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The Origin and Grammaticalization of the Frequency Adverb Jin ( 尽) in Chinese Dialects

Linguistics / 2025,7(4): 281-297 / 2025-12-31 7 2

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• Authors: Yihui Huang Wenjing Mao*
• Information:

  School of Literature, Journalism and Communication, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, China

• Keywords:
  Chinese Dialects; Frequency Adverb; Jin ( 尽); Etymology; Grammaticalization
• Abstract: The frequency adverb Jin ( 尽) is widely distributed in Mandarin Dialects as well as in Jin, Xiang, Gan, Wu, and Hakka dialects, indicating high-frequency repetition of actions and long-term continuation of states and often carries strong negative evaluative colors. It is derived from the word Jin ( 儘) with the Jingmu ( 精母, voiceless initial consonant) and Shangsheng ( 上声) tone in the Tang Dynasty (7th-10th c.). Its semantic and phonetic evolution led to a new writing form, Jin ( 儘)’s creation on the basis of Jin ( 盡), which was both simplified to the vulgar form Jin ( 尽) in contemporary written language. In the Middle Ancient Chinese (5th-12thc.), the verb Jin ( 尽) developed a causative meaning in the pivotal structure “Jin ( 尽) +N+VP” and gradually evolved along the semantic continuum of “cause > permit > allow > connive”. When the noun (N) in that structure was omitted, the Jin ( 尽) is adjacent to the VP and gradually grammaticalized from a verb into a modal adverb and then frequency adverb. The grammaticalization path of Jin ( 尽) can be summarized as: “verb with the meaning ‘to connive’ > modal adverb > frequency adverb”.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.35534/lin.0704031 (registering DOI)
• Cite: Huang, Y. H., & Mao, W. J. (2025). The Origin and Grammaticalization of the Frequency Adverb Jin ( 尽) in Chinese Dialects. Linguistics, 7(4), 281-297.