SINO-VIETNAMESE MORPHEMES: THEIR GRAMMATICAL BEHAVIOUR AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SEMANTICS AND PHONETICS

Abstract

This paper shows that Sino-Vietnamese morphemes combine not only with other Sino-Vietnamese morphemes but also with non-Sino-Vietnamese
morphemes, such as native Vietnamese and even Indo-European elements, particularly French loanwords. This phenomenon is not unique to Vietnamese: similar
hybrid words can also be found in other Sino-xenic languages (Japanese and Korean) as well as Indo-European languages. In noun phrases where the Sino-
Vietnamese morpheme serves as the head, the Chinese grammatical rule [modifier + head] tends to predominate, but in some cases, Vietnamese follows its
native grammatical structure [head + modifier]. This grammatical behaviour has semantic consequences. Indeed, the criterion [± interchangeable in all
contexts], used to classify synonyms into “absolute synonyms” and “non-absolute synonyms,” proves ineffective, because free Sino-Vietnamese morphemes can
combine with both other Sino-Vietnamese morphemes and native Vietnamese ones, whereas their native Vietnamese synonyms generally cannot combine with
Sino-Vietnamese morphemes. The differences in combinability of Sino-Vietnamese morphemes lead to semantic consequences in connection with phonology:
Sino-Vietnamese morphemes with very low productivity tend to be assimilated into (near-)homophonous morphemes - whether Sino-Vietnamese or non-Sino-
Vietnamese - with higher productivity.