An Analysis of Chinese Discourse Marker “Nikan” from the Perspective of Grammaticalization Theories

This paper attempts to apply grammaticalization theories to analyzing the formation of Chinese discourse marker Nikan in terms of its meaning and structure. The result suggests that the meaning of Kan in Nikan becomes increasingly general during grammaticalization. Furthermore,Nikan is subjectivized and develops corresponding pragmatic functions related to the lexical meanings of Kan Such abstraction and subjectification accord with one mechanism of grammaticalization—pragmatic inference. However,the lexical meanings at different stages of grammaticalization coexist in the same synchronic level instead of fading away,which embodies semantic retention proposed in grammaticalization