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Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 27:1 (2026) ► pp.103–133

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The morphosyntax of the sentence-final negative WHAT in Chinese

ORCiD logo with link | The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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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: 26 September 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00251.tan
Abstract
This paper reviews 2024. Revisiting sentence-final adjunct WHAT. Language and Linguistics 25(1). 162–186.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar analysis of the sentence-final negative WHAT in Chinese and argues that the sentence-final negative WHAT, which can be classified into two types — emphatic negation and quotative negation — should be analyzed as a suffix attached to the predicate in morphology. Specifically, the affixation of the sentence-final negative WHAT is a morphosyntactic operation that occurs in l-syntax, creating a complex word with the predicate. Additionally, both sentence-final negative WHAT and its reduplicated form should be analyzed in a unified way within morphology, with the base being as short as possible phonologically. The study also emphasizes the need for a negative force projection at the sentence periphery.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Yang (2024)
  • 2.Some questions
  • 3.Sentence-final negative WHAT as a suffix
  • 4.Some consequences
    • 4.1The derivation of X-WHAT-X
    • 4.2Complexity of the base X
    • 4.3The syntax of negative force
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • List of abbreviations
  • References
References (43)
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