On the syntax of the negative marker Mei6 in Cantonese

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Syntactic properties of the negative marker mei6 in the preverbal and sentence-final positions in Cantonese are examined in this paper. It is argued that the preverbal mei6 is the head of NegP in the lexical layer while the sentence-final mei6 is a sentence-final particle of the temporal type in the head of TP that belongs to the inflectional layer, forming VP-Neg questions. A number of empirical facts, such as matching restrictions on the predicate, coexistence with the sentence-final particles of the temporal type, occurrence in embedded clauses, and distribution of the adverb zung6 'still', can be explained under the base-generation approach to the derivation of the VP-Neg questions.摘要:本文旨在讨论粤语谓语前和句末否定标记 "未" 的句法特点。谓语前 的"未"属于否定词短语的中心语，位处词汇层次；句末"未"属于 时间类句末助词，位于时间词短语的中心语，位处屈折层次，形成反 复问句。根据本文对反复问句基础生成的分析，跟"未"相关的谓语 匹配要求、与时间类句末助词共现问题、进入嵌套小句、副词"仲" 分布等语言事实，都可以得到合理的解释。