The Semantics of Mandarin Decomposition Adverbs

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This research aims to contribute to a theory of semantic variation across languages through investigation on the so-called decomposition adverbs in Mandarin Chinese compared with their equivalents in other well-studied languages. The ultimate goal is to develop a cross-linguistic typology of these adverbs, taking into account their semantics, syntax and pragmatics. This research, thereby, brings together semantics of Mandarin and formal semantics, two subfields of linguistics that currently have rare interaction.