Aspect complements

Aspect complements add completive meaning to the main verb. They can also contribute to the lexical meaning of the main verb (e.g. nia, ‘to press’; ^VERB-^COMPL nia-se ‘press-die’

=crush to death; tin, ‘to listen’; ^VERB-^COMPL tin-jhan ‘listen-see’ =to hear) and the combination of the main verb and the complement verb often has a holistic meaning, which is slightly different from the meaning of the main verb. However, the degree of grammaticalization of the different aspect complements varies greatly and while some complements add both aspectual and lexical meaning to the main verb, some complements have lost most of their lexical meaning and they merely express a general aspectual meaning of completion. I will first summarize the Wutun aspect complements in Table 12 and then continue on investigating the meaning of each complement together with its main verb.

119

lai ‘to get into contact’

se, ‘to die’ finished’ (SM wàn ^ᆼ, ‘to get finished’) add resultative meaning to the main verb:

(285) ni zhungo-de sama

2SG China-ATTR food

qe-guan-gu-lio ze-li=mu eat-get used-COMPL-PFV EXEC-SEN.INF=INTERR

’Have you get used to eating Chinese food?’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

(286) ni huaiqa kan-man-lio gu-la

2SG book read-get finished-PFV after

nga-ha qen-qui-la ka

1SG.OBL-OD give-get an outcome-COND give

‘After you have read the book, give it back to me.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complement je, ’to touch’ (SM zháo ^⵰, ‘to touch’) is used with motion verbs to specify the outcome of a motion:

120

(287) ngu reben-de ren-ha qong-je-lio 1SG Japan-ATTR person-OD run into-touch-PFV

‘I met a Japanese person.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complement jhan, to see’ (SM jiàn ^㿱, ‘to see’) is used with perception verbs like kan, ‘to look, to watch’ and tin, ‘to listen’. It specifies the outcome of the speaker’s perception:

(288) ngu-jhege-de kada gu-jhege

1-^PAUC-^ATTR conversation 3-^PAUC tin-jhan-gu-lio ze-li

listen-see-^COMPL-^{PFV EXEC}-^SEN.^INF

‘Our conversation got overhead by them.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complements pe, ‘to get broken’ (SM pò ⹤, ‘to get broken’) and qai, ‘to get broken’ (AT qai, ‘to get broken’) are common with e.g. the verb da ‘to hit’. The two complement verbs have no obvious semantic differences. They indicate the outcome of the event ‘hit’ and stress the complete affectedness of the Patient:

(289) ngu gu chabi da-pe-lio

1SG that teacup hit-get broken-PFV

‘I broke that teacup (for purpose).’ (Cairangji)

(290) ngu-jhege-de ggolo zha-pe-gu-ma

1^SG-^PAUC-^ATTR wheel explode-get broken-^COMPL-^COORD

‘Our wheel burst…’ (Blind Grandmother˅

(291) ngu-de la da-qai-lio

1SG-ATTR foot hit-get broken-PFV

‘My foot got broken.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complement lai, ‘to get into contact’ (origin unknown) is used e.g. with verbs of giving. In (292) it is used as an independent verb in a clause chain and in (293) as a complement verb in a verb-complement construction:

121

(292) ngu nia cha tai-ma lai

1SG 2SG.OBL tea take-COORD get into contact

‘I will bring you some tea.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

(293) moncok-ha lhoso to-lai-lio

masses-OD education receive-get into contact-PFV

‘The masses have received education.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The verb se, ‘to die’ (SM sĭ ↫, ‘to die’) is used both as a regular verb and as an aspect complement. When used as an aspect complement, it specifies that the activity expressed by the main verb leads to the death of a participant in the event, and it therefore stresses the Patient affectedness:

(294) haba-ha qhichai nia-se-gu-lio ze-li

dog-OD car press-die-COMPL-PFV EXEC-SEN.INF

‘The dog was crushed to dead by the car.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

Many complement verbs have their origins in motion verbs, but due to grammaticalization they have lost part of their original semantic meaning and rather add the main verb the more abstract aspectual meaning of completion (e.g. the complement do ‘to arrive’ > ‘to get done’). However, some complements derived from motion verbs can still be occasionally used in their original meaning to indicate direction (e.g. complements qhi, ‘to go’, lai, ‘to come’ and qui, ‘to exit’).

