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@article{ART002652587},
author={Ko Young-ran and PARK, EUN SOK},
title={Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?},
journal={The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies },
issn={1598-8503},
year={2020},
number={50},
pages={109-139},
doi={10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005}

TY - JOUR
AU - Ko Young-ran
AU - PARK, EUN SOK
TI - Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?
JO - The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies
PY - 2020
VL - null
IS - 50
PB - The Society For Chinese Cultural Studies
SP - 109
EP - 139
SN - 1598-8503
AB - Throughout the Chinese academia, 幾(jǐ)'s word-class has been recognized as a numeral or an interrogative pronoun, and some scholars view it as both a numeral and an interrogative pronoun both. However, no valid rationale for defining 幾(jǐ)'s word-class as such has been presented. We reviewed the situation of 幾(jǐ)'s word-class notation extensively through Chinese dictionaries, Chinese grammar books, and beginner's Chinese textbooks and considered the use of ‘幾(jǐ)’ from a historical and synchronic perspective. In this way, we concluded that ‘幾(jǐ)’ is a concurrent word. In addition, we prepared grounds for claiming ‘幾(jǐ)’ as a concurrent word, and also uncovered about the relationships between the meanings of the numerals ‘幾(jǐ)’, the relationship between the meanings of ‘幾(jǐ)’, and the word-class of ‘幾(jǐ)’ and the relationship between the numerals ‘幾(jǐ)’ and the interrogative pronouns ‘幾(jǐ)’ for the first time. ‘幾(jǐ)’ belongs to the word-class of numeral in terms of the distribution, but the reasons that it should also be recognized as an interrogative pronoun are as follows. First, if ‘幾(jǐ)’ is used in an interrogative sentence, it shows a multifunctional aspect related to the interrogative such as question, answer, and substitution. Second, ‘幾(jǐ)’ is not only used as an interrogative usage, but also used as a non-interrogative usage such as arbitrary reference and empty reference. This shows the same pattern as the development of other interrogative pronouns. Third, ‘幾(jǐ)’ has been frequently used in the context of interrogative since Archaic Chinese, so it eventually has become closer to an interrogative pronoun through interrogative “absorption of context meaning”.
KW - ‘幾(jǐ)’;numeral;interrogative pronoun;round number;absorption of context meaning
DO - 10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005
ER -

Ko Young-ran and PARK, EUN SOK. (2020). Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?. The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies , 50, 109-139.

Ko Young-ran and PARK, EUN SOK. 2020, "Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?", The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies , no.50, pp.109-139. Available from: doi:10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran, PARK, EUN SOK "Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?" The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies 50 pp.109-139 (2020) : 109.

Ko Young-ran, PARK, EUN SOK. Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?. 2020; 50 : 109-139. Available from: doi:10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran and PARK, EUN SOK. "Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?" The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies no.50(2020) : 109-139.doi: 10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran; PARK, EUN SOK. Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?. The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies , 50, 109-139. doi: 10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran; PARK, EUN SOK. Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?. The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies . 2020; 50 109-139. doi: 10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran, PARK, EUN SOK. Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?. 2020; 50 : 109-139. Available from: doi:10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005

Ko Young-ran and PARK, EUN SOK. "Is ‘幾(jǐ)’ an interrogative pronoun or a numeral?" The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies no.50(2020) : 109-139.doi: 10.18212/cccs.2020..50.005