Language and Linguistics - Online First

The authors of this paper argue for a unified analysis of the so-called additive particle ye and scalar particle ye in Mandarin. It reviews the commonalities between additive and scalar sentences involving ye, and some potential problems that a polysemous analysis of ye faces in explaining these facts. Next, a unified analysis of ye is shown to be desirable, where only one lexical item ye is responsible for the additive meaning, and the additional scalar meaning in scalar sentences is attributed to a functional head bearing the scalar feature, which can be realized as lian and is related to a suprasegmental strengthening effect on focus. To formalize this idea, a revised bipartite analysis is built, in which both additive and scalar sentences are underlying Foc-Q-constructions. In additive sentences, Foc carries an unvalued interpretable additive feature [iaddi()], and Q carries the corresponding valued uninterpretable additive feature [uaddi(+)]. Foc and Q Agree in situ; after Spell-Out, Foc is realized as ye, and Q is silent. In scalar sentences, Foc carries [iaddi(+)] and Q carries [uaddi(), iscal(+)]. QP moves to Spec FocP, after which Q Agrees with Foc; after Spell-Out, Foc is realized as ye and Q is realized as lian optionally, and is obligatorily related to the suprasegmental strengthening effect on focus. Movement of QP is triggered by the Agree-check requirement of the unvalued feature carried by Q, rather than the [EPP] feature carried by Foc, making this proposal more minimal. The wh+ye constructions and a parameter concerning the property of the scalar feature are also tentatively discussed.

Mandarin Chinese exhibits a puzzling phenomenon, whereby an unaccusative verb can head a transitive structure. Such constructions are traditionally referred to as Wangmian sentences and have long posed a challenge in the study of Chinese linguistics. This article proposes that puzzles like this can be accounted for by an implicit possessive head in the verbal domain. The existence of this head is supported by two main pieces of evidence: entailment failure and VP ellipsis. Entailment failure demonstrates that Wangmian predicates are sensitive to the object relationality, a property unique to possessive predicates. Furthermore, Wangmian sentences allow VP ellipsis of a possessive predicate, suggesting the presence of this hidden possessive head. With this head, the external possessor is offered an argument position and can thus occupy the subject position. In addition, despite being thematically unspecified, the possessive head is capable of assigning theta roles to its argument, specifically an affectee in Wangmian sentences. Now that the verb complex is able to assign a theta role to its subject, it is equally able to assign case to its object, in accordance with Burzio’s (1986) generalization. This way, the hidden possessive head is the key to derivatively transitivize the unaccusative, and lend support to relevant debates.

This paper examines the tonal system of Dharamshala Tibetan (DT) through a comprehensive phonetic and phonological analysis, employing statistical tests, regression modeling, mathematical modeling, and machine learning algorithms (MLAs). Our aim has been to determine the number and nature of tonal contrasts in DT, an issue that remains unresolved to date. The stimuli (tonemes), consisting of two-way and three-way meaning contrasts, are designed based on preliminary fieldwork and consultations with native speakers. Acoustic analyses reveal three distinct tonal categories supported by significant differences in fundamental frequency (f0), including f0 height and f0 directionality, duration, and intensity. Although initial f0 data analysis, particularly f0 directionality, suggested rising contours, further analysis confirmed these as (i) two level tones, viz. high (H) and low (L), and (ii) one contour tone, viz., mid-rising (MR), with consistent pitch trajectories. MLAs were employed to classify the tones, with confusion matrices highlighting the prominence of misclassifications involving mid-rising tones. This supports the hypothesis that the mid-rising tone may be a recently emerged category. The findings of this work are contextualized within the broader framework of Tibetan phonology, providing valuable insights into the tonal characteristics of DT. This study underscores the importance of integrating quantitative approaches with linguistic theory to deepen our understanding of tonal systems.

台灣閩南語在漳泉方言的長期接觸下，具備「不漳不泉、亦漳亦泉」的特點，近年來浮現的「台灣閩南語普通腔」受到矚目，然而對於若干音類的普通腔變體，學者的推測或有不一致之處，且對於「漳泉濫」──方言混雜的音類鮮少有進一步的討論。由於前人研究認為南部混合腔閩南語最接近普通腔，洪惟仁 (1992) 也曾認為台東市閩南語是優勢音的具體存在，本文透過屏東市及台東市兩個混合腔閩南語的社會方言調查，分析前人對普通腔變體推測不一的〈毛扛白〉、〈杯稽白〉、〈箴箴文〉類之具體表現；並剖析非單一變體勝出、呈現漳泉混雜之音類的不同樣貌。本文亦探討〈居居〉類的文白分讀以及〈青更白〉類漳音[ẽ]多、泉音[ĩ]少的融合，並分析少數音類的個別詞彙有異於整個音類的特殊表現。語言因素、社會因素、社會心理因素都影響台灣混合腔閩南語漳泉混雜樣態之形成。