| This paper first has described the "gei", give, constructions in detail in Xiangfan dialect, which include the grammartical semantics such as giving, passive and disposal meanings and so on. Then it has explored the semantic and syntactic features of such structures. Thirdly, it has illustrated the pragmatic functions of the structures from the perspective of information structure theory of the systemic-functional grammar. Fourthly, the motivation for the "gei"structures in ancient Xiangfan dialect is discussed from a diachronic perspective. Meanwhile, adopting a geographic typological point of view, the paper analyzes the markers of dispositional and passive structures in different dialects, which proves the dialectal typology of Xiangfan dialect. In Xiangfan dialect, the word "gei"has the following usages: "gei1", verb, expressing "to give, to cause or to permit", etc; "gei2", preposition, introducing the agent and expressing passive meaning, which can be replaced by "jiao"or "rang"; "gei3", preposition, introducing the patient and expressing a dispositional meaning, which can be replaced by "jiao"as well; "gei4", preposition, introducing the target of an act; "gei5", auxiliary. In Xiangfan dialect, two different "geis"can be used together, which is a special grammatical phenomenon. Each of "gei1, gei2 and gei3"has its own features in structure and meaning. Furthermore, due to the different semantic relationships between the accusative nouns, there is great variation between the passive and dispositional structures with two accusative nouns and their relevant alternatives. The two groups of structures have different topics, whose pragmatic values vary. "Gei"is used as a marker of all the three meanings, therefore arouses ambiguity. The paper tries to clarify the issue. "Gei"in Xiangfan dialect has its historic origin. The paper preliminarily identifies the typology of Xiangfan dialect through comparison and contrast of the markers in Xiangfan dialect and dialects in nearby regions.
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