A Study of the Functions, Distribution, and Information Structure of the Adverb “Jianzhi(简直)” in Modern Chinese

Previous studies generally believed that the function of the adverb "jianzhi(简直)" was emphasizing and exaggerating. In addition, previous studies generally focused on the semantic and syntactic distribution of "jianzhi(简直)", and rarely discussed the information structure of "jianzhi(简直)". I speculated that this expression of emphasizing function and exaggerating meaning was actually related to the information structure of "jianzhi(简直)". This paper examines the syntactic distribution and usage of the adverb "jianzhi(简直)" through the corpus, and finds that "jianzhi(简直)" can only be placed after the subject and before the predicate position in the sentence. This paper distinguishes the meaning and function of "jianzhi(简直)". It also deduces the grammaticalization direction between semantics and functions: the adjective "jianzhi(简直)" → the volitional adverb expressing decisiveness or straightforwardness → the adverb "jianzhi(简直)" with highly affirmed semantics → the modal adverb "jianzhi(简直)" with emphatic function → the modal adverb "jianzhi(简直)" with exaggerated function". In the construction of "NP1+"jianzhi(简直)"+AP/VP/NP2", the NP1 component is the topic, and NP1's discourse referents are accessible or active, so the topic of the construction "jianzhi(简直)" cannot be indefinite. Sentences containing the modal adverb "jianzhi(简直)" show the speaker's subjective attitude and express positive confirmation. They can only co-exist with declarative sentences or declarative exclamations, and can not co-exist with interrogative sentences expressing unknown and imperative sentences without declarative meanings. As a focus sensitive operator, the function of "jianzhi(简直)" is to focus on the following components. As "jianzhi(简直)" is limited by the syntactic distribution, that is, "jianzhi(简直)" appears between the subject and the predicate, so there is only the predicate focus structure. The predicate part after "jianzhi(简直)" is the focus field of the sentence, while the narrow focus is at the end of the sentence. The nominal component is more likely to become the narrow focus than the verb component.