Split Reduplicant Hypothesis

International Journal of Chinese Linguistics, vol. 12, pp. 66–93

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, I propose Split Reduplicant Hypothesis against previous research, claiming of one reduplicant being able to yield the diverse interpretation of adjectival reduplications, specifically the tetrasyllabic reduplicated adjectives. Following cartographic syntax, it is not satisfying and problematic for one reduplicant to host the diverse features and denote the distinct interpretations. Therefore, three reduplicants are proposed: red h , red m as well as red l , for example, red h refers to [ aug ], an emphatic interpretation; red m refers to [ dim ], a weakening reading; and red l refers to [ neu ], a positive interpretation, respectively. In other words, I propose the hierarchical structure of split reduplicants based on the interactions with the Taiwanese reduplicated adjectives. In addition to morphosyntactic reduplication, pragmatic-driven reduplication is also found. From the cross-linguistic point of view, Split Reduplicant Hypothesis is also applicable across languages. Intriguingly, tone sandhi also can play a role in determining the interpretations of adjectival reduplications, which indicates tone sandhi can correspond to the distinct reduplicants.

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