should be interpreted as “  ” (jia), which is a variant of the character “  ” (jia). The character “ / ” (fa) in the Chu script was previously interpreted as a complex form of “刑” (xing), but the exact example in the newly released Tsinghua bamboo slips “《叁不韦》” (San Bu Wei) can prove that it should be interpreted as “罚” (fa). Explaining “  ” (jia) as “  ]” (jia) and “ / ” (fa) as “罚” (fa), their formation principles should both be in the context of vocabulary bisyllablization, where the components of these characters are replaced by another word with similar or related meanings due to the influence of semantic agglomeration. In the case of “ ” (jia), the character “家”  (jia) in the compound was replaced by “室” (shi) in the context of the text, while in the case of “ / ” (fa)，the character “  ” (fa) in the compound was temporarily replaced by “型/刑” (xing). This special structural phenomenon can be regarded as the “synonymous substitution” between the internal components of Chu script.

For two thousand years, scholars have had endless disputes and failed to reach a consensus on the interpretation of the sentence “Yu Hu Yi, Feng Hu Wu Yu,Yong Er Gui (浴乎沂，风乎舞雩，咏而归)” in the chapter of “Zeng Xi Yan Zhi (曾皙言志)” in Xianjin (先进) in The Analects of Confucius. And this very chapter happens to be included in The Analects of Confucius written on bamboo slips of the Han Dynasty unearthed from the Marquis of Haihun’s tomb, which has recently been made public, providing a clue for the correct interpretation of "Zeng Xi Yan Zhi". In the Analects of Confucius written on the bamboo slips from the Marquis of Haihun's tomb, the character “浴 (Yu)” is written as “容 (Rong)”, which can be read as “颂 (Song)”, referring to a kind of music and dance used during the “雩 (Yu)” sacrifice. Based on this, it can be known that “Zeng Xi Zhi Zhi” (曾皙之志) mean that once Zeng Xi was appointed to a position, he would hold the “雩 (Yu)” sacrifice and personally practice the rituals of the Zhou Dynasty. This is in line with Confucius’s lifelong practice of the Zhou rituals, and it is the real reason why Confucius said “I agree with Dian (Zeng Xi)”.

Based on evidence from modern spoken Chinese, this paper explores the phenomenon of constructional differentiation in the disposal construction. Our investigation reveals that since the Qing Dynasty, the disposal construction has differentiated into four sub-constructions, each with distinct semantic functions and formal markers: 1) The “ba” construction, which still expresses various semantic types of the disposal construction, including handling, causation, transfer, treating as, and naming; 2) The “gei” construction, primarily used to express handling and causation; 3) The “na” construction, mainly expressing treating as; 4) The guan construction, exclusively expressing naming. The latter three constructions all derive from the base “ba” construction. Although they partially overlap with the “ba” construction in function, their divisions of labor is quite clear. This study not only fills a gap in the research on the history of Chinese grammar and modern Chinese syntax but also contributes to the theoretical development of Construction Grammar.

We present a new account in this paper on the view that the nominalized construction NP-de-VP in Chinese structurally consists of an inner verbal core and an outer nominal functional shell. The main arguments are as follows: 1) The possessive Case form of “NP-de” in the construction granted, it then has to be acknowledged that the construction contains a (null) D projection, which means that the construction undergoes nominalization and has an outer nominal functional structure. 2) The inner verbal structure involved in the nominalization canonically is the thematic layer VP/vP/VoiceP, though in limited cases, the verbal core is seen to be larger such that it may also be a ModP, the lowest projection within the INFL system by a dynamic root modal. 3) The outer nominal configuration is DP that may or may not be enriched by the projections from the light noun, depending on whether the situation denoted by the VP part of the construction receives some individuation/quantification reading or not. The light noun category may be realized as a genuine classifier or potentially instrumental in quantifying over uncountable things, and its role in nominalization is both semantic and syntactic. 4) The possessor NP in the construction undergoes some syntactic movement when DP lacks the nP content but it is base-generated when nP is included in DP, and in the latter situation it serves as the controller of the empty subject or the null object contained in the thematic structure. 5) The “de” (的) element does not act as the functional head of the entire construction, nor does it form the head of the “NP-de” part of the construction; it has no functional projection and serves only as the genitive case marker of the possessor NP in \[Spec, DP\].

Aiming at the “uniformity” evolution theory of existing Chinese character radicals, this paper conducts a re-study of specific chronology based on a thorough investigation under the premise of reasonable sampling. It is believed that the main trend of radical evolution is the “differentiated” evolution opposite to the “uniformity” during the Yin Shang and Western Zhou periods. The reasons for this phenomenon are: firstly, the general trend of “radicalization” in this period determines the mainstream of radicals differentiation; Secondly, the geographical differences between the Western Zhou characters and the Yin Shang characters widened; Thirdly, the maturity evolution of character configuration lacks the internal power of consciousness.

