Cover not available

Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 21:1 (2020) ► pp.80–103

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Two types of aa3-nominals in Cantonese

 | Palacky University Olomouc
 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 2 January 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00058.sio
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the grammatical properties of the Cantonese aa3, a nominal element that only attaches itself to [+human] nouns. We provide evidence to show that there are in fact two types of aa3-nominals. Their syntactic and semantic properties correlate with the number of syllables they consist of. There is a two-way split between disyllabic aa3-nominals and multisyllabic aa3-nominals. Aa3 in disyllabic aa3-nominals should be treated as a prosodic template filler while aa3 in multisyllabic aa3-nominals occupies a syntactic position in the referential layer of the Chinese nominal.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.An overview
  • 3.Previous analyses
  • 4.Disyllabic aa3-nominals vs. multisyllabic aa3-nominals
    • 4.1Compatibility with classifiers
    • 4.2Ability to be non-referential
    • 4.3Possessor reference possibility
  • 5.Disyllabic aa3-nominals
  • 6.Multisyllabic aa3-nominals
    • 6.1Not just definite
    • 6.2Resistance to modification
    • 6.3Analysis
  • 7.Some consequences and loose ends
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (25)
References
Abbott, Barbara. 2002. Discussion Note: Definiteness and proper names: Some bad news for descriptive theory. Journal of Semantics 19(2). 191–201. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauer, Robert S., & Benedict, Paul. 1997. Modern cantonese phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Roger & Gilman, Albert. 1960. The pronouns of power and solidarity. In Sebeok, Thomas A. (ed.), Style in language, 253–276. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chao, Yuen Ren. 1947. Cantonese primer. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1968. A grammar of spoken Chinese. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen. 1990. Feature geometry of vowels and co-occurrence restrictions in Cantonese. (Paper presented at the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 9, Stanford, 2–4 March 1990.)
Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen & Sybesma, Rint. 1999. Bare and not-so-bare nouns and the structure of NP. Linguistic Inquiry 30(4). 509–542. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Di Sciullo, Anna-Maria & Williams, Edwin. 1987. On the definition of word. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Feng, Shengli. 2009. Minimal word and its function in Mandarin Chinese. In Xing, Janet Zhiqun (ed.), Studies of Chinese linguistics: Functional approaches, 47–64. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geurts, Bart. 1997. Good news about the description theory of names. Journal of Semantics 14(4). 319–348. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heim, Irene Roswitha. 1982. The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases. Amherst: University of Massachusetts. (Doctoral dissertation.)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hudson, Richard A. 1996. Sociolinguistics. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, Borong (ed.). 1996. Hanyu fangyan yufa lei bian [Classified materials on Chinese dialect grammar], Qingdao: Qingdao Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Longobardi, Giuseppe. 1994. Reference and proper names: A theory of N-movement in syntax and logical form. Linguistic Inquiry 25(4). 609–665.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matthews, Stephen & Yip, Virginia. 2011. Cantonese: A comprehensive grammar. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prince, Ellen F. 1992. The ZPG letter: Subjects, definiteness, and information status. In Mann, William C. & Thompson, Sandra A. (eds.), Discourse description: Diverse linguistic analyses of a fund-raising text, 295–326. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sio, Joanna Ut-Seong. 2003. Two types of possessive constructions in Cantonese. In Lin, Yen-Hwei (ed.), Proceedings of the Fifteen North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, 313–330. Los Angeles: GSIL Publications, University of Southern California.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal. Utrecht: LOT Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Syntax of [+human] terms in Cantonese. In Wilder, Chris & Åfarli, Tor Anders (eds.), Chinese matters: From grammar to first and second language acquisition, 15–27. Norway: Tapir Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sybesma, Rint & Li, Boya. 2007. The dissection and structural mapping of Cantonese sentence final particles. Lingua 117(10). 1739–1783. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tang, Sze-Wing. 2011. A parametric approach to NP ellipsis in Mandarin and Cantonese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 20(2). 107–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. Yueyu yufa jiangyi [Lectures on Cantonese grammar]. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yip, Moira. 1992. Prosodic morphology in four Chinese dialects. Journal of East Asian Linguistics. 1(1). 1–35. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhan, Bohui (ed.). 2002. Guangdong Yue fangyan gaiyao [An outline of Yue Dialects in Guangdong]. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Sio, Joanna Ut-Seong
2020. The Dual Identity of the Post-Verbal Can1 in Cantonese: A Non-Specific Resultative Particle and a Free Choice Item. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 41:2 ► pp. 139 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue