A Systematic Study of the Degree Adverb ' beir ' in Tianjin Dialect

A Systematic Study of Degree Adverb ‘beir’
in Tianjin Dialect
He Jia
A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in
Linguistics
©The Chinese University of Hong Kong
June 2005
The Chinese University of Hong Kong holds the copyright of this Research
Paper. Any person(s) intending to use a part or whole of the materials in the
Research Paper in a proposed publication must seek copyright release from
the Dean of the Graduate School.

Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………...i
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………….ii
Chapter One
Introduction…………………………………………………………..1
Chapter Two Literature Review……………………………………………………..2
2.1 Intensity………………………………………………………………………2
2.1.1 Means of Intensification………………………………………………2
2.1.2 Intensification and Affective Meaning………………………………..2
2.2 Etymology of Beir……………………………………………………………3
2.3 Motivation of the Emergence of beir in Tianjin Dialect……………………..5
2.4 Grammaticalization of Hen in Mandarin…………………………………….7
Chapter Three
Syntactic Property of Beir…………………………………………...8
3.1 Syntactic Similarities between beir and hen …………………………………8
3.1.1 beir/hen+ Adjectival Phrase …………………………………………..8
3.1.2 beir/hen+ Verbal Phrase……………………………………………….9
3.1.3 beir/hen+Noun Phrase……………………………………………….11
3.2 Syntactic Differences ……………………………………………………….12
Chapter Four
Semantic Features of Beir…………………………………………...14
4.1 Semantic Feature of beir…………………………………………………….14
4.1.1 Distribution of Degree Modifiers in Traditional Grammar………….14
4.1.2 New Schema for Chinese Degree Modifiers………………………...16
4.2 Gradability…………………………………………………………………..17
4.3 Adjectives Phrases that could be modified by beir………………………….18
4.3.1 Classification of Adjectives …………………………………………18
4.3.2 Semantic Feature of Negated Adjectives Modified by beir…………23
4.4 Semantic Features of Verb Phrases Modified by Beir………………………26
4.4.1 Classification of Verb Phrases……………………………………….26
4.4.2 Semantic features of V in beir+VO………………………………….32
4.4.3 Co-occurrence of Beir with Gradable Morphemes in Verb Phrases...33

4.5 Semantic Differences between beir and hen………………………………..36
Chapter Five Conclusion…………………………………………………………...41
References……………………………………………………………………… ……42

