The Semantic Analysis Of Cai As A Focus Sensitive Operator

The adverb cai in Mandarin Chinese is a high-frequency item with multiple meanings,and there have been considerable researches conducted around its semantic meanings.Among these studies,scholars have reached a consensus that the adverb cai is able to denote the meaning of subjective quantity and the meaning of exclusivity.And yet,a few have attempted to provide a unified analysis of the two meanings based on alternative semantics.Hence based on the previous relevant literature,we presume that the adverb cai,as a focus sensitive operator,basically denotes two types of meanings,namely the meaning of subjective quantity and the meaning of exclusivity.To examine this hypothesis,this thesis focuses on the following three research questions:(1)How does the condition on focus association of cai influence the interpretation of semantic types denoted by cai?(2)How can we explain the discrepancy in subjective quantity of cai arising from the word order between cai and its associated focus?(3)What are the core senses of the adverb cai? And how can we account for other seemingly distinct senses based on its core senses?Within the framework of alternative semantics,this paper explores the above questions.As a focus sensitive operator,cai can have either leftward association or rightward association.The property of quantification plays a significant role in analyzing focus association and semantics of cai.In the case of rightward association,focus is required to have such a property,and cai delivers the meaning of subjectivity.In the case of leftward association,when focus has no such a property,cai expresses the meaning of exclusivity;when focus has this property,the semantic types denoted by cai are affected by the dynamic property of an event that varies with quantity indicated by focus and a contrast relation implicitly or explicitly indicated by a context.Besides,this property determines whether alternatives in a set introduced by focus are ordered or not,which plays a crucial role in interpreting the discrepancy of subjective quantity of cai.When cai delivers the meaning of subjective quantity,focus with such a property will introduce a set in which alternatives are sequenced.Cai operates on this domain of quantification by either a downward scale or an upward scale activated by it.In this way,it gives rise to discrepancy in subjective quantity.And this kind of scale can be interpreted based on the etymological meaning of cai.Based on the above analyses,we propose that the core senses of cai are exclusive meaning and subjective meaning.When cai conveys the meaning of exclusivity,the semantic function of cai is to affirms focus and excludes other alternatives.When focus does not have a quantification property,it will introduce an alternative set in which members are not ordered.The semantic function of cai keeps the same.When focus has this property,it will introduce a set in which alternatives are ordered.Cai operates on this domain by its exclusive function,namely affirming the focus and excluding alternatives before the focus.Based on the semantic function of subjective meaning and exclusivity meaning,we derive other semantic senses of cai.