ABSTRACT

In this chapter we will trace the course of the development of the particle le through history to reveal its origin and the evolution of its functions. With regard to the particle’s origin, there is controversy in the literature over whether the Mandarin particle le has the same origin as the verb suffix -le. While scholars such as Wang (1947), Liu (1985), Cao (1987), Huang and Davis (1989), Shi (1990), Liu et al. (1992) and Mei (1994) think that both LEs have their origin in the lexical verb liao (‘to finish’), Chao (1968: 246) suggests that the particle le is probably a weak form of lai (‘to come’), a hypothesis followed by scholars such as Mei (1981), Anderson (1982) and Sun (1996). We take the position that the particle le has developed from the verb liao (‘to finish’), and will focus our discussion on its development. As for the arguments against the lai-origin claim, readers are referred to Wu (2000). In the following we will first discuss the development of the particle le in texts from the tenth century on to show that the modern use of the particle le has developed from the early use of liao, or liao ye. Then we will present evidence from Ponyok Nogoltae (Fanyi Laoqida), a Korean textbook of Chinese in the early sixteenth century, and synchronic data from Shantou dialect to support our claim for the diachronic development of the particle. We will conclude the chapter by examining elements involved in this development that contribute to the pragmatic function of the particle as it is used today.