Abstract
Beir is a newly emerged degree modifier in Tianjin, a dialect of Chinese,
which bears similar meaning ‘very’ with the degree adverb hen in Mandarin. Beir is
derived from bei, which bears the meaning of time and intensify. It came into being in
the 1960s and now is widely used in people’s daily life in Tianjin. The aim of the
present study is to give a general description of the linguistic properties of beir in
order to show its new functions and characteristics as an evidence for the
development of degree modifiers.
The present study investigates the properties of beir as an absolute degree
modifier, which functionally falls into the category of boosters in reinforcers as
proposed in this paper. It also explores the constraints that govern the harmony
between beir and the adjectival phrases, verb phrases and noun phrases that it
modifies. A new schema is proposed to classify adjectives that could be modified by
degree modifiers in Chinese according to their gradability. It is also argued in this
paper that aspectually only stative verb phrases can be modified by beir. Finally, the
semantic differences between beir and hen are highlighted in terms of their etymology,
syntactic function and semantic scope.
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Acknowledgement
First, my most sincere thanks go to Professor Gu Yang for her teaching me the
essential concepts of syntax and semantics and supervising my thesis with utmost
kindness and painstaking care. When I first came to Hong Kong, she gave me lots of
help in teaching me how to get used to the life here.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Yap Foong-ha for helping
me look for the data that I needed most, also to Professor Gu Gang in Tianjin Normal
University for arousing my interest in studying linguistics, especially syntax, when I
was an undergraduate. Besides, my gratitude also goes to all professors and staffs in
our department for their help.
Finally, I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude to my parents and my
grandparents for their love, support and encouragement.
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Chapter One
Introduction
Tianjin is at the northern end of the Grand Canal of China. People from
urban Tianjin speak Tianjin dialect, which comes under the Mandarin subdivision of
spoken Chinese. Despite its proximity to Beijing, Tianjin dialect sounds quite
different from Beijing dialect, which provides the basis for Mandarin, the official
spoken language in China.
Beir is a typical degree adverb in Tianjin dialect. It was originated from bei,
which means time and intensify. It came into being in the early 20 th century and is
now widely used in people’s daily life. This study contains a detailed descriptive
account of the syntactic, semantic and some pragmatic properties of beir in Tianjin
dialect by comparing it with hen, a popular degree adverb in Mandarin which bears
similar meaning to ‘very’.
Chapter Two first introduces the basic notion of intensity and means of
intensification, then gives a general account of the etymology of beir in Tianjin dialect.
Chapter Three deals with the syntactic properties of beir by way of comparing it with
hen. Chapter Four postulates a detailed description of semantic property of not only
beir in Tianjin dialect but also the phrases that it modifies.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Intensity
Language has the property of specifying various degrees by means of a set of
degree modifiers. For example, one can conceive of ‘tallness’ as a semantic dimension
in the form of graded scale ranging from being tall to the extreme to being short to the
extreme, and in between the two extremes an almost unlimited number of degrees.
Say, in English we say: skyscraping tall, very tall, fairly tall, not so tall, etc. In
Chinese, we say: jigao (extremely tall), hengao (very tall), youdian gao (a little bit
tall), buhen gao (not so tall) etc. According to Lakoff (1972), intensity in language
differs from intensity in physics, in that it cannot be measured objectively. The degree
is always measured or estimated in subjective norm relative to the speaker’s
experience: a very tall girl as judged by Pygmy standards may actually be a rather
short girl by European standards.
2.1.1 Means of Intensification
Vermeire (1979) argues that degree intensifiers allow expression of many shades
of meaning without the need for the lexicon to provide an equally large number of
appropriate terms. But the existence of degree modifiers in language has not
precluded the development of separate items indicating various degrees of quality on
a semantic dimension: there is a scale, e.g. huge-big-small-tiny, or
adore-love-like-dislike-hate-loathe, more or less coinciding with extremety, e.g.
big…very small, or love deeply…hate deeply, etc. The devices for intensification in
language are manifold, degree modifiers being only one of them.
2.1.2 Intensification and Affective Meaning
Intensifiers always involve emotions in their pragmatic implications, in that they
always convey some emotional attitudes of the speaker towards the predication apart
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from the primary meaning. For instance, hen in Mandarin is a rather neutral and not
very strong degree intensifier, but beir in Tianjin dialect and hao in Guangdong
dialect even the newly emerged ones such as jin, bao in Cantonese are emotionally
loaded and carry a rather strong effect. According to Vermeire (1979), strength is
related to the emotional loading, which is related to novelty of the expression. So if a
degree adverb has not been profoundly used, it will have a significant affective
connotation.
2.2 Etymology of Beir
According to Chinese dictionaries: Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (1961,1980:18),
Cihai (1979: 579) and Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian, ‘beir’ has the following uses:
1. A verb, bearing the meaning of doubling in quantity in Pre-Qin (Cihai: 579):
(1) 故 事 半 古 之 人 , 功 必 倍 之 。
Gu shi ban gu zhi ren, gong bi bei zhi
so mater half ancient de people, result must
double it
‘So the thing is that you do half of the work, the result will double.’
Zhi is the resumptive pronoun, which takes gong as its antecedent. Gong is
topicalized in this case. Bei functions as a verb, which bears the meaning of double.
So beizhi is a verb phrase, which means to double the result.
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2. A verb, which bears the meaning of making profits for (Cihai: 579)
(2) 焉 用 亡 郑 以 倍 邻 ? (Zuozhuan, Xigong Thirtieth Year in Pre-Qin)
Yanyong wang zheng yi bei lin
use
dead Zheng to profit neighbour
‘Why use the destroyed Zheng to make profits for the neighbouring nation?’
Bei is still a verb here, which means to make profits for. Lin, which means the
neighboring country, serves as the object of bei. So beilin is a verb phrase that takes
on the structure of VO.
3. An adverb modifying a verb phrase which bears the meaning of “very much”
(Cihai: 579):
(3) 每 逢 佳 节 倍 思 亲 。 1
mei feng jiajie bei si qin
every when festival very much miss
relatives
‘whenever the festival comes, I miss my relatives very much.’
Bei here serves as a degree adverb with the meaning of very much, which
directly modifies the verb phrase siqin(miss relatives).
4. An adverb bearing the function of intensifying the degree of the adjective being
modified. For example: ‘beir liang’ means very bright. (Xiandai Hanyu Cidian
1961:18)
5. Beir is a dialectal degree modifier, which bears the meaning of fairly and very. E.g.
beir xin: very new, beir liang: very bright, beir jingshen: very energetic.(Xiandai
1 It is cited from the famous poem: Jiuyuejiuri Yi Shandong Xiongdi (In memory of my brother in Shandong on
September the ninth), which is written by WangWei in Tsang Dyansty.
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Hanyu Cidian 1980: 18)
Xiandai Hanyu Cidian that was published before 1961 didn’t include the item
of beir in Tianjin dialect, which functions as a degree adverb that modifies adjectives.
This indicates that the adverbial beir that modifies adjectives does not have a long
history in Tianjin. It may came into being around the 1960s. But it is now widely used
in people’s everyday conversation. As seen in 1-5, according to Cihai and the CHANT
Database, beir used to be a verb meaning to double in Pre-Qin Dynasty, but in Tang
Dynasty, it was used as an adverb that encoded the meaning of intensity, however, it
can only modify verb phrase syntactically. Now beir has become a degree modifier
that has the ability to modify not only verb phrases but adjectives and nouns as well,
for instance, beir liang (very bright), beir xin (very new), beir zhongguo (behave like
a Chinese very much), beier shudaizi (behave like a grind) etc.
2.3 Motivation of the Emergence of beir in Tianjin Dialect
According to Hopper and Traugott (2003: 122), existing forms take on new
meanings in certain contexts, while retaining old meanings in other contexts. This
phenomenon is known as renewal. Renewal results primarily in alternate ways of
organizing linguistic material. Intensifiers are subject to renewal, presumably because
of their marked emotional function. It is unusual that they undergo renewal frequently.
In English, at different times in the last two centuries, the following degree
intensifiers have been frequently used: awfully, frightfully, fearfully, terribly,
incredibly, really, incredibly, really, pretty, truly etc. Even in formal register, ‘very’
often alternates with such words as ‘most, surprisingly, extremely, highly,
extraordinarily, etc.’ So is the case in Chinese. Liu (2001) gave us a brief outline of
renewal of intensifier in Chinese as follows:
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da (Shang Dynasty) kong (Zhou Dynasty) shen (the Pre-Qin
Period)shu (Mid Ancient) feichang (the Tang Dynasty)hen (Modern
Time) Other Dialectal Degree Modifiers
There is only one degree intensifier in the inscriptions on oracle bones (16 th
B.C.). Not until the Zhou Dynasty (11 th .B.C.) did other degree modifiers begin to
emerge. For instance, kong (very). When it comes to the Pre-Qin Period (722
B.C.—221 B.C.), shen, which is another intensifier, came into being. But it was used
as an adjective rather than an adverb. In Mid-ancient time (221 B.C.—589 A.D.), shu
(very) emerged and was frequently used at that time. But now it only appears in
ancient articles. In the Tang Dynasty (618 A.D.—907 A.D.), feichang appeared as an
adjective, not until recently has it become a degree adverb. In modern times (1912
A.D.—Present), 很 (very) could be written as 狠 (fiercely), which indicates the
function of emphasizing, but later it became a basic degree adverb. Now we only use
很 (very), instead of 狠 (fiercely), when referring to the function of degree adverb.
But the renewal of intensifier hasn’t stopped. Dialectal degree modifier is a good
piece of evidence to account for this phenomenon. For instance: Zei (very) in the
Northeast Dialect, Tei (very) in Beijing dialect, Beir (very) in Tianjin dialect or even
the newly emerged ‘Jin (extremely), Chao (superbly), Bao (Extraordinarily)’ in
Cantonese. Rather than replacing the old expressions, the newly innovated forms
compete with older ones because they are more expressive than what was available
before. So compared with hen in Mandarin, the dialectal degree intensifiers such as tei
in Beijin dialect, beir in Tianjin dialect and zei in Northeast dialect, etc. seem to have
a stronger emotional flavor. For instance, when we say ‘Zhei ren beir niu.’ (This man
is excellent.), it incorporates a strong sense of admiration subjectively in terms of the
speaker. This competition allows, even encourages, the recession or loss of older
forms. So in the future, the currently frequently used degree modifier hen could
possibly be substituted by the dialectal ones through the process of competition.
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2.4 Grammaticalization of Hen in Mandarin
Hen, which bears similar meaning with beir is a popular degree modifier in
Mandarin. According to Chui (2000), hen is undergoing a process of semantic change
to develop into a bound constituent from a free independent word by way of
ciliticization and compounding. In the first stage of development, Hen is a degree
adverb; its gradable extent is higher than average sense. In the second stage, it loses
morphosytactic autonomy and develops into a clitic, being bound to the adjacent
scalar predicate. Finally, Hen becomes a compound constituent, as a result of
amalgamating the clitic form and its adjacent verb. So the grammaticalization of Hen
indicates that its encoded emotion is softened through the process of history.
Developing new forms with similar meaning such as beir in Tianjin dialect is
motivated by the necessity of new emotional concepts for communication.
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Chapter Three
Syntactic Property of Beir
Hen is a degree modifier, which is frequently used in Mandarin. Beir, which
bears similar meaning and function with hen, is a newly emerged degree modifier in
Tianjin dialect. Although it does not have so long a history as hen, it has its unique
properties and new functions that could not be found in hen. Beir is so popular now
that it even attracts a lot of people from the neighboring city Beijing into using it. The
common features as well as the differences between the two will be illustrated in an
attempt to give a general outline of the meaning and function of beir in Tianjin
dialect.
3.1 Syntactic Similarities between beir and hen
Since people from other places in China are not familiar with the function and
syntactic properties of the degree modifier beir in Tianjin dialect, however, the degree
adverb hen is widely used in Mandarin, the following part will highlight the syntactic
similarities between hen and beir in an attempt to get people acquainted with it.
3.1.1 beir/hen+ Adjectival Phrase
There are two types of adjectival phrases that could be modified by beir and hen,
one is bare adjectives that modified by beir and hen, the other is negated form of
adjectival phrases modified by beir and hen.
1. Bare adjectives modified by beir and hen.
(4) 倍 儿 / 很 开 心
beir/hen kaixin
very
happy
‘very happy’
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Kaixin is a bare adjective with the meaning happy. Beir and hen serve as degree
adverbs, which directly modify kaixin.
2. Negated form of adjectival phrases modified by beir and hen.
(5) 倍 儿 / 很 不 诚 实
beir/hen bu chengshi
very
not honest
‘very dishonest’
Bu bears the meaning of not, so buchengshi is the negated form of chengshi.
Beir and hen serve as degree adverbs, which modify the negated adjectival phrase.
3.1.2 beir/hen+ Verbal Phrase
There are five types of structures of verbal phrase that can be modified by beir
and hen. For example:
1. Intransitive verb phrases modified by beir and hen:
(6) 倍 儿 / 很 愿 意
beir/hen yuanyi
very
wish
‘wish very much’
Yuanyi is an intransitive verb, which bears the meaning of wish. In this case,
Beir and hen serve as the degree adverbs that modify an intransitive verb phrase.
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2. Transitive verb phrases modified by beir and hen.
(7) 倍 儿 / 很 支 持 你 (VO structure)
beir/hen zhichi ni
very support you
‘support you very much’
Zhichi is a transitive verb, which bears the meaning of support. Ni with the
meaning you is the object of zhichi. So the whole phrase turns out to be VO in
structure. Beir and hen serve as degree adverbs, which modify a transitive verb
phrase.
3. Negated form of verb phrases modified by beir and hen.
(8) 倍 儿 / 很 不 愿 意
beir/hen bu yuanyi
very
not wish
‘very unwilling’
Buyuanyi is the negated form of yuanyi. Beir and hen serve as degree adverbs
that modify the negated form of intransitive verb phrases.
4. Causative structure modified by beir and hen
(9) 倍 儿 / 很 讨 人 喜 欢
beir/hen tao ren xihuan
very
make people like
‘very lovely’
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Tao is a causative verb, which bears the meaning of make. Ren is the direct
object of tao. Xihuan is a verb with the meaning like. The whole phrase turns out to
be a causative structure. Beir and hen could have the function of modifying causative
verb phrases.
5. Negated causative structure modified by beier and hen
(10) 倍 儿 / 很 不 讨 人 喜 欢
beier/hen bu tao ren xihuan
very
not make people like
very annoying
Bu followed by the causative verb phrase that I have mentioned above is the
negated form of it. So bei and hen serve as degree adverbs that modify the negated
form of causative verb phrases.
3.1.3 beir/hen+Noun Phrase
Nouns are always seen as inherently nongradable words. They are absolute in
meaning and have no implicit scale. However, nowadays certain types of noun
phrases can be modified by degree adverbs in Chinese. In this case, the noun phrase
always indicates the property of an event or state. It is worth noting that referential
noun phrases usually cannot co-occur with degree modifiers. For example:
(11) 倍 儿 / 很 中 国
beir/hen zhongguo
very
Chinese
‘behave like a Chinese very much’
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(12) 倍 儿 / 很 书 呆 子
beir/hen shudaizi
very
bookworm
‘one can do nothing but study’
Vermeire(1979) argued that nongradable multiple taxonomy words, such as
British and memory, can be relativized if used in a specific sense. Examples can be
cited from English:
(13) He is very British.
(14) You have quite a memory.
In these cases, ‘British’ and ‘memory’ refer to aspects or style of behaving or
being like British or short of memory. So no distinctive line can be drawn between the
gradables and the nongradables, since even the absolute nouns that do not incorporate
the sense of degree can be relativized in everyday speech. For example:
(15) 她 倍 儿 女 人 。
Ta beir nuren.
she very woman
‘She is sexual.’
The original meaning of ‘ 女 人 ’(woman) changed from woman to being sexual,
but the form remains like a nongradable noun.
3.2 Syntactic Differences
There are two types of structure that can be modified by hen, but could not be
modified by beir.
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The first is that hen could co-occur with numerals, but beir cannot. For example:
(16) 她 * 倍 儿 / 很 睡 了 一 会 儿 。
Ta *beir/hen shui le yihuir
she
very sleep LE a while
‘She slept for quite a while.’
(17) 她 * 倍 儿 / 很 买 了 几 本 书 。
Ta *beir/hen mai le jiben shu
she very buy Le several books
‘She bought several books’
Hen can modify the activity verb phrases that contain unbounded numerals such
as yihui in (16) and jiben in (17), but beir cannot.
The second is that hen can be negated by bu(not), but beir cannot. For example:
(18) 她 * 不 倍 儿 / 不 很 舒 服 。
Ta *bubeir/buhen shufu
she *not beir/not hen comfortable
‘She is not very comfortable.’
Beir and hen have similar syntactic functions in modifying noun phrases, verb
phrases and adjectival phrases. However, syntactically speaking, beir is different from
hen, in that it could not cooccur with the verb phrases that contain unbounded
numeral in it. Also beir does not have the function of being negated by bu, whereas
hen does.
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Chapter Four
Semantic Features of Beir
4.1 Semantic Feature of beir
A general outline of the syntactic patterns such as the types of noun phrases,
verb phrases and adjectival phrases that can be modified by beir has been listed in last
chapter. In order to achieve a better undertanding of them, the semantic explanation of
the linguistic properties of beir and the phrases it modifies are needed to give a
detailed account.
4.1.1 Distribution of Degree Modifiers in Traditional Grammar
In traditional grammar, scholars argue that degree modifiers in Chinese fall into
two categories: relative modifiers and absolute modifiers (Wang 1933; Ma 1988;
Zhou 1995; Zhang 1997; Zhang 2002) According to Wang (1933), relative degree
modifiers refer to the ones that indicate the comparison among specific entities that
have similar properties; absolute degree modifiers refer to those that do not have
specific entities to compare with, but just a standard in one’s mind. In each of these
categories, subdivisions can be made according to the degree value that they denote.
Both differences and similarities among the members of the same category of degree
modifiers were illustrated in Table 1 by Zhang (1997).
Zhang (1997) argues that relative modifiers are more concrete than absolute
degree modifiers in that they have a concrete item to compare with. For instance, Biqi
Lisi, Zhangsan geng gao(Compared with Lisi, Zhangsan is taller.). Lisi is a concrete
item, which is considered as a reference to be compared with by the speaker. So geng
is a relative degree modifier. Beir in Tianjin dialect belongs to the absolute degree
modifier. It has similar properties as hen, feichang in Mandarin. But compared with
them, beir is more emotional and subjective in nature, it seldom appears in formal
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occasions. But which level in the absolute degree modifier does beir belong to, since
beir has lower degree value than ji and jiqi, but has higher degree value than hen and
feichang? So this traditional analysis lacks accuracy in degree value for the dialectal
degree modifiers.
Types of Degree
Modifier
Relative Degree
Modifier
Degree
Superlative
High
Moderate
Examples
最 (zui): the most
格 外 (gewai), 更 (geng), 还
(hai): more
比 较 (bijiao), 较 为 (jiaowei):
quite
Degree
Modifiers
Low 略 (lue), 稍 微 (shaowei):
somewhat
Superlative 非 常 (fenwai), 太 (tai), 万 分
Absolute Degree
Modifier
High
(wanfen): perfectly
顶 (ding), 极 (ji), 极 其 (jiqi):
ultimate
Moderate 多 么 (duome), 非 常
(feichang), 很 (hen), 十 分
(shifen), 挺 (ting), 相 当
(xiangdang): very
Low
有 点 (youdian), 有 些 (youxie):
a little
Table 1. Traditional Analysis of Degree Modifiers
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4.1.2 New Schema for Chinese Degree Modifiers
One motivation for adopting a new schema for Chinese degree modifiers is
that the traditional analysis only includes the degree modifiers in Mandarin.
Nowadays new expressions such as beir in Tianjin dialect and tei in Beijing dialect etc.
have also been adopted by Mandarin speakers. Since degree modifiers is an open class,
some new items such as the dialectal ones has already come into being, there should
be a development for the schema of traditional analysis on the purpose of
incorporating the newly emerged ones.
Maximiser
极 (ji), 极 其 (jiqi), 超 (chao), 爆
Absolute
Reinforcers
(bao) : exclusively, extremely
Degree
Modifiers
Booster
Moderator
多 么 (duome), 非 常 (feichang),
十 分 (shifen), 格 外 (gewai), 特
(te), 好 (hao), 倍 儿 (beir), 贼
(zei) : very much
很 (hen), 挺 (ting), 怪 (guai), 颇
(po): very
Attenuators
有 点 (youdian) , 有 些 (youxie): slightly,
somewhat, more or less
Absolutor
完 全 (wanquan) : absolutely
Relative
Reinforcers
Superlative
最 (zui): most
Degree
Comparator
更 (geng) , 比 较 (bijiao) , 还
modifiers
(hai) : more
Attenuators
稍 微 (shaowei), 稍 稍 (shaoshao) : a little
Table 2. New Schema for Chinese Degree Modifiers
Both absolute degree modifiers and relative degree modifiers can be divided
into reinforcers and attenuators, which is based on their functions. Reinforcers refer to
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the ones that have a strengthening function, whereas attenuators refer to the ones that
have a slightly lowering effect. As for the absolute degree modifier, reinforces can be
further divided into three categories i.e. maximisers, boosters and moderators.
Maximizers denote the upper extreme on the scale such as ji, chao and bao. Boosters
denote a high degree on the scale, for instance, te, shifen and the dialectal ones such
as beir and zei. Most dialectal degree modifiers will fall into these two categories in
that dialectal degree modifiers usually have a strong emotional flavor and thus have a
higher degree value. Moderator indicates that the item, which degree modifiers apply
to, expresses lower degree value than booster but higher degree value than attenuators.
So in this diagram, we can see clearly the difference between the dialectal degree
modifiers such as beir in Tianjin dialect and hen in Mandarin.
4.2 Gradability
Manifestations of degree have traditionally been associated with adjectives
and adverbs, and the concept of degree has traditionally been dealt with in terms of
whether they can undergo comparison or not (Chu 1999; Zhang 1997). Gradability
has thus primarily been associated with these two grammatical classes of words. The
view that degree is associated with adjectives and adverbs is challenged by Sapir
(1949) and Bolinger (1967, 1972), who claim that gradability is not only a feature of
adjectives, but also that of nouns and verbs. All gradable words involve a feature of
degree, which we perceive as variable in intensity or extent, and which therefore can
be attenuated or reinforced. In order to give a detailed description of the semantic
feature of beir, we first need to have a look at the phrases that it could modify.
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4.3 Adjectives Phrases that could be Modified by Beir
In this part, the classification of adjectival phrases will be conducted in order
to give a clear explanation of the rule that govern the relationship between beir and
the adjectives that it modifies. The semantic feature of the negated adjectives that
could be modified by beir will also be discussed in this section.
4.3.1 Classification of Adjectives
Adjectives can be subdivided into gradable ones and non-gradable ones. As for
the non-gradable ones, they are resistant to the criterion of gradability in nature. They
are therefore irrelevant to the present study.I propose four criteria for the gradable
Chinese adjectives. See the following diagram:
1. Intensified adjectives:
a. 喷 香 雪 白 迷 你
penxiang xuebai mini
‘very delicious’ ‘very white’
‘mini’
b. 整 整 齐 齐 干 干 净 净
zhengzhengqiqi ganganjingjing
‘very tidy’
‘very clean’
2. Scalar adjectives: 高 矮 重 轻
gao ai zhong qing
‘tall’
‘short’ ‘heavy’ ‘light’
3. Extreme adjectives: 完 美 优 秀
wanmei
youxiu
‘excellent’ ‘perfect’
- 18 -