There is still controversy as to whether there is a same source of the fanqie（反切） and zhiyin（直音）Zihui, in the traditional Chinese character book Zihui（字汇）. This article believes that to prove the origin of the fanqie in the  we must not only rely on the comparison of fanqie, but also take into account the value of fanqie, that is, fanqie will have different positioning in different phonetic environments, which can be divided into relative value, phonetic value and text value. The fanqie and zhiyin in Zihui have different performances in three values, and it can be concluded that there are different sources.

Evidences from historical documents and modern dialects both support the view that the the Middle Chinese (MC) Zhi_-III(知_三) and Zhang(章) initial groups are different from the MC Zhi_-II (知_二) and Zhuang (庄) in the Wu dialects in the past several hundreds of years since the Ming Dynasty. The Zhi_-III and Zhang groups are pronounced as \[\], \[\] or \[ \] and the Zhi_-II and Zhuang groups as \[\]. Based on the materials such as Fanqie spellings in the rhyme book including Tongwen Beikao (同文备考), drama texts in the Ming Dynasty, the colloquial readings appeared in some word, and rounding of main vowels of the Zhi_-III and Zhang initial group in modern Wu, the early phonetic value of the Zhi_-III and Zhang initial groups should be reconstructed as . Furthermore, the phonetic stratum of the MC Zhuang initial group with the MC Yu (鱼) rhyme which is also shared by the words with the MC Ge (歌) rhyme in the Northern Wu is the remnant from northern Mandarin, the lingua franca during the Tang-Song Dynasties.

The character previously interpreted as “儥” (yù) in ancient script materials actually consists of two distinct series of glyphs with significantly different formation, one being “儥” and the other “ ()”. There is no consensus in academia on how to analyze these two series of glyphs and whether they can be identified as the same word. Further exploration is necessary. Through the analysis of character formation, the article holds that the two characters “儥[” and “” used to record the word (鬻) do not have an evolutionary relationship in glyphs and should be classified into two series. The character “儥” should be analyzed as significative component “人” (rén) and phonetic component “”. The character “” should be analyzed as consisting of the radical “贝” (bèi) and the phonetic component “”. The character “” should be analyzed as consisting of the radical “贝” and phonetic component “”. The character “” should be analyzed as consisting of the radical “人” (ren) and phonetic component “” (a variant of ). Using the character “” (duī) as a phonetic symbol to record the word  (鬻) reflects the phonetic phenomenon of sound shifts between the “幽” (yōu) and “觉” ( jué) group and the “微” (wēi), “物” (wù) and “文” ( wén) group in Archaic Chinese.

This paper distinguishes qualitative adjectives in Pre-modern Chinese into two subcategories: substance adjectives and event adjectives, and explores the differences between the two subclasses from four aspects: adverbial, attributive, result complement and reduplication. The paper holds that the distinction between these two subclasses is due to the fact that, as adjectives are verbal expressions of attribute values, some of the properties described by them refer to people or things, while others refer to actions, qualities or states. The difference arises when an adjective and the host of the property it describes directly co-appear syntactically: some adjectives state nominal components, while others state verbal components, and the feature of Chinese adjectives occurring as verbal subjects allows the latter to be judged as adjectives. The distinction between the two subclasses is of great significance and can provide new ideas for solving some difficult problems.

This paper offers a concise description of the derivation rules of the Huizong Secret Speech (HSS) in Anyang dialect, rules to embed new segments (incl. the standard form ai-k and its conditioned variants) in almost any monomorphemic monosyllable and thus break it into a disyllable. Evidence is found that the medial u of a monosyllable sides more with the initial (or onset) rather than the final (or rhyme) in phonological behavior. Some HSS disyllables are not derived from today’s but yesterday’s citation forms. Despite the universal value of the onset-rhyme division in Chinese syllable structural analysis, there is a typological contrast between the Chinese HSS and the English Pig Latin as surface representations of an underlying fundamental difference between the morpheme-wise monosyllabic Sino-Tibetan languages and the word-wise X-syllabic Indo-European languages. 

Based on comparison of words in the Min Dialects, this paper proposes that two rhymes of *-e and *-ek  should be reconstructed in the Proto-Coastal Min. The words 瓶(bottle), 亭(pavilion), 钉(drive a nail), 钉(nail), 零(a small remainder or excess), 星(srar), 叮(bite) belong to  *-e , while “踢(kick)” belong to *-ek . This paper also argues that 轻 (light), 明(tomorrow), (thin), 蛏(razor clam), 鉎(rust)may belong to a similar strata.  All these words belong to the division III and IV of Rhyme Group Geng(梗) in Middle Chinese. Their special rhyme pattern reflects a later chronological stratum which is similar to the Kanon pronunciation in Japanese.

 In Hainan’s Zhonghe and Guantian garrison dialects, despite both being influenced by the Tai-Kadai languages and Min and Yue dialects, they exhibit distinct differences in whether implosive consonants have been adopted and how the initial system has evolved. By the historical comparison of the relevant categories of consonant classes, it can be found that the chain shifts exist in both coronal initial systems of the two garrison dialects, yet the links of evolution chains are distinct. The mechanisms that trigger trigger the evolution are related to social factors of language contact, while subsequent stages in the evolution chain may reflect the consistency of the two as Mandarin’s phonological category structure.

