This project investigates how Chinese Buddhist translations shaped the grammaticalization of modal and quasi-modal expressions in Middle Chinese. Rather than treating Buddhist texts as passive transmitters of linguistic change, the study argues that they constitute distinct semantic domains, such as fear, preference, volition, and endurance, that interact with emerging modal constructions in systematic ways. Drawing on corpora from the Eastern Han (25-220 CE) to the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), including manuscript evidence and digitally transmitted versions.
By integrating linguistic theory with the study of Buddhist translation practices, the project tries to propose a model of “domain-sensitive grammaticalization,” contributing to our understanding of modality, language contact, and the role of textual traditions in shaping linguistic change in early written Chinese.