4. Limit adjectives: 真 假 正 确 错 误
zhen jia zhengque cuowu
‘true’ ‘false’ ‘right’ ‘wrong’
There are two subcategories in Intensified Adjectives. For the adjectives in (1a),
there is a morpheme in the compound that bears the extent of degree. For example
‘pen’ in ‘penxiang’ and ‘xue’ in ‘xuebai’ etc; Or the word itself bears the meaning of
extent. For example, ‘mini’ is a loanword, which bears the meaning very small. While
for the adjectives in (1b), Zhang (2002) argues that the reduplication of adjectives has
already born the meaning of extent of degree. In view of this, the adjectives in (1a)
and (1b) actually have already been intensified, so they are incompatible with degree
modifiers. E.g. * 很 雪 白 ,* 很 干 干 净 净 ,etc.
Scalar adjectives could combine with all kinds of degree modifiers. They exhibit
all the typical features of antonyms as defined by Cruse (1986: 204-220; 1992:
289-306). They are fully gradable, i.e. they occur in the comparative and the
superlative structures. The members of scalar adjectives denote the variable properties
such as length, weight, speed, etc. Paradis (2001) argued that they do not strictly
bisect the domain: there is a range of values of the variable property lying between
those covered by the opposite terms which do not apply properly to either of the two.
The statement in (19) is not paradoxical, since there is a pivotal region on the scale of
length, which fits this description.
(19) 既 不 长 也 不 短
Ji
neither
bu chang ye bu duan
not long or not short
‘It is neither long nor short.’
Antonyms are conceptualized in terms of ‘more or less’. They can be described
as implicit comparatives since, when we think of a long skirt, the notion of ‘short’ is
- 19 -

