Diachronic changes in the system of Chinese aquamotion verbs from the viewpoint of lexical typology.

The article gives a detailed analysis of diachronic changes in the system of aquamotion verbs in the Chinese language from the 11th century BC up to nowadays. The changes are considered within the approach introduced in “Aquamotion verbs: Lexical typology” (2007) edited by T. Maisak and E. Rakhilina and against the background of several dozen languages analyzed there. It is shown that the Chinese data fit well into the types of systems that were identified in this volume. At the same time, Chinese written monuments allow us to trace the development of the system at different stages, the transition from one type to another, and the cyclical semantic development of both individual lexemes and the system as a whole.