Semantic Copying: the Basic Model

WU Xiaojing

Peking University

In order to reveal the mechanism whereby the pleonastic/redundant structure is formed, Wu (1998, 2002, 2006a) establishes the Basic Model of Semantic Copying, where the pleonastic/ redundant structure has a more technical name: the XY Structure.


Where X and Y stand for two respective forms that are meaningful; [M] stands for the meaning that X represents; [M] stands for a partial or full copy of [M]. Semantically, XY＝X.

Fig. 1 The Baisc Model of Semantic Copying

How is X expanded into XY, since the latter means the same as the former does? Fig.1 offers an answer. The process can be divided into the following stages:

The Initial State: [M] is encoded in the form of X. Stage 1 (Readout): [M] being analyzed, a partial or full copy [ M ] is derived from [M]. Stage 2 (Search): The domain, which consists of all the items that are available for selection, being searched for a form which is good enough to represent [ M ], Y is chosen through synonymy and some other constraints, like NOUN, STEM, NATIVE, etc. Stage 3 (Paste): Y is sent onto the surface level so that X is expanded into XY, where Y serves as a sign which represents (part of) the meaning which X represents. As an abstract entity in nature, the XY Structure has to be realized in variant forms such as xy, yx, x…y, etc. Fig.2. below is a concrete application of the Basic Model.


Where gao means‘lamb' in Chinese; yang means‘sheep'; [O, N, H] stands for the meaning of gao, i.e., [ovine, -adult, ±male]; [O] stands for [ovine], a partial copy of [O, N, H]. Semantically, gaoyang＝gao.

Fig. 2 Gao is expanded into gaoyang

As illustrated in Fig.2., gao (lamb), a mono-syllabic word, is expanded into gaoyang (LAMB-SHEEP, lamb), a bisyllabic compound meaning the same as gao. The whole process is as follows.

The Initial State: [O, N, H] is encoded in the form of gao (lamb) on the lexical level. In other words, there is an existing word gao (lamb) in the lexicon, the basic meaning of which is [ovine, -adult, ±male]. Stage 1 (Readout): the meaning of gao is analyzed and a partial copy [O] is derived. Stage 2 (Search): the lexicon, which consists of all the lexical items that are available for selection, being searched for a form which is good enough to represent [O], yang (sheep) is chosen through synonymy and some other constraints, like NOUN, SIMPLE, MONO-SYLLIBLE, etc. Stage 3 (Paste): yang is sent onto the surface level so that gao (lamb) is expanded into gaoyang (LAMB-SHEEP, lamb), also yanggao (SHEEP-LAMB, lamb). Both of them are well-formed compounds in Chinese. No matter whether yang is at the left or right side of gao, the former is used here to represent part of the meaning which the latter represents.

Semantic Copying makes, as in most cases, the original form X more transparent. That is because Y repeats (part of) the meaning of X often in a more transparent way. It is due to this merit of the XY Structure that many monosyllabic words in Chinese have undergone a bisyllabic shift. Examples are given in Pleonastic/Redundant Compounds: Examples in Chinese uploaded earlier to this website. Semantic Copying can also be called Semantic Replication/Duplication. They are synonyms.

Wu, Xioajing. 2006a. Semantic copying: a process of compounding. Linguistic Research. Vol.4 (Jan. 2006), 43-50. Qian Jun et al. (ed.), sponsored by Peking University. Beijing, High Education Press.
——2006b. How is the compound word ewe-lamb coined？Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Vol.38, No.1 (Mar., 2006):31-36. Sponsored by the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education. Beijing, Beijing Foreign Studies University.Wu Xiaojing. forthcoming. Further elaboration on the formation of the Compound Word ewe lamb.
——[2006c] 2007. How is the compound word niu-du (牛犊) decoded? LiYunXueKan 2006(2): 79-95. Sponsored by School of Chinese Language and Literature, Beijing Normal University. Beijing: Wenyuan Publishing House, 2007.
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