open access

https://doi.org/10.14943/2115.99356

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/99356

The Function of the Chinese Loanword dʑu in Bonan

日本語

語用論的機能

2026-03-20

日本北方言語学会

Northern Language Studies

16

319-333

This paper aims to discuss the syntactic properties and pragmatic aspects of the Chinese loanword dʑu that appears in the discourse of the Dadun dialect of Bonan, a Mongolic language spoken in Gansu Province, China. It argues that although the Chinese loanword dʑu is not a syntactically obligatory element, it plays an important role from the perspectives of information structure and cohesion. In terms of information structure, the element preceding the Chinese loanword dʑu encodes old information in the discourse, whereas the element following it represents new information. Moreover, the Chinese loanword dʑu connects a sequence of events, thereby enhancing the cohesiveness of discourse. The Chinese loanword dʑu in Dadun Bonan typically follows adverbial clauses with one of the three converb suffixes: -dʑi, -ɡum, and -sə. It can directly follow -ɡum and -sə, while after -dʑi, it must be used with the conjunction ɡina / -na, as in “verb-dʑi ɡina” or “verb-dʑi-na”, meaning “after” or “and then”. dʑu may also follow the construction təŋɡə-sə, or a noun phrase. Less commonly, dʑu appears at the beginning of a sentence. Functionally, the Chinese loanword dʑu is typically used to repeat part of the preceding sentence, which is considered old information in terms of information structure. The repeated part provides a contextual basis for introducing new information and enhances the cohesion of discourse. However, the Chinese loanword dʑu also used without repeating part of the preceding sentence. In these contexts, the hearer is expected to associate the new information with what is already known. Even when not overtly repeated, the Chinese loanword dʑu connects a sequence of events and enhances the cohesion of the discourse. Based on a contrastive analysis of the Chinese loanword dʑu in Dadun Bonan and the Chinese adverb就, it can be indicated that the Chinese loanword dʑu in Dadun Bonan is influenced by the representational function of 就, but does not adopt its role as a focus marker. However, the Chinese loanword dʑu in Dadun Bonan shares functional similarities with就by enhancing discourse cohesion and introducing new information.

紀要論文

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2185-7121

AA12516968