Negation and aspects in Chinese
汉语的体及否定结构
Shou-hsin Teng 邓守信

Abstract 摘要
The syntactic characteristics of and the interplay between the perfective aspect le and its homophonous sentence particle are investigated in Mandarin. The perfective aspect is not derived in the underlying structure from the existential yǒu but is embedded under it, as are other aspects. The sentence particle is reanalyzed as an inchoative verb, which may dominate or be dominated by negation. This departure from the traditional assumption accounts systematically for the syntactic irregularities of negative sentences with the particle. Cases of indeterminacy relating to the aspect and the inchoative verb are resolved through negation. Pertinent data from Amoy and Cantonese are also discussed.