A restructuring analysis of the non‑inferential evidential verb han in Siwkolan Amis

Abstract

Abstract This work aims to investigate the morphosyntactic properties of han in Siwkolan Amis and to defend a lexical split of han, one being a lexical category with argument structure and the other a functional category merging to Voice0. I argue that the functional han cannot be analyzed as a quotative verb or a pv-inflected verb as proposed in the literature, due to novel findings that han (a) is permitted in patient, instrumental and locative voice constructions, (b) represses the presence of voice affixes, (c) must stand immediately adjacent to the lexical verb and (d) encodes the non-inferential evidentiality. I follow Cinque’s (2004) functional approach to restructuring predicates by treating han as a functional category of Voice0 and Shih & Lin’s (2011) voice Agree system where voice is a reflex of thematic relations. This analysis fares well with Wu’s (2006, 2007) proposed system of undergoer voice in Amis which subsumes patient, instrument and locative voice in general. Moreover, the [iθ] feature on Voice0 is spelt out as han surfacing as a bound affix attached to the raised lexical verb from v 0. Several issues involved in dealing with the Amis voice system and implications for the evidential systems in Formosan languages are also discussed.