Abstract
This paper re-examines previous hypotheses claiming the primacy of a perfect(ive) value in certain qusheng (*-s) derivations (in particular nominalization) in Old Chinese. First, it revisits examples previously cited as having been derived from the perfect(ive), and proposes to re-classify them as resulting from three different derivational processes, nominalization, verb argument demotion, and adverbialization. Second, it focuses on Sino-Tibetan comparative data, in particular from Situ Rgyalrong, a language with severe isomorphism across four -s suffixes. Then, on the basis of morphological (especially stem changes) and syntactic criteria, it sorts out the relationship between the different -s suffixes in Situ, while suggesting multiple sources to account for the diverse functions of qusheng (*-s) in Old Chinese.
Funding source: JSPS Research Fellow
Award Identifier / Grant number: 21F20303
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Guillaume Jacques, Lai Yunfan, Nathan Hill, Jesse Gates, Gao Yang, Zev Handel, Suzuki Hiroyuki, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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Research funding: This research was funded by the Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow (21F20303).
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Articles in the same Issue
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- Trapped morphology and the rise of the Slavic definite adjective inflection: a reexamination
- Reevaluating the etymology of Latin reflexives
- Verbs of motion and intermediate source domains of modality: the understudied case of Italian occorrere ‘to be necessary, to be needed’
- Aspectual marking from a typologically uncommon origin: a quantitative account of the development of hamē(w) in Middle Persian
- Rethinking the *-s suffix in Old Chinese: with new evidence from Situ Rgyalrong
- The status of /w/ in Old High German
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- A new sound change for Guarani(an): glottal prothesis, internal classification, and the explanation of synchronic irregularities
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- Book Reviews
- Jorge Vega Vilanova: Past Participle Agreement. A study on the grammaticalization of formal features
- Lilo Moessner: The history of the present English subjunctive: a corpus-based study of mood and modality
- Serenella Baggio and Pietro Taravacci (eds): Lingue naturali, lingue inventate. Atti della Giornata di Studi (Trento, 29 novembre 2019)
- Program Review
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Trapped morphology and the rise of the Slavic definite adjective inflection: a reexamination
- Reevaluating the etymology of Latin reflexives
- Verbs of motion and intermediate source domains of modality: the understudied case of Italian occorrere ‘to be necessary, to be needed’
- Aspectual marking from a typologically uncommon origin: a quantitative account of the development of hamē(w) in Middle Persian
- Rethinking the *-s suffix in Old Chinese: with new evidence from Situ Rgyalrong
- The status of /w/ in Old High German
- When internal reconstruction goes further: proposing the vowel system of Pre-Khroskyabs through examining bound state apophony
- A new sound change for Guarani(an): glottal prothesis, internal classification, and the explanation of synchronic irregularities
- Patterns of individual variation and change in Golden Age Spanish. An analysis of three linguistic variables in a corpus of private correspondence
- Book Reviews
- Jorge Vega Vilanova: Past Participle Agreement. A study on the grammaticalization of formal features
- Lilo Moessner: The history of the present English subjunctive: a corpus-based study of mood and modality
- Serenella Baggio and Pietro Taravacci (eds): Lingue naturali, lingue inventate. Atti della Giornata di Studi (Trento, 29 novembre 2019)
- Program Review
- IE7.com. Reconstructing Greek inscriptions with Ithaca