The Study Of Aspect Categories In Yancheng (Nangyang) Dialect

Yancheng lies in the middle east of Jiangsu Province. The particles “le(?)”, “tuo(?)” and“guo(?)” can be used as the perfective aspect markers in Yancheng dialect. Compared “tuo”with “le”, the aspect particles “tuo” can not be used as widely as “le” in extensive range. The degree of grammaticalization of “tuo” is different from the degree of “le”. Roughly speaking,only by adding “le” to the format of “V tuo” could we get a complete sentence. Sometimes, we can use “le” or “tuo” after a same verb in a sentence, but the meaning of the format “V le” and“V tuo” are not exactly the same. The perfective aspect marker “tuo” is also very different from“guo”, we can only use “tuo” after the verb in a sentence when the movement is still ongoing while we are talking. We can also use nominal objects after the format “V guo” to form a new format “V guo + N(noun) + le”, if there has no numeral classifier phrase in front of the N(noun),the format can be transformed into the format of “N(noun) + V guo + le”. If there has any numeral classifier phrases in front of the N(noun), the transformation will be untenable. When it comes to the format of “V tuo + N(noun) + le”, the situation is somewhat different, if there has any numeral classifier phrases in front of the N(noun), the format can be transformed into the format of “N(noun) + V tuo + le”. If there has no numeral classifier phrase in front of the N(noun), the transformation will be untenable.The particle “chu(?)” can be used as the continuous aspect marker in Yancheng dialect.The format “V chu+ le(?) ne(?)” can be transformed into the format of “xiong(?) + V + ne”under certain circumstances. The particle “kun(?)” can also be used as the continuous aspect marker in Yancheng dialect. The aspect marker “kun” is from the grammaticalization of the of the content word “kun(?)”, which means a specific place. The particles “chu” and “kun” can be used after some adjectives to express a continuing state.The word “ba(?)” in Yancheng dialect can be used as a verb, which means giving or allowing. The word “ba” in Yancheng dialect also has a meaning of marrying somebody. The word “ba” can also be used as a preposition, the preposition “ba” is of multiple structural functions, one of which is to introduce the object of the action in a sentence, the other is to introduce the affected participant in a sentence. The word “yao(?)” can be used in an active sentence but also in a passive sentence in Yancheng dialect. The passive sentences marked by“yao” expresses a situation which usually has already happened, however, unlike the passive sentences marked by “yao”, the active sentences marked by “yao” expresses a situation which has not happen. The reason why the word “yao” can be used in active or passive sentences is that the initiative level is different from sentence to sentence.