evoked at the same time (Cruse 1986: 216). It has an unbounded construal and is
responsible for our interpretation of scalar adjectives as denoting a range on a scale.
The scale is open-ended. Adjectives of this type may approach a maximum or a
minimum, but they can never get the point. In this sense, scalar adjectives can be
modified by all kinds of degree modifiers.
Extreme adjectives such as wanmei (perfect) and youxiu (exellent) differ from
scalar adjectives in that they do not represent a range on a scale. They represent the
ultimate point of a scale. Linguists’ opinion differs as to the comparability of extreme
adjectives. In English some speakers reject the comparative and superlative
constructions, such as ?more excellent, ?most excellent, and some people accept it
(Paradis, 2001). But in Chinese, the comparative form gengyouxiu (more excellent)
and superlative form zuiyouxiu (the most excellent) are totally acceptable. Bonglinger
(1967: 4) points out ‘that comparability is a semantic feature coextensive with ‘having
different degrees’ or associated to items which are ‘susceptible to being laid out on a
scale’’, he also adds (1967: 6), ‘the fondness of exaggeration pulls many of the
adjectives representing these extremes off their perches and comparing them (i.e.
comparing their non-extreme meaning) then becomes possible’. In the same way as
long as scalar adjectives can be described as implicit comparatives, extreme adjectives
can be described as implicit superlatives in that they express a superlative degree of a
certain feature. Therefore, extreme adjectives could be said to be gradable bounded
adjectives (Paradis 1997: 54-57). Extreme adjectives could not be modified by
attenuators in Chinese, because they need to be reinforced and boosted or in other
words exaggerated, but attenuators cannot fulfill this task. For example, we can say:
(20) a. 这 幅 画 倍 儿 / 最 完 美 。
Zhefu hua /beier/zui wanmei
this picture very/most
perfect
‘This picture is really/the most perfect.’
- 20 -