The complement do, ‘to get done’ (SM dào ^ࡠ, ‘to arrive’) has lost most of its original semantic meaning as a motion verb. Its primary meaning is to indicate the completion of an event:

(295) a-menzai qhi-do-li ngu nia

how ride-get done-SEN.INF 1SG 2SG

yi-ge jho one-REF teach

‘Let me teach you how to ride a bike.’ (Bike)

122

(296) nia da jjhenzzhi mi-li=wo

2SG.OBL then reason EXIST.NEG-SEN.INF=EMPH sho-ma adia-de huai-li xhui-do-lio-de

QUOT-^RES monk-^ATTR arms-^LOC sleep-get done-^PFV-^NMLZ

‘You certainly have no reason to behave like that’, (the zombie) said and fell asleep in the monk’s arms.’ (ELDP, corpus WT09_4)

The complements kai, ‘to start’ (SM kāiᔰ, ‘to expand’) and qhe, ‘to start’ (SM qĭ 䎧,

‘to rise’) are both derived from motion verbs, but in Wutun they indicate the initiation of an event or state:

(297) qhojhang ayi haipa kuu-kai-lio

PN woman fear cry-start-PFV

ze-li

EXEC-SEN.INF

‘The lady called Qhojhang was afraid and started crying.’ (Cairangji)

(298) zhawa ma-ge tin-qhe-lio-de re

disciple something get ill-start-PFV-NMLZ FACT

‘The disciple started to feel somewhat ill.’ (ELDP, corpus WT09_4)

(299) tianqhe rai-qhe-lio weather (be) hot-start-PFV

‘The weather started getting hot.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complements qhi, ‘to go’ (SM qù ^৫, ‘to go’) and lai, ‘to come’ (SM lái ^ᶕ, to come’) still retain much of their original meaning as motion verbs. They are often used together with other motion verbs to specify the direction and completion of motion:

(300) da menzai tek san-ge

then like that head three-REF

ke-gu-ma adia shang-qhi-gu-lio kowtow-COMPL-COORD monk rise-go-COMPL-PFV

adia shang-qhi-gu-di-da monk rise-go-^COMPL-^PROGR-^CONSEQ zhawa rolang qhe-lai-gu-ma

disciple zombie rise-come-^COMPL-^COORD

‘Then the monk kowtowed three times and went up further (towards Tibet).

When the monk arrived in Tibet, the disciple rose up as a zombie…’ (ELDP, corpus WT09_4)

123

The complement lai can also be used in a more abstract meaning to indicate a change of a state:

(301) nga-mu yidaze zhungo bozhe kan-lai-li

1-COLL all China newspaper look-come-SEN.INF

‘All of us have learned how to read Chinese newspapers.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

The complement qui, ‘to get an outcome, to exit’ (SM chūࠪ, ‘to exit’) derives from a motion verb ‘to exit’. In Wutun, it can be used both as a directional complement ‘to exit’ (as in 302) and as a more abstract completive aspect complement ‘to get an outcome’ (as in 303):

(302) zhuang-qui-gu-ma-li

come out-exit-COMPL-RES.PO-SEN.INF

‘(The ears of wheat) have come out (by now).’ (Conversation 1_School)

(303) sonan gu yegai-ge xai-qui-lio

PN that letter-^REF write-get an outcome-^PFV ze-li

EXEC-SEN.INF

‘Sonan has written that letter.’ (Cairangji)

Complement ze (SM zuò ڊ, ‘to do’) has a very vague semantic meaning and it mainly adds the aspectual meaning of completion to the main verb:

(304) cui to-ze-gu-lio ze-li

thief escape-do-COMPL-PFV EXEC-SEN.INF

‘The thief escaped.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

Complement verbs can also have an additional modal meaning (ability or possibility) reflecting the speaker’s attitude to the realization of an event. Complements qhe, ‘to be able to’ (SM qĭ 䎧, ‘to rise’) and qen, ‘to manage’ (SM chéng ᡀ, to become’) add both aspectual and modal meaning to the main verb. They indicate the completion of an event with the additional notion of potentiality:

(305) nga-mu gu qhichai mai-she-qhe-li

1-COLL that car buy-RES.AO-be able-SEN.INF

‘We became able to buy that car.’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

124

(306) ayoxe da hua-ma

INTJ now tired-COORD

ma-la-li qhe-lai-be-qen-li

(be) impossible-^INCOMPL-^SEN.^INF get up-^NEG-manage-^SEN.^INF

‘Phew! I’m so tired I can’t get up.’ (Cairangji)

Complement verbs can be negated. When the complement verb is negated, the negative morpheme is placed as an infix between the main verb and the complement verb. The negative morpheme preceding the complement verb negates the result of an action, and not the action itself:

(307) ngu gu-de xhinqe tin-be-jhan-li

1^SG 3^SG-^ATTR voice listen-^NEG-see-^SEN.^INF

‘I can’t hear his/her voice (lit. I listen but I cannot hear it).’ (Xiawu Dongzhou)

In document A Grammar of Wutun (sivua 132-138)