Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

On the Limitations of Constructional Innovation: A Case Study of the “ni bixu zhidao de NP”

  • Lei Zhang
  • , Shanshan Yang*
  • , Sicong Dong
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Central China Normal University
  • Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The present study addresses the limitations of constructional innovation by looking into the case of “你必须知道的 NP” [ni bixu zhidao de NP] (NP that you must know), an emerging construction popular in Chinese titles. Upon linguistic data collection and case analysis, it is found that, constructional innovation, while fulfilling the expected functions, is at the same time subject to the context of linguistic innovation. On one hand, new constructions with certain functional attributes have a better chance of rising from a specific context. The rise of the “你必须知道的NP” [ni bixu zhidao de NP] (NP that you must know) as a popular title option in the Chinese new media is believed to benefit from its functional attributes that “highlight high-value information”, “express the author’s stance”, and “recruit readers’ empathy”. On the other hand, newly emerging constructions are restricted by the linguistic context as well. Therefore, the construction “你必须知道的NP” [ni bixu zhidao de NP] (NP that you must know) is distinctive in both its form and semantics.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationChinese Lexical Semantics - 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsMinghui Dong, Yanhui Gu, Jia-Fei Hong
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages278-292
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9783031067020
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event22nd Chinese Lexical Semantics Workshop, CLSW 2021 - Nanjing, China
Duration: 15 May 202116 May 2021

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume13249 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference22nd Chinese Lexical Semantics Workshop, CLSW 2021
Country/TerritoryChina
CityNanjing
Period15/05/2116/05/21

Keywords

  • Constructional innovation
  • Limitations
  • “你必须知道的NP” [ni bixu zhidao de NP] (NP that you must know)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'On the Limitations of Constructional Innovation: A Case Study of the “ni bixu zhidao de NP”'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this