But we can never say:
b. * 这 幅 画 有 点 完 美 。
Zhefu hua youdian wanmei
This picture a little perfect
‘This picture is a little perfect.’
Limit adjectives are logically different from scalar and extreme adjectives in that
they are not associated with a scale but conceptualized in terms of ‘either…or’,
something is either true or not true, somebody is either dead or not dead. Limit
adjectives are complementaries. They are absolute and can divide some conceptual
domain into two distinct parts. In English they do not even occur in the comparative
or the superlative (*more alive, *most alive,) but in Chinese they indeed occur. For
instance:
(21) 这 条 鱼 倍 儿 活 。
Zhetiao yu beir/hen huo
this fish very
alive
‘This fish is very active.’
(22) 那 条 鱼 最 活 了 。
Natiao yu zui huo LE
that
fish most alive
‘That fish is the most active one.’
(23) 这 条 鱼 有 点 死 了 。
Zhetiao yu youdian si le
This fish a little dead LE
‘This fish is almost dead.’
In Chinese we really allow the comparative and superlative form of limit
adjectives, but it is not the denotative meaning of the word but its affective or
- 21 -

connotative meaning instead. If we say 这 鱼 是 活 的 (This fish is alive) then it entails
that 这 鱼 不 是 死 的 (This fish is not dead). The statement that ‘she is neither dead nor
alive’ is paradoxical because one has to commit himself to either death or life. But in
Chinese the statement ‘ 他 不 死 不 活 的 ’(He is neither dead nor alive.) is grammatical.
This statement doesn’t really mean that he is in the situation of being both dead and
alive, but shows the state that he is not energetic or unhealthy. So it just has a
connotative meaning. It has nothing to do with the fact that limit adjectives are
associated with a definite boundary and a complementary (contradictory) mode of
opposition.
In view of above, I can draw a schema of Chinese Adjectives in figure 1:
Adjectives
Gradability nongradable gradable
Intensity intensified unintensified
Oppositeness complimentary antonymy
Type limit scalar extreme
Degree modifier none none all all reinforcer
Figure 1 Schematicity of Adjectives in Chinese
Scalar adjectives are always conceived of as occupying a range on a mental
scale. Extreme adjective indicate an extreme point on a scale. Limit adjectives are
always considered to be related to absoluteness of being either…or. One point they
share in common is that they could presuppose a frame of reference, indicating a
- 22 -

general view as to what is regarded as 长 (long), 短 (short), 胖 (fat), 瘦 (thin), 真 (real),
假 (fake), 对 (true), 错 (false).
Adjectives can not be rigidly categorized as exclusively scalar, extreme, or
limit adjectives, not even as either gradable or nongradabe, because there is a great
deal of flexibility in the semantic make-up of adjectives, allowing for modification of
meaning due to contextual factors.
From the schema we can see clearly that scalar, extreme and limit adjectives
can all be modified by degree modifier beir in that it falls into the category of
reinforcer of absolute degree modifier and thus is applicable to modify these three
kinds of adjectives.
4.3.2 Semantic Feature of Negated Adjectives Modified by beir
Adjectives that can enter the structure [beir+ 不 (not) +Adjective] must bear a
positive meaning or it will become ungrammatical. For example:
(24) a. 倍 儿 不 踏 实
beir bu taishi
very not steadfast
very fickle
b. * 倍 儿 不 浮 躁
beir bu fuzao
very not fickle
(25) a. 倍 儿 不 高 兴
beir bu gaoxing
very not happy
‘very unhappy’
- 23 -

. * 倍 儿 不 伤 心
beir bu shangxin
very not sad
(26) a. 倍 儿 不 好
beir bu hao
very not good
very unhappy
b. * 倍 儿 不 坏
beir bu huai
very not bad
(27) a. 倍 儿 不 坚 强
beir bu jianqiang
very not stubborn
very flaccid
b. * 倍 儿 不 软 弱
beir bu ruanruo
very not flaccid
(28) a. 倍 儿 不 干 净
beir bu ganjing
very not clean
very dirty
b. * 倍 儿 不 脏
beir buzang
very not dirty
As for the scalar adjectives, such as ‘gao (tall)’, ‘ai (short)’, ‘chang (long)’,
‘duan (short)’, only the ones that express the low value is likely to be modified by
degree modifiers. For instance:
- 24 -

