Expressivity in Chinese

Abstract Expressive expressions in Mandarin Chinese fall within different varieties. This chapter considers three of them: (i) expressive lexical items (ELIs), typical examples of which include expressive modifiers, which are mainly used to express the speaker’s heightened emotional state; (ii) mixed expressive items (MEIs), typical examples of which include degree intensifiers, which have a portmanteau semantic structure—they contain both a descriptive content and an expressive content; and (iii) expressive constructions (ECs), where the expressive meanings are not related to the etymological or lexical meanings of the constituting elements in an obvious manner. I demonstrate how these expressive flavors are desirably captured in the framework of Multidimensional Semantics. I also discuss some implications that studies on expressivity have for theories at the interface between morphosyntax and semantics/pragmatics.