Self and Only: A Comparative Study of Reflexive Adverbials in Squliq Atayal and Mandarin Chinese
This chapter investigates the syntax and semantics of nanak in Squliq Atayal in a cross-linguistic context. When construed as an adverbial, nanak very often gets a focus reading, akin to only in English, and its distribution is relatively free. By contras
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Self and Only: A Comparative Study of Reflexive Adverbials in Squliq Atayal and Mandarin Chinese Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai
The Puzzle In Squliq Atayal, an Austronesian language spoken in the central part of Taiwan, there is a rather peculiar modifier-like expression, i.e., nanak, that can be construed either as a focus adverb, as exemplified by (1a, b), or as an adnominal reflexive, as exemplified by (2a, b): (1) a. yaqih na-Temu NAV.hate Obl-Temu ‘Only Temu hates Tali’ b. yaqih NAV.hate
nanak only
nanak only na-Temu Obl-Temu
qu-Tali. Nom-Tali qu-Tali. Nom-Tali
‘Only Temu hatesTali’ na-Temu (2) a. yaqih NAV.hate Obl-Temu ‘Temu hates himself’
qu-hiya-nanak. Nom-3S-self
b. nyux Prg
m-lahang squ-hiya-nanak AV-protect Dat-3S-self ‘Temu is protecting himself’
qu-Temu. Nom-Temu
This chapter is a tribute to Professor Amritavalli for her dedication to our cause over the years. I am grateful for the help and comments from Lisa Cheng, Sihwei Chen, Gennaro Chierchia, Daniel Hole, Chris Hsieh, James Huang, Jennifer Huang, Audrey Li, and Tanya Reinhart. The research leading to this article is funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC 89-2411-H-007-045, NSC 94-2411-H-007-020, and NSC 96-2411-H-007-026). W.-T.D. Tsai (&) National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 G. Sengupta et al. (eds.), Perspectives on the Architecture and Acquisition of Syntax, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4295-9_7
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W.-T.D. Tsai
The adverbial nanak very often gets an exclusive reading, akin to only in English (Kiss 1998), and its distribution is relatively free. By contrast, when attached to an argument, nanak has a much more restricted distribution, and its reading is distinctively reflexive, very much like -self in English. Interestingly enough, there is also a gray area between the two construals, where nanak occupies an adjunct position, while sporting a variety of reflexive and contrastive readings, as illustrated below:1 (3) a. soya nanak AV-like self
m-aniq AV-eat
siam pork
qu-Tali. Nom-Tali
‘Tali ate the pork out of his own liking. (Don’t blame the others!)’ b. soya m-aniq
nanak
siam
qu-Tali.
AV-like AV-eat self pork Nom-Tali ‘Tali likes to eat pork alone. (So don’t disturb him!)’ c. soya m-aniq
siam
nanak
qu-Tali.
AV-like AV-eat
pork
self
Nom-Tali
‘Tali likes to eat the pork in private. (He won’t share it with others)’
This chapter proposes to investigate the peculiar syntax and semantics of nanak in a cross-linguistic context. Our inquiry is twofold: The first part is to deal with the issue whether there is a conceptual connection between self and only, especially in view of a strong resemblance from ziji “self” in Mandarin Chinese, which behaves very much like an intensifier before negation, as in (4a), while serving as a reflexive adverbial after negation, as in (4b). (4) a. Akiu ziji bu kai zhe-bu
che. ta
Akiu self not drive this-CL car he
dou jiegei
bieren kai.
all lend
others drive
‘Akiu himself does not drive this car. He always
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