(29) a. 你 挣 的 钱 很 不 少 了 。
Ni zhengde qian
hen bu shao le
you earn
money very not little le
‘What you have earned is enough.’
b. * 你 挣 的 钱 很 不 多 了 。
Ni zhengde qian hen bu duo le
you earn
money very not much LE
(30) a. 你 的 房 子 很 不 小 了 。
Nide fangzi hen bu xiao le
your house very not small le
‘Your house is big enough.’
b. * 你 的 房 子 很 不 大 了 。
Nide fangzi hen bu da le
your house very not big LE
(31) a. 这 根 绳 子 很 不 短 了 。
Zhegen shengzi hen bu duan le
this
rope very not short
This rope is long enough.
b. * 这 根 绳 子 很 不 长 了 。
Zhegen shengzi hen bu chang le
this rope very not long LE
In this case, hen is the only degree adverb that is applicable here (Ma 1991:
12). This is a unique semantic feature of hen that it could modify the scalar adjectives
that express the low value. Other degree adverbs do not have this function. So
together with other degree modifiers, beir cannot enter this kind of structure.
But as for some phrases such as bucuo (not bad),bulai(good), although they
take on the negated form of adjectives of cuo and lai,in fact, cuo and lai are not really
negated but they have been lexicalized when combining with bu(not). Bucuo does not
- 25 -

mean ‘not false’ and bulai does not mean ‘not poor’, instead they have formed new
phrases with new meanings: bucuo and bulai both convey the meaning of ‘good’.
4.4 Semantic Features of Verb Phrases Modified by Beir
This section focuses on the interpretation of the relationship between beir and
the verb phrases that it combines with in terms of gradability of verb phrases by way
of comparing beir with the degree modifier hen in Mandarin.
4.4.1 Classification of Verb Phrases
Gradability, as I mentioned above, is not only a feature of adjectives but it can
also be found in nouns and verbs (Bolinger, 1972). The dichotomy of boundedness
and unboundedness of verbs is usually related to encompassing the type of situation
aspect expressed by the verb plus its arguments as state/ activity verbs or events
(continuous/non-continuous, or telic/ non-telic). State and activity verbs tend to
function like unbounded entities, whereas event verbs usually function as bounded
entities. One traditional way of dealing with verbal aspect is Vendler’s analysis (1967),
which proposes four verb types. Based on his analysis, Table 3 shows us a
combination of gradability of verb phrases and verb aspect.
Gradability
Gradable
(unbounded)
Ungradable
(bounded)
Class
States ( static, durative, nontelic)
Activities (dynamic, durative, nontelic)
Accomplishments(dynamic, durative, telic)
Achievement ( dynamic, punctual, telic)
Table 3 Gradability and Verb Types
- 26 -

When dealing with this, one should note that it should be the whole verb phrase
that enters into the expression of artionsart, not just one verb. For instance, the verb
tong in tongfeng (ventilative) is a static verb, whereas tong in tongxiashuidao(dredge
the sewer) is an activity verb. Another example:
(32) 他 花 钱 1 买 饭 吃 。
Ta
huaqian1 mai fan chi
he spend money buy food eat
‘He spend money to buy some food.’
(33) 这 个 项 目 倍 儿 花 钱 2。
Zhege xiangmu beir huaqian2
this project very cost money
‘This project is very costly.’
Huaqian1 means to spend money, whereas huaqian2 means costly. In
consequence, many verbs in Chinese are polysemantic and belong to more than one
class by virtue of having several related uses. So this shows that different lexical
conceptual structures of verbs exhibit different situations in terms of aspect.
On the basis of dynamicity, we can distinguish three classes: activities,
accomplishments and achievements. When defining these classes, I make use of the
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (1995). An activity verb describes something
that goes on for a time but has no inherent endpoint. It is possible to stop doing it, but
it is not possible to complete it. And it is, however, possible to have done it as soon as
one has begun doing it. An accomplish verb describes something that goes on for a
time toward an inherent endpoint. Since it takes a certain time to do such a thing, one
cannot be said to have done it until it has been completed. Accomplishments are thus
bounded by virtue of their inception and completion points.
- 27 -

The common feature of the verb phrases that could be modified by degree
modifiers such as beir and hen is that they must be nontelic (i.e. unbounded in time)
or there must be an element that indicates unbounded nature in the verb phrase. In
view of this, static verb phrases, which express the property of state, are gradable in
nature. As for the activity verbs, although they are nontelic in nature, they could only
be modified by some degree modifiers conditionally in that these verb phrases
themselves do not bear the property of gradability. They could only be gradable when
they combine with a gradable element. By adding unbounded numerals in the activity
verb phrases, they could take on the property of gradability. For example, youyong
(swim) in (34) is an activity verb and thus nontelic. It does not indicate any gradable
feature in nature. But if we add an unbounded classifier jici to the object, it could
become gradable.
(34) 他 很 游 了 几 次 泳 。
Ta hen you le jici yong
he very swim
LE several times
‘He swam several times.’
(35) * 他 很 游 了 一 次 泳 。
Ta hen you le yici yong
he very swim le once swim
‘He very swim once.’
(36) 他 很 买 了 几 本 书 。
Ta hen mai le jiben shu
he very bought le several books
‘He bought several books.’
(37) * 她 很 买 了 一 本 书 。
Ta hen mai le yiben shu
she very bought le one book
- 28 -

But not all numerals are applicable in this case, only the unbounded ones that
bear no restrictions on number such as ‘jici (several times)’ in (34) or ‘jiben (several
books) in (36)’ are allowed to be modified by hen i.e. the numeral must not be explicit.
If the numeral is bounded or explicit, the whole activity phrase will turn out to be telic
in nature. For instance, (35) and (37) are ungrammatical in that when a verb phrase is
combined with a bounded numeral such as ‘yi’, the whole phrase could not be atelic
any more and thus becomes ungradable. The co-occurrence with unbounded numeral
in verb phrases to indicate the property of gradability is a unique semantic feature of
hen, it is not applicable to other degree modifiers in that it has something to do with
the historical background of hen,which has already been discussed above. So as for
the verb phrases that could be modified by beir, they must be static in nature.
Next step I will penetrate a little deeper into the inside structure of the verb
phrases that can be modified by beir. In Chinese the type of a verb phrase could
possibly be restricted by the feature of the object. In transitive verbal structure such as
VO structure, the object cannot be referential or definite or the nature of the whole
verb phrase could be changed. For example,
(38) a. 买 这 套 房 子 倍 儿 花 钱 。(static)
Mai zhetao fangzi beir huaqian
buy this house very costly
‘Buying this house is very costly.’
b. * 买 这 套 房 子 倍 儿 花 我 的 钱 。(accomplishment)
Mai zhetao fangzi beir hua wode qian
buy this house very cost my money
‘Buying this house costs me a lot of money.’
So in this case by adding ‘wode (my)’ to the object, the nature of the verb phrase
changed from static to accomplishment and thus the latter could not be modified by
beir any more. But it is contextually dependent. Sometimes the nature of the phrase
- 29 -

