The Usage of “-de” in Modern Times: A Perspective of Language Contact between Chinese and Japanese

The evolution of the usage of “-de” is often thought of as a result of the development of the vernacular, and gradually evolved into modern Chinese usage.It is important to clarify whether the modern “-de” has changed, and if it has changed, what is the reason for this evolution.This paper uses the method of language contact theory to investigate and prove the evolution of the usage “-de” in modern times.It shows that such usages and structures in the Chinese language is relatively new and could have been the result of the influence of modern Japanese.This new language phenomenon shows that Chinese and Japanese language contact not only stays in the “loanword” level, it also involves word formation and grammar level.