On the “one+verbal classifier” sequence as a delimitative aspect marker in Taiwanese Southern Min

Abstract

AbstractThis paper studies the “one+verbal classifier” sequencetsi̍t-ēthat appears after an indefinite object complement in Taiwanese Southern Min. We call it the post-complement (PC)tsi̍t-ē. While thetsi̍t-ēsequence can be a durative phrase when it is immediately preceded by a verb, the PCtsi̍t-ēcannot be replaced by the durative phrasetsi̍t-ē-á‘a while’ (tsi̍t-ēplus the diminutive suffixá) or other durative phrases. We show that the PCtsi̍t-ēis a sentence-final particle, not a durative phrase serving as a predicate or complement. Moreover, it marks delimitativity, which means ‘termination in a short time.’ It is the same kind of delimitativity that verb reduplication in Mandarin Chinese expresses despite the fact that the latter targets on the verb and is more selective in terms of the verb types that it can occur with. Moreover, the PCtsi̍t-ēcarries the ‘down-play’ meaning. Syntactically, we suggest that it heads an AspP, which occurs above avP.