does not change when adding something to the object. For instance,
(39) a. 学 生 们 很 听 话 。(static)
Xueshengmen hen tinghua
student
very obedient
‘The students are obedient.’
b. 学 生 们 很 听 老 师 的 话 。(static)
xueshengmen hen ting laoshide hua
students
very listen teacher’s words
‘The students are obedient to the teacher very much.’
In this case, both ‘tinghua (being obedient)’ and ‘tinglaoshidehua (being
obedient to the teacher)’ express the situation of being obedient. So by inserting
‘laoshide (the teacher’s)’ into the verb phrase, the nature of it remains the same. But
in (33), huaqian2 is a static verb phrase, which expressed the situation of being costly.
By inserting ‘wode (my)’, the nature of the phrase changed to accomplishment with
the meaning of ‘cost me a lot of money’. ‘huaqian’ can be viewed as a kind of action
verb phrase denotatively, while ‘tinghua’ is a kind of psycho-verb phrase. According
to Chu (1999), psycho-verb phrases are less likely to be restricted by adding things
into the object. More examples of the psycho-verb phrases and action verb phrases are
as follows:
(40) a. 倍 儿 听 从 安 排 (static)
beier tingcong anpai
very obedient arrange
‘be quite obedient to the arrangement’
b. 倍 儿 听 从 组 织 的 安 排 (static)
beier tingcong zuzhi de anpai
very obey
league ‘s arrangement
‘be quite obedient to what the league arranges’
- 30 -

(41) a. 倍 儿 摆 架 子 (stative)
beier bai jiazi
very show hubris
‘be quite hubristic’
b.? 倍 儿 摆 他 的 架 子
beier bai tade jiazi
very set his hubris
(42) a. 倍 儿 吃 油 (stative)
beier chi you
very eat oil
‘consume a lot of oil’
b. ? 倍 儿 吃 剩 下 的 油
beier chi shengxiade you
very eat rest oil
(43) a. 倍 儿 是 时 候 (stative)
beier shi shihou
very be on time
‘be on time’
b. ? 倍 儿 是 来 的 时 候
beir shi laide shihou
very is coming time
In (40), tingcong is a kind of psycho verb, so there are less restrictions on the
object, i.e. the object could be referential (zuzhi de anpai) or non-referential (anpai).
But as for other verb phrases, when objects changed from non-referential to
referential, the property of the verb phrase could not remain the same i.e. they are not
stative any more. For instance, in the examples above, jiazi (hubris), you (oil) and
shihou (time) are all non-referential objects. When combined with verbs to form verb
phrases, they are stative in nature. But when restrictions such as tade (his), shengxiade
(left) and laide (coming) are added to the objects respectively, the verb phrases are not
- 31 -

stative any more and hence do not bear the property of gradability.
4.4.2 Semantic features of V in beir+VO
Generally speaking, the more abstract the verb is, the more likely it is able to
be modified by degree modifiers,but the prerequisite condition is that the verb phrase
must be aspectually stative. For example:
通 (tong):
(44) concrete meaning:
a. 通 下 水 道
tong xiashuidao
dredge drainage
‘dredge the drainage’
b. * 倍 儿 通 下 水 道 (activity)
beir tong xiangshuidao
very dredge drainage
(45) abstract meaning:
a. 通 风
tong feng
dredge wind
‘ventilated’
b. 倍 儿 通 风 (static)
beir tongfeng
very ventilated
‘very ventilated’
- 32 -

下 (xia):
(46) concrete meaning:
a. 下 山 (get down the hill)
xia shan
down hill
‘get down the hill’
b. * 倍 儿 下 山 (activity)
beir xia
shan
very down hill
(47) abstract meaning:
a. 下 功 夫
xia
gongfu
down effort
‘take pains’
b. 倍 儿 下 功 夫 (static)
beir xiagongfu
very take pains
‘take a lot of pains’
In these cases, tongfeng (ventilated) and xiagongfu (take pains) are both stative
verb phrases, so they could be modified by beir. But for tongxiashuidao (dredge the
drainage ),xiashan (go down the hill), they are activity verb phrases, so they are not
gradable in nature, and they could not be modified by any degree modifiers at all.
4.4.3 Co-occurrence of Beir with Gradable Morphemes in Verb Phrases
Some of the verb phrases could become gradable if they combine with
gradable morphemes in their structure. Since Chinese is a language with little visible
morphological change, as for phrases like ‘haochi (delicious)’ and ‘nankan (ugly)’, it
- 33 -

is hard to define whether they are deverbal adjectives or verb phrases, although they
can be interpreted as delicious and ugly in English. We just put them here without
defining which category they belong to. In this class, ‘hao (good)’, ‘neng (able)’, ‘nan
(hard)’, ‘shao (little)’ and ‘zhong (heavy)’are all gradable morphemes that make the
whole phrase gradable in nature. In this case, the phenomenon could be classified into
three groups as follow:
1. beir + gradable adjectives +VP
(48) a. 倍 儿 好 吃
beir hao chi
very good eat
‘It is delicious.’
b. 倍 儿 难 说
beir nan shuo
very hard say
‘It is hard to say’
c. 倍 儿 重 视
beir zhongshi
very emphasis
‘pay much attention to’
The first class is that beir is followed by gradable adjectives such as hao
(good) in (45a), nan (hard) in (45b), zhong (heavy) in (45c) plus a verb phrase.
Without the gradable adjectives following beir, these verb phrases could not be
gradable in nature and thus could not be modified by beir at all.
- 34 -

2. beir + V + gradable adjective
(49) 领 导 倍 儿 看 重 我 。
Lingdao beir
leader very
kanzhong wo
emphasis me
‘ The lead takes a fancy to me.’
The second class is that beir could modify verb phrases, which contain gradable
adjectives in it. For example, zhong in (46) is a gradable adjective contained in the
verb phrase kanwo, which could make the whole verb phrase become gradable in
nature.
3. beir+modal verb+VP
(50) 她 倍 儿 能 吃 苦 。
Ta beir
neng chiku
she very able persevere
‘She is very persevering.’
(51) 她 倍 儿 会 烧 菜 。
Ta beir hui shaocai
she very
able cook
‘She is a good chef.’
The third class is that beir could be followed by a modal verb plus a verb phrase
as shown in (50) and (51). Neng and hui in this case are modal verbs with the meaning
be able to. By adding modal verbs at the front of the verb phrase such as shaocai(cook)
that bears the semantic feature of [+activity], the whole VP becomes [+static]. But
there are also strong restrictions to the inserted element of the object. For instance:
- 35 -

