A special case marking system in the Sinitic languages of Northwest China
中国西北地区汉语方言中特殊的格标记系统
Chenlei Zhou 周晨磊
Abstract 摘要
This paper describes a special case marking system in the Sinitic languages of Northwest China, by examining the materials from fieldwork and literature. This marking system represents a nominative-accusative system, in which A(gent) and S(ubject) are zero-marked while P(atient) is marked by the ac-cusative marker. It is special in the sense that (1) it is neither the same as the nominative-accusative system in the Altaic languages nor akin to the erga-tive-absolutive system in Tibetan, let alone Mandarin Chinese, in which case markers are absent; and (2) the dative-accusative syncretism is not seen in the nearby Tibetan and Altaic languages. This paper points out that Hezhou is a district in Northwest China in which many languages have long been in contact with each other, creating a linguistic area. The special case marking system discussed in this paper is the outcome of the language contact in the very linguistic area.
Subject Keywords 主题词
Case marking system 格标记系统 Sinitic language of Northwest China 西北汉语 Language con-tact 语言接触 Linguistic area 语言区域
Journal of Chinese Linguistics vol.47, no.2 (June 2019): 425-452
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