The emergence of so-complementation in Chinese Pidgin English

Abstract

Sentential complementation is generally unmarked in Chinese Pidgin English (ChnP). However, around the middle of the 19th century, the word <i>so</i> began to be used as a complementizer. This paper focuses on the origins of <i>so</i> as a complementizer in ChnP. An examination of <i>so</i> and another closely related expression <i>so fashion</i> (‘so, like this’) shows that their meanings and functions can largely be attributed to the corresponding expressions in the source languages, namely Cantonese <i>gam²</i> (‘so, like this’) and English <i>so</i> in its anaphoric function. As Cantonese <i>gam²</i> and English <i>so</i> are not complementizers, it is hypothesized that <i>so</i>-complementation is the result of reanalysis by which the anaphoric <i>so</i> is reinterpreted as a complementizer. It is further argued that the emergence of <i>so</i>-complementation is facilitated by a common grammaticalization pathway whereby deictic expressions acquire grammatical functions such as that of complementizer.