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Revisiting the polysemy of 'two' in Northwest and Southwest China: New evidence from Linxia and Chongqing
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Citation
Chan, K. W., Li, C., & Wan, Y. (3 Jul 2025). Revisiting the polysemy of 'two' in Northwest and Southwest China: New evidence from Linxia and Chongqing. 31st Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-31), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
This study reexamines the phenomenon where the numeral 'two' (liangge/lia) in Chinese
dialects of Northwest and Southwest China functions as a comitative marker, instrumental
case marker, and coordinating conjunction. For instance, in Dingxi Mandarin spoken in
Gansu, liaŋ55 ko35 serves as the numeral 'two', a comitative case marker, and a coordinating conjunction for noun phrases:
(1) [phiŋ35 ko0 liaŋ55 ko35 ɕiaŋ55 tɕiao55] wo55 tou55 ɕi55 xuan0.
Apple and banana 1SG all like
‘I like [apples and bananas].’
Dwyer (1992) and Peyraube (2017) attribute this pattern to language contact in the GansuQinghai Sprachbund, potentially involving Mongolic languages such as Santa. Zhou (2022) proposes it as a regional innovation, but Chan (2022, 2025) report similar patterns in both Gansu-Qinghai and Hunan-Hubei, challenging the innovation hypothesis. We conducted field research in Chongqing and Gansu between December 2024 and January 2025, focusing on 8 dialect points in Chongqing and 11 in Linxia. In Gansu, 28 Santa-Mandarin speakers from Linxia displayed the polysemous pattern of liangge/lia, as did 23 Tujia-Mandarin speakers in Chongqing. Notably, liangge/lia in these Chinese dialects, nie in Tujia, and ghuala in Santa serve as the numeral 'two', a comitative marker, and an instrumental marker. This observation supports Chan's (2025) assertion that the polysemy in Southwest and Northwest China results from language contact with Tujia and Mongolic languages respectively.
This paper discusses the process of contact-induced grammaticalization of liangge/lia, triggered by the imperfect learning of Chinese by Tujia and Santa speakers, providing further insights into the linguistic dynamics observed. Our findings reveal that older Tujia and Santa informants are more likely to accept the polysemous liangge/lia, whereas younger Han informants do not.
(1) [phiŋ35 ko0 liaŋ55 ko35 ɕiaŋ55 tɕiao55] wo55 tou55 ɕi55 xuan0.
Apple and banana 1SG all like
‘I like [apples and bananas].’
Dwyer (1992) and Peyraube (2017) attribute this pattern to language contact in the GansuQinghai Sprachbund, potentially involving Mongolic languages such as Santa. Zhou (2022) proposes it as a regional innovation, but Chan (2022, 2025) report similar patterns in both Gansu-Qinghai and Hunan-Hubei, challenging the innovation hypothesis. We conducted field research in Chongqing and Gansu between December 2024 and January 2025, focusing on 8 dialect points in Chongqing and 11 in Linxia. In Gansu, 28 Santa-Mandarin speakers from Linxia displayed the polysemous pattern of liangge/lia, as did 23 Tujia-Mandarin speakers in Chongqing. Notably, liangge/lia in these Chinese dialects, nie in Tujia, and ghuala in Santa serve as the numeral 'two', a comitative marker, and an instrumental marker. This observation supports Chan's (2025) assertion that the polysemy in Southwest and Northwest China results from language contact with Tujia and Mongolic languages respectively.
This paper discusses the process of contact-induced grammaticalization of liangge/lia, triggered by the imperfect learning of Chinese by Tujia and Santa speakers, providing further insights into the linguistic dynamics observed. Our findings reveal that older Tujia and Santa informants are more likely to accept the polysemous liangge/lia, whereas younger Han informants do not.
Availability at HKSYU Library
