Asian Languages and Linguistics - Volume 6, Issue 2, 2025

This paper demonstrates that the layered affixation of passive and causative morphemes in Mongolian and Japanese mirrors the Split VoiceP structure of passive and causative clauses, where the affixation of a voice suffix signals the introduction of an argument by a voice head spelled out by that suffix. This head-argument correlation, ensuring the morpho-syntax mirroring of voice suffixes, entails that the voice domain comprises separate projections that are split out of VoiceP. Clauses are built by introducing arguments as potential subjects (sbjs) through voice heads of the same substance, where a last-introduced sbj is promoted to the nominative position, with others, if any, remaining non-nominative within the voice domain. From this, it follows that Voice is a sbj-introducing, not merely argument-introducing, head, and that the interconnection of passives and causatives as voice constructions lies in the fact that both are derived over the Split VoiceP structure. Consequently, voice constructions can be accounted for in a unified way, without the need of postulating dedicated heads such as Passive and Cause, and the clause building mode is reducible to introduction of arguments as sbjs, which ultimately comes down to Free Merge.

This study examines cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in the VOT values of word-initial stops produced by three groups of children (aged 5;08 to 13;11): English-Mandarin simultaneous bilinguals (N = 21), English-Mandarin sequential bilinguals (N = 15), and English-Spanish-Mandarin trilinguals (N = 15). Data came from picture naming tasks in each language and was analyzed by comparing group means and exploring individual cases. CLI from English to Mandarin occurred for most participants, with some cases of monolingual-like separation between Mandarin and English aspirated/voiceless stops possibly linked to dominance and exposure factors. Spanish voiceless stops were separate from English and Mandarin for most trilinguals, but limited Spanish input may have prevented full development of Spanish voiced categories. When Spanish voiced categories were present, CLI from these to English and Mandarin was observed. Results are discussed considering previous literature on the role of phonetic similarity and individual linguistic experience in CLI in child multilingualism.

It has been a long tradition that all functional categories of Altaic languages are treated as morphological element of content words and recognized as grammatical categories of a noun or a verb. Such an approach of blindly imitating the framework of inflectional Indo-European languages’ grammar wiped out all the referable idiosyncratic meanings of the Altaic agglutinative functional constituents developed through the long process of grammaticalization. As a result, the studies of the Altaic languages’ grammar were led into dead end, and the scholars in the field couldn’t able to interpret even the simplest syntactic structures. Thanks to the cognitive revolution launched by Chomsky in the linguistic field. Due to the enlightenment of his Generative Grammar theory, we have had now a second chance of reviewing the Altaic languages and taken a satisfactory step toward the adequacy of observation, description and interpretation. By recalling his breakthrough achievements over the past 30 years, the author of this paper attributes his accomplishments to the two major breaking points: first, being able to get rid of the grammatical framework of the inflectional languages, and second, identifying the head status of functional constituents in the Altaic languages.

This study explores the reported thought (RT) construction with the RT verb sam1nam2 [lit. ‘heart think’] in Cantonese. First, it is argued that sam1nam2 ‘think’ is a subject-verb compound with a dedicated RT function. Second, in written Cantonese the thought complement of sam1nam2 can take the form of a clause, emojis, underscores and/or dots meaning ‘speechless’. Third, in conversational contexts, thought complements which would be impolite if articulated may be left implicit. Fourth, the RT construction is structurally different from the reported speech construction with waa6 ‘say’, therefore these two constructions should be treated as distinct. Finally, sam1nam2 may have been grammaticalized from a possessive construction go3sam1nam5 ‘subject’s heart thinks’ since the 1950s. This study narrows the research gap of reported thought in Cantonese, encouraging future study on reported thought in other Chinese varieties.

This paper explores the syntactic composition of Property Concept (PC)-expressions in Telangana Telugu. The study reveals two distinct ways in which PC-roots are composed into PC-adjectives and PC-nouns in syntax. These are: (1) PC-roots directly merge with an a-cat to form PC-adjectives and (2) PC-roots base-merge with an n-cat to form PC nouns, which necessitate more complex compositional structures such as relativization and case marking for their appearance in modification structures. 57 PC-expressions are selected from TT and four syntactic tests are employed to ascertain the syntactic category of each expression. It was found that 12 PC-roots exhibit adjectival properties and are categorized as PC-adjectives, being merged directly in the attributive modification position as adjectives. The remaining 45 PC-roots exhibit nominal properties, leading to their categorization as PC-nouns. The syntactic composition of these PC-nouns involves additional mechanisms like relativization. Some PCs use the CoS copula avu ‘become’ while others use a ∅ equative copula, resulting in variations in sub-eventual semantics.

This paper examines the aspectual meaning and positioning of the verb base form ∅ in Early Middle Japanese. This paper classifies verbs based on four temporal features:

• [activity][telic][durative] and [intentionality].

It also examines the aspectual meanings of different types of verbs in both narrative and non-narrative sections of two Heian period narratives, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Tales of Ise. It elucidates the aspectual influence on ∅ by both the literary style and the temporal features of the verb. Compared to narrative section, the ∅ in non-narrative sections tends to be strongly imperfective. Furthermore the ∅ in “punctual telic verbs” with the temporal features of [−durative][+telic] absolutely expresses an event in the perfective aspect, whereas the ∅ in “atelic verbs” and “phenomenon verbs” with the temporal features of [+durative][−telic] tends to express an event in the imperfective aspect. In conclusion, the ∅, is aspectually positioned as a “neutral” in Early Middle Japanese.

This study examines Turkish lexical item insan and its plural form insanlar to uncover their functions as impersonal pronouns. These lexical items serve as impersonal pronouns when they appear in the subject position of the sentences of which verbs bear the aorist ending –Ir or the modality markers –Abil and –mAlI. However, when they occur in the object position, they do not assume an impersonal reading. These lexical items have inclusive readings regardless of their syntactic positions. Although insan and insanlar can be used in episodic sentences, the former still requires the use of the verbal endings –Ir, –Abil and –mAlI. The study concludes that impersonality in Turkish is realized through a combination of impersonal subjects such as insan and insanlar and generic verbal endings, –Ir, –Abil and –mAlI. The findings of the study offer a starting point to describe other Altaic and related languages in terms of impersonal pronouns.