Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code)
The Chinese language has witnessed remarkable changes in the past several decades, marked by a rapid rise of new words, frequent innovation of pseudo-affixes, and a notable increase in word length. By analyzing the creation, spread, and expansion of the new word 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “h...
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/2/123 |
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| author | Yun Xiao Yi Ren |
| author_facet | Yun Xiao Yi Ren |
| author_sort | Yun Xiao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Chinese language has witnessed remarkable changes in the past several decades, marked by a rapid rise of new words, frequent innovation of pseudo-affixes, and a notable increase in word length. By analyzing the creation, spread, and expansion of the new word 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code”, this study sheds light on how language change takes place and how nonce formation is brought into being. Following the explosion of COVID-19 in China, 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code” was created and promoted by the local and central governments and subsequently generated a large XX-码 XX-<i>ma</i> “XX-code” word family through various morphological processes, such as abbreviation, clipping, derivation, and analogy, where -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” has acquired some new meaning distinct from its original form as a bound root. Linguistically, 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code” is a three-morpheme word in a 2 + 1 length pattern, which phonologically consists of a single super foot that makes the expression catchy and appealing. The highly productive AB-C internal structure makes -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code”, although not yet a fully grammaticalized affix, a strong pseudo-suffix that has high morphological productivity with a fixed suffix positioning. Given the high frequency of the lexical 码 <i>ma</i> “code” in contemporary Chinese language use, the pseudo-suffix -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” may, however, not completely replace it in the long run, as principles of grammaticalization theories predict. Instead, it is likely that both the lexical 码<i>ma</i> “code” and the pseudo-suffix -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” will coexist side by side along split pathways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:15:31Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
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| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:15:31Z |
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| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-8859a3e18c604e4abcea92a99c3ded612023-11-18T11:15:35ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2023-05-018212310.3390/languages8020123Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code)Yun Xiao0Yi Ren1Department of Modern Language, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI 02917, USADepartment of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USAThe Chinese language has witnessed remarkable changes in the past several decades, marked by a rapid rise of new words, frequent innovation of pseudo-affixes, and a notable increase in word length. By analyzing the creation, spread, and expansion of the new word 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code”, this study sheds light on how language change takes place and how nonce formation is brought into being. Following the explosion of COVID-19 in China, 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code” was created and promoted by the local and central governments and subsequently generated a large XX-码 XX-<i>ma</i> “XX-code” word family through various morphological processes, such as abbreviation, clipping, derivation, and analogy, where -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” has acquired some new meaning distinct from its original form as a bound root. Linguistically, 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> “health QR code” is a three-morpheme word in a 2 + 1 length pattern, which phonologically consists of a single super foot that makes the expression catchy and appealing. The highly productive AB-C internal structure makes -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code”, although not yet a fully grammaticalized affix, a strong pseudo-suffix that has high morphological productivity with a fixed suffix positioning. Given the high frequency of the lexical 码 <i>ma</i> “code” in contemporary Chinese language use, the pseudo-suffix -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” may, however, not completely replace it in the long run, as principles of grammaticalization theories predict. Instead, it is likely that both the lexical 码<i>ma</i> “code” and the pseudo-suffix -码 -<i>ma</i> “-code” will coexist side by side along split pathways.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/2/123language changegrammaticalization健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i>pseudo-suffixword length patternword family |
| spellingShingle | Yun Xiao Yi Ren Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) Languages language change grammaticalization 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> pseudo-suffix word length pattern word family |
| title | Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) |
| title_full | Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) |
| title_fullStr | Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) |
| title_short | Language Change and Morphological Processes in Contemporary Chinese: The Case of 健康码 (Health QR Code) |
| title_sort | language change and morphological processes in contemporary chinese the case of 健康码 health qr code |
| topic | language change grammaticalization 健康码 <i>Jiankang-ma</i> pseudo-suffix word length pattern word family |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/2/123 |
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