On the semantic functions and denotations of jīngcháng and chángcháng

Abstract

Jīngcháng and chángcháng are two adverbs which have been classified in the same category of frequency adverbs in the Sinologist literature. While there are clear similarities between the two (e.g. both denote a multiplicity of ‘occasions’, can be treated as markers of verbal plurality operating at the occasion-level in the sense of Cusic [2], and induce the pure frequency and relational readings in the sense of de Swart [6], they present differences in two aspects: (i) their semantic functions (habituality vs. iterativity) and (ii) their denotations in the view of temporal intervals between two occasions.