It remains unclear in recent research how the “bi”（比） comparative construction in Modern Chinese started to take shape. This study identifies three stages of the bi comparative construction. In the first stage, from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese, the bi comparative construction began to emerge. The complex sentence “X+bi-verb (+yu) +Y, VP” evolved into a serial verb construction “X+bi-verb+Y (+wei) +VP.” Although bi still functioned as a verb during this period, it exhibited a syntactic and semantic structure similar to the comparative construction “X+bi-preposition+Y+A,” laying the foundation for the subsequent emergence of the bi comparative construction. In the second stage, during the Tang Dynasty, the serial verb construction “X+bi-verb+Y (+wei) +VP” evolved into three types of comparative patterns, including “X+bi-preposition+Y+A,” marking the grammaticalization of bi and the formation of the comparative construction. In the third stage, the further development of the bi comparative construction during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties gave rise to three new patterns: including the “X+bi-preposition+Y+A (+de) +C” pattern. During the Ming Dynasty, the bi comparative construction is close to reach maturity. This pattern began to solidify by the Qing Dynasty.

There are two ways of expressing the concept of {dawn} in Chinese: the visual system and the spatial and temporal system. The visual system is mainly represented by the imagery of Chinese characters or be biphonized by juxtaposition and compounding. The category members of the spatial-temporal system can be classified into the three series of negativity, proximity and attainment. The word 黎明 (límíng) is a member of the attainment series in the spatial-temporal system, and its lexical pattern is "verb of terminality + word of point-of-time " The forms of邌 (lí)and 遲(zhì) were phonetic loan characters for the word 逮(dài), which means "to approach", often occurring as components of the words 邌明 and 遲明, which were later shortened as 黎明 around the period of the Jin Dynasty. The lexicalization of 黎明 was caused by the abridgement of the structure of the topic. 

This paper discusses the “verb+bare regular noun object” structure in Chinese. In Tiantai dialect, if a XP is a functional maximal projection or the complement of a functional head, its left side will align with the edge of the phrasal tone sandhi domain. Whether the verb undergoes tone sandhi or not corresponds to the status of NP or DP of the bare noun object among expressions consisted of monosyllabic verb and mono-/bi-syllabic object, we conclude based on which that one essential condition of being “V+NP”/pseudo noun incorporation is its denotation’s being basic level, and that both the clearness of the potential reference and the animacy of the object influence the actual distributions of these two types. The theoretical implications are provided also. The concepts of (non) directly-concatenated constructions are discussed finally.

Compared to the voluminous literature of sound change and variation across speakers and generations, much less is understood about change and variation within individuals across the lifespan. Based on the acoustic experimental data of 2010 and 2020 from 4 participants, this study reports an exploratory analysis of the acoustic characteristics of tonal variation of Chongqing Mandarin from real time perspective. The longitudinal results suggest that individual differences are systematically associated with the developmental trajectories of individual adults.

Characters from Zhi (知), and Zhuang (庄), and Zhang (章) initials of Chengdu Hakka dialect are pronounced as the “ts” group when preceding broad finals and as the “t” group when preceding fine finals. Some of the characters from Zhi (知) and Zhang (章) initials such as “Shi (十), Shi (湿), Zhi (侄). Zhi (直), Shi (实), Shi (食), Zhe (蛰), Shi (适), Zhi (织) ” of some Chengdu Hakka dialects are pronounced as the “t” group and can also be freely pronounced as the “ts” group. This phenomenon is related to the contact with Southwestern Mandarin and constrained by rules of internal phonological mergence and assimilation effect of rolled tongue vowels, rather than inherited from the phonological features of Min (闽), Yue (粤) and Gan (赣) Hakka dialects. This dialect evolution induced by contact occurred after the Hakka immigrants moved to Sichuan province. The “t” initial group of the Chengdu Hakka dialect emerged no later than the 1930s.

The possessive can be interpreted as agent inside a DP but a noun in noun-incorporation is limited to the theme reading. While each fact has been analyzed in the literature, their contrast is yet to receive due attention. In fact, no coherent account can be given to the contrast within the current theoretical framework whether one regards head-movement as the exclusive means for word-formation or takes words to be formed independently of syntax. The proposed solution consists of two components: a) Integrate the strengths of the syntactic and lexicalist models by appreciating the fact that direct merger of word-internal components is inevitable in every version of syntactic word-formation. b) Realize that the θ-criterion is the only licensing principle when syntax merges two heads to produce a new head. It is further shown that the means for θ-saturation must include θ-composition.

In Dongguan (Qishi) Yue, the two diminutive changed tones, 35 and 55, have the similar phonetic forms and grammatical functions with the 35 and 55 changed tones in Guangzhou Yue and Guancheng Yue. In regard of the situation of occurrences, however, the diminutive changed tones in Qishi Yue are very different from that in Guangzhou and Guancheng Yue. This paper first explores the correspondences between diminutive changed tones in Qishi Yue and that in Guangzhou and Guancheng Yue, then argues that the 35 and 55 changed tones in Qishi Yue fall under two different strata based on the observations on the language data of both Qishi Yue and other Dongguan Yue dialects.