(52) a. 她 倍 儿 会 唱 歌 。
Ta hen/beier hui change
she very
able sing
‘She can sing well.’
b. ? 她 倍 儿 会 唱 国 歌 。
Ta beir hui chang huoge
she very able sing national song
(53) a. 她 倍 儿 能 睡 觉 。
Ta beir neng shuijiao
she very able
sleep.
‘She sleeps a lot.’
b. * 她 倍 儿 能 睡 两 个 小 时
Ta beir neng shui linage xiaoshi
she very able sleep two
hours
In this case, what the degree adverb beir modifies is not the verb phrase that
bears the semantic feature of [+activity], but it conveys the greater extent of both
ability and epistemic modality of possibility. One thing should be noted is that the
verb phrase that followed by modal verb should not be telic when modified by beir.
For example, gouge and lianggexiaoshi in (53b) and (54b), they made the whole verb
phrase turn out to be telic in nature. As I mentioned above, telic verb phrases are not
gradable at all, so they are ungrammatical.
4.5 Semantic Differences between beir and hen
Firstly, hen and beir have different etymologies. According to Lu (1986), one
item of the meanings of 很 (hen) is derived from 狠 (hen) 1 which bears the
meaning of being fierce and resolute. In grammaticalization process, ‘ 狠 ’ is always
1
很 and 狠 have the same pronunciation, so they can be both transcribed as hen in Pinyin, but they are different
in shape of Chinese characters and meanings.
- 36 -

written as ‘ 很 ’ when functions as a degree modifier and written as ‘ 狠 ’when functions
as an adjective. But there still remains some overlap. For example, in some cases of
being as degree modifier, 狠 still takes on the feature of functioning like an adjective.
For example:
(54) 他 高 得 很 。
Ta gao de hen
he tall de very
‘He is very tall.’
(55) 路 远 得 很 。
Lu yuan de hen
way far de very
‘It is really far away from here.’
According to Chu (1999), in the case of hen being as the complement of de,
hen still take on the feature of adjectives. Actually, in such cases that I mentioned
above: 她 很 买 了 几 本 书 。 他 很 喝 了 几 杯 酒 。 hen still bears the content meaning of
being resolute when functioning as a degree modifier. So hen can not be substituted
by other degree modifiers such as beir in these two situations. Therefore it is
ungrammatical to say * 路 远 得 倍 儿 。or * 他 倍 儿 喝 了 几 杯 酒 。
Secondly, beir is a newly emerged degree adverb. It seldom appears in formal
occasions, whereas hen has a long history, and it is often used formally.
example:
Thirdly, hen and beir differs from each other in terms of negation form: For
- 37 -

(56) a. 他 不 很 开 心 。
Ta bu hen kaixin
he not very happy
He is not very happy.
b. * 他 不 倍 儿 开 心 。
Ta bu beir kaixin
he not very happy
In this case, hen is within the scope of a negative element, which is not the
case with beir. Here hen approximates a required limit and indicate that something
fall short of that limit. There is, however, an indication that the thing is not far from
reaching that limit. There is thus an implication of ‘almost’, which makes the
boundary between happy and unhappy seems less definite. Hence hen softens the
force of negative. When carrying this function, hen is always placed after the negation
particle bu. Another degree adverb tai (very) seems to have the same function as hen,
but it is not the case with other degree modifiers such as the dialectal ones such as in
(56).
Fourthly, according to Chui (2000), hen is undergoing a process of semantic
change to develop into a bound constituent from a free independent word by way of
cliticization and compounding, i.e. lexical item>phrasal clitic> compound constitution.
Therefore the morphologization of hen also gives rise to the differences between hen
and beir. For instance:
(57) ? 他 高 。
Ta gao
he tall
(58) 他 很 高 。
Ta hen gao
he very tall
‘He is very tall’
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(59) 他 倍 儿 高 。
Ta beir gao
he very tall
He is very tall.
(57) is grammatical, only in contrastive context. E.g. Tagao, wo’ai (He is tall,
but I am short.). But Tagao. cannot be used independently. People tend to use (58) to
express the meaning of ‘he is tall’. Hen in (58) doesn’t have any lexical meaning
here,but the absence of hen makes the sentence unnatural. Therefore the occurrence
of hen is obligatory in (58). Actually (59) encodes the meaning ‘He is very tall’. Beir
in (59) is a free degree adverb with the meaning very, but hen has lost its
mophosyntactic autonomy (Li and Thompson, 1981) and becomes a phrasal clitic in
(58). So hen here does not convey the intensive meaning, its obligatory attachment to
the predicate suggests that hen, unlike beir, is becoming a phrasal clitic (Hopper and
Traugott, 1993). Semantically, the clitic form no longer conveys the intensive
gradable sense, its gradability is neutralized. This can also explains the reason why
people think that the degree value of beir is higher than hen.
(60) 他 很 少 来 看 我 。
Ta henshao lai kan wo
he seldom
come see me
‘He seldom comes to see me’
(61) * 他 倍 儿 少 来 看 我 。
Ta beir shao lai
kan wo
He very little come see me
Fifthly, beir could not substitute hen in sentence (60), it is not because beir
cannot modify shao. In this case, henshao has been lexicalized as a compound with
the meaning seldom. Without hen, shao cannot convey the meaning of frequency of
the visit. In this case, according to Chui (2000), hen becomes an indispensable degree
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morpheme to be concurring with shao in forming fixed compound. So we can never
substitute beir from hen in the phrase henshao, in that changing a constituent of
compound causes ungrammaticality.
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Chapter Five Conclusion
In conclusion, beir, being a newly emerged degree modifier in Tianjin dialect,
bears similar meaning ‘very’ with hen, which is frequently used by Mandarin speakers.
Beir in Tianjin dialect has higher degree value than hen in Mandarin. As I proposed in
this paper, it is an absolute degree modifier, which functionally falls into the category
of boosters in reinforcers. Syntactically speaking, beir is different from hen, in that it
cannot co-occur with the verb phrases that contain unbounded numeral in it. Also beir
does not have the function of being negated by bu, whereas hen does. The adjectives
that can be modified by beir can be classified into three categories: scalar adjectives,
extreme adjectives and limit adjectives. The intensified adjectives cannot be modified
by beir in that they are not gradable in nature. Moreover, only the negated adjectives
that bear positive meaning can be modified by beir. The gradability of verb phrases is
closely related to their situation types. Only the nontelic verb phrases are gradable in
nature. Unlike hen, which can aspectually modify both stative verb phrases and
activity verb phrases, beir can only modify the stative verb phrases.
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