LẠI (the road to cognize the meaning transformation of LẠI)

Abstract

The word ‘lại’ has many meanings. According to a highly credible Vietnamese dictionary, the word ‘lại’ has 27 meanings (verb: 12, adjunct: 2, and 13 combinations of ‘lại + X’, ‘X + lại’). Based on the core meaning of ‘lại’ and the meaning transformation hypothesis, the article proves that all meanings of ‘lại’ and grammatical constructions consisting this word are derived from a core meaning of the word ‘lại’ that is related to the word ‘đi’ . In the mindset of Vietnamese people, ‘lại’ and ‘đi’ move in two opposite directions. ‘Đi’ is to leave the original point with a forward direction. ‘Lại’ is to return to the original point in an opposite direction.