The present study is mainly concerned with the nature of the demonstrative shì æ¯ as the historical source of the copula shì. Tracing the development of shì in bronze inscriptions from the 11th to 3rd centuries bce and comparing the patterns of change against two purportedly contemporary texts, ShÄ« jÄ«ng è©©ç¶ and Shà ng shÅ« å°æ¸, it argues that shì is not a typical demonstrative in origin because it only occurs pronominally and is strongly associated with the structural expression of focus in its early stage of development. On the basis of these observations, shì is analyzed as a special demonstrative that combines anaphoric and focalizing force to highlight and contrast a constituent that has been introduced into the discourse. It is then compared with the expressions wéi zhÄ«ââå¯ä¹and huì zhÄ« æ ä¹ with the same function in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (13thâ11th centuries bce). The investigation of whether shì is derived from wéi zhÄ« only finds evidence indicating a morphological relationship with zhÄ«, while the etymological link with wéi remains speculative. In conclusion, this study claims that the focalizing force of shì is important in answering the question why it is the only demonstrative evolving into a copula. The observed development of shì confirms that the origination of copulas is often related to the morphosyntactic expression of features of information structure.
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The present study is mainly concerned with the nature of the demonstrative shì æ¯ as the historical source of the copula shì. Tracing the development of shì in bronze inscriptions from the 11th to 3rd centuries bce and comparing the patterns of change against two purportedly contemporary texts, ShÄ« jÄ«ng è©©ç¶ and Shà ng shÅ« å°æ¸, it argues that shì is not a typical demonstrative in origin because it only occurs pronominally and is strongly associated with the structural expression of focus in its early stage of development. On the basis of these observations, shì is analyzed as a special demonstrative that combines anaphoric and focalizing force to highlight and contrast a constituent that has been introduced into the discourse. It is then compared with the expressions wéi zhÄ«ââå¯ä¹and huì zhÄ« æ ä¹ with the same function in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (13thâ11th centuries bce). The investigation of whether shì is derived from wéi zhÄ« only finds evidence indicating a morphological relationship with zhÄ«, while the etymological link with wéi remains speculative. In conclusion, this study claims that the focalizing force of shì is important in answering the question why it is the only demonstrative evolving into a copula. The observed development of shì confirms that the origination of copulas is often related to the morphosyntactic expression of features of information structure.
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