The making of a perfective marker: The case of təʔ⁴ in the Huai’an dialect of Lower Yangtze Mandarin

In the Huai’an dialect of Lower Yangtze (Jianghuai) Mandarin, there exists an aspectual marker təʔ⁴ that indicates termination, completion, or loss. Compared to “掉 (diao)” in Standard Mandarin, the təʔ⁴ in the Huai’an dialect—and similar markers in other Lower Yangtze Mandarin dialects— exhibits a higher degree of grammaticalisation and a broader range of usage, yet still carries semantic connotations such as negativity, disappointment, and regret. Through analysis of its syntactic distribution, morphological constraints, and semantic constraints, this study reveals that this aspectual marker is essentially a perfective marker still undergoing grammaticalisation. It is likely to be a product of contact between the Mandarin “掉 (diao)” and the Wu dialect “脱 (tʰəʔ)”, as supported by the long-standing and intensive linguistic, cultural and demographic exchanges in the Lower Yangtze basin.

---

Liu Haomin is a Master’s student in Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at Nanyang Technological University. His primary research interests include Sino-Tibetan languages, dialect geography, historical linguistics, and linguistic anthropology. He is currently investigating the dialectal boundary between Lower Yangtze (Jianghuai) Mandarin and Central Plains Mandarin.