TITLE:
A Study of the Acquisition Order of the Multi-Category Word 叫 Jiào
AUTHORS:
Anqi Ding, Ting Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Multi-Category Word, 叫 Jiao, Acquisition Order, Implicational Scale
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.14 No.5,
October
23,
2024
ABSTRACT: In modern Chinese, the word 叫 jiào is a multifunctional polysemy which straddles multiple word categories—verb, preposition, and auxiliary. Based on the HSK Dynamic Composition Corpus, we propose the acquisition order of 叫 jiào in terms of word categories and meaning items among Mandarin L2 learners, according to the usage rate, accuracy percentage, emergence criterion and implicational scale. The sequence is basically in consistence with the word’s process of grammaticalization. Cognitive difficulty, frequency effect, and intralingual interference account for the acquisition order. Suggestions for teaching methods and textbook compilation are also given, offering a reference for the acquisition research of multi-category words.