On the disjunctive constructions and related constructions in Zhoutun

•A special hybrid prepositional-postpositional pattern is discussed.•“question marker > disjunctive coordinator” provides an enrichment.•The constructionalization of two disjunctive and related constructions. This paper focuses on two disjunctive constructions in Zhoutun, namely, the puʂi-disjunctive construction “[[(puʂi) C1…, puʂi Cn]←→[Alternation: C1- Cn]]” and the mɤ-disjunctive construction “[[X mɤ Y]←→[Alternation: X-Y]]”. The prepositional, standard disjunctive coordinator puʂi links declarative clausal coordinands, and the postpositional, intterogative disjunctive coordinator mɤ links clauses and NPs. The constructionalization process of the two constructions is discussed in detail. The puʂi-disjunctive construction underwent the process of “C1, tʂɤmɤ puʂi ʂi, C2 > C1, pu ʂi ʂi, C2 > C1, puʂi C2 > (puʂi) C1…, puʂi Cn”. The mɤ-disjunctive construction originated from the mɤ-question construction in which mɤ is the question marker. Another two related constructions containing puʂi, the puʂi-imperative construction “[[puʂi Cimp]←→[Imperative with softer tone]]” and the puʂi-exceptive construction “[[NP puʂi (ʂi) neg]←→[Only NP]]” are also discussed in terms of their use and constructionalization process.