Nominalization in Wutun

Abstract

Abstract In this paper I discuss the various functions of nominalization in Wutun, a mixed Sinitic language spoken by ca. 4000 people in Qinghai Province, Northwest China. Nominalization in Wutun is expressed by the multi-purpose marker -de (cognate to Standard Mandarin de 的), which functions on both the lexical and clausal levels. Lexical nominalization takes the verb as its domain to derive nouns or adjectives, while clausal nominalization takes the entire clause as its domain and allows the clause to be treated as a noun phrase. Clausal nominalization in Wutun is used to form nominal complement clauses, relative clauses and adverbial subordinate clauses. In addition, the multi-purpose marker -de in Wutun has functions that go beyond nominalization, including pronominal function, pre-nominal modification and stand-alone usage, which is related to aspect and emphasis and plays an important role in stance-taking.