Work

Some Observations on the Cantonese Lexical Suprafixes

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Suprafixation (more specifically, tonal affixation) is a word-building strategy that is somewhat frequently employed in Cantonese. This article explores the development of the lexical suprafixes in Standard Cantonese from three perspectives: (a) earlier descriptions of the Cantonese suprafixes and the behaviour of the lexical suprafixes in some older Romanised Cantonese texts; (b) the behaviour of the lexical suprafixes in some non-standard Cantonese varieties; and (c) the behaviour of the suprafixes and diminutives in Yuè and Pínghuà dialects in general. A definite answer cannot be found to the question of what the origin of the Cantonese suprafixes is. Nonetheless, the theory that the Cantonese lexical suprafixes stem from the diminutive suffix *ɲi 兒 (Cantonese ji4, Mandarin ér) remains the most convincing.

Source: Languages

DOI: 10.3390/languages9100311

Author: Hilário de Sousa

Institutions: Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale, École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Language: English

Topic: Linguistics and language evolution

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,591

Funder: European Research Council