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Abstract
Many spoken Mandarin varieties allow for the oscillation of the co-verb gěi ‘give’ between the pre- and post-verbal positions. Much attention has been directed to semantic and syntactic factors that constrain its placement. However, language external factors remain under-researched. This study examines sociolinguistic including regional influences on the variable placement of the co-verb gěi in spoken Mandarin. Data is collected at both production and perception levels to investigate the regional and social distributions of the gěi-phrase. At the production level, the data suggests that substrate influences from a speaker’s home vernacular play a crucial role. Results at the perception level remain inconclusive, and more research is required to unpack the complex role of sociolinguistic factors in such variation.
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