A COGNITIVE-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THE CHINESE ELEMENTS 才 (CÁI) AND 就 (JIÙ): COMMON AND DISTINCTIVE ASPECTS

Abstract

This article offers a cognitive-semantic contrastive analysis of the scalar functional elements 才 (cái) and 就 (jiù) in Mandarin Chinese. Although traditional descriptions treat these units as «adverbs» or «particles», their core function is to focus a constituent of the utterance and to express the speaker’s subjective evaluation relative to an expectation. The study draws on Lai’s «rejected expectations» model, Fauconnier’s theory of pragmatic scales and Langacker’s notion of construal. The analysis reveals the shared cognitive basis of the two elements (positioning on a scale, rejection of an expectation, subjectivity) and their principal difference - directionality on the scale: 才 locates the asserted value higher than expected (later / more / harder), whereas 就 locates it lower (earlier / less / easier). The rendering of this contrast in Uzbek translation is also considered.