The copula as a discourse-anaphoric pairing predicate: pair-list shì in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

This paper argues that the overt shì in Mandarin pair-list answers functions as a discourse-anaphoric pairing predicate rather than a standard copula, or a focus marker. The relevant mapping is not created by overt shì itself, but is established by the Question under Discussion (QUD) structure, introduced explicitly by pair-list questions or accommodated from distributive discourse. Within this framework, overt pair-list shì retrieves one pairing from a QUD-licensed mapping, asserting that a domain element is assigned a specific range value. This mapping-based analysis accounts for the construction’s core properties, including functional single-valuedness, Domain Cover, many-to-one mappings, and the restriction against isolated single-pair contexts. Furthermore, syntactic and semantic diagnostics demonstrate how pair-list shì differs from specificational pseudo-clefts, shi...de clefts, and bare focus shì. Supported by both diachronic and synchronic evidence, this study proposes extending the theory of discourse anaphora to encompass pairing functions. Finally, comparisons with ordinary copular fragments confirm that fragment optionality does not reduce pair-list shì to simple answer ellipsis.