Self and Only: A Comparative Study of Reflexive Adverbials in Squliq Atayal and Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

This chapter investigates the syntax and semantics of nanak in Squliq Atayal in a cross-linguistic context. When construed as an adverbial, nanak very often gets a focus reading, akin to only in English, and its distribution is relatively free. By contrast, when attached to an argument, nanak has a much restricted distribution, and its reading is distinctively reflexive. Interestingly enough, there is also a gray area in between the two construals, where nanak serves as an adverbial with a variety of reflexive readings. Our inquiry is thus twofold: The first part is to deal with the issue whether there is a conceptual connection between only and self, especially in view of a strong resemblance from Mandarin ziji “self.” The other part is to find an interpretive procedure which can capture the common properties shared by nanak and ziji. In this chapter, we propose to build upon the classic analysis of focus construals (cf. Horn 1969; Rooth 1985), characterizing reflexive adverbials as a self-operator triggering both argument reduction and negation over an alternative set. As a result, a unified account of only and self becomes possible, that is, F(x) & ~ (∃y) (y ≠ x & F(y)). Depending on the locus of the self-operator, F may express either a predicate or a peripheral thematic relation (cause, instrument, comitant, etc.). This explains away the spectrum of “selfhood” encoded by nanak and ziji, which may in turn lead to a deeper understanding of how contrastivity interacts with reflexivity across languages.