從限定到轉折

Many adversative conjunctions have emerged in Chinese during the last thousand years, and most of them originate from exclusive adverbs. A detailed examination of the historical development of dan, danshi, zhi, zhishi, buguo, zhibuguo reveals that danshi emerges from lexicalization while the other five adversative conjunctions, from grammaticalization. These five conjunctions are derived from the evaluative function of exclusive adverbs, but their adversative meanings appear based on the context. This linguistic change can also be found in other languages; by observing these foreign words, a firmer grasp of this change is therefore acquired.