From Blame to Exclamation: On the Lexicalization Mechanism and Syntactic-Semantic Function of Cross-Layer Sequence Form “guài zhǐ guài”

Guài zhǐ guài(怪只怪) is a relatively common and special fixed phrase in modern Chinese oral expressions, which is actually a cross-layer lexical product obtained by intercepting and condensing on the basis of hypothetical conditional complex sentences. About it’s part-of-speech function, guài zhǐ guài is a component between verbs and conjunctions, or a verbal fixed phrase with a connect function. From the perspective of semantic function, the basic semantic function of guài zhǐ guài is the meaning of blame. After the pragmatic function has been expanded, a sigh function has been added to convey the speaker’s subjective stance and emotion. In addition, by comparing some similar structures, for example guài zhǐ guài, yào guài zhǐ guài(要怪只怪) and yào guài zhǐ néng guài(要怪只能怪), zhǐ guài(只怪), dōu guài(都怪), quán guài(全怪), jiù guài(就怪), we found that guài zhǐ guài and jiù guài have a higher degree of lexicalization, which can convey more prominent subjective meanings.