Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 21:1 (2020) ► pp.145–173
The structure of Num+CL in the Zhōutún dialect
Issues induced by language contact
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
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00059.zho
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00059.zho
Abstract
The structure of Num+CL in the Zhōutún dialect can be divided into two kinds: VCP and
NCP. The VCP in VCP+V is the adverbial, while the NCP can either precede or
follow the N it modifies. In NCP+N, the NCP is the attribute; however, in N+NCP, the
NCP can be the post-attribute and the adverbial, according to the syntactic property of N. The language
contact of the Zhōutún dialect with Amdo Tibetan (AT) plays a role in leading to the peculiarities of Num+CL
in the Zhōutún dialect.
Keywords: Zhōutún dialect, Num+CL, language contact, Amdo Tibetan
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Some relevant prerequisite knowledge of the Zhōutún dialect
- 2.1The Zhōutún dialect: An overview
- 2.2The syntax of Num+CL
- 2.2.1Types
- 2.2.2Positions
- 2.3Postpositional marker xa 哈
- 2.3.1Accusative marker
- 2.3.2Dative marker
- 2.3.3Topic marker?
- 3.The nature of num+CL
- 3.1Attribute
- 3.1.1In NCP+N
- 3.1.2In N+NCP
- 3.2Adverbial
- 3.2.1Attribute?
- 3.2.2Object?
- 3.2.3Topic?
- 3.2.4Adverbial
- 3.1Attribute
- 4.Language contact and Num+CL in the Zhōutún dialect
- 4.1Possible shifting routes of Num+CL in the Zhōutún dialect
- 4.1.1From Pattern I to Pattern II
- 4.1.2Which one (VCP or NCP) shifted faster?
- 4.2How to explain the behavior of NCP in the Zhōutún dialect
- 4.2.1To avoid NCP from being the only post-attribute
- 4.2.2Preverbal adverbial as a language universal in SOV languages
- 4.1Possible shifting routes of Num+CL in the Zhōutún dialect
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
References
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