Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Theses Theses and Dissertations Spring 2015 Sentence final particles in Shanghainese: Navigating the left periphery Ethan C. Myers Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses Part of the Language Description and Documentation Commons Recommended Citation Myers, Ethan C., "Sentence final particles in Shanghainese: Navigating the left periphery" (2015). Open Access Theses. 588. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/588 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. i SENTENCE FINAL PARTICLES IN SHANGHAINESE: NAVIGATING THE LEFT PERIPHERY A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Ethan C Myers In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts May 2015 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii This thesis goes out to my family, for having supported me all these years While I pursued my dreams of traveling and studying. For my brothers and sisters, I hope that I can be a good example for you to follow as you emerge into the world; Of optimism in the face of risk; Perseverance during hardships; And humility in my successes. For my parents and grandparents, especially to my mom, Alice, Whom I wish could have seen me finish. I hope that I never lose that urge to make you proud And I hope that I can find your strength To recover my way when I get lost. And finally this thesis is dedicated to my girlfriend, Jue, Whose immeasurable patience, humor, and grace Ensures that I never want for a better role model or companion. Thanks! iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Of course, this thesis would have never come into being without the support of so many generous friends, family, and faculty at Purdue, where I've spent the best 6 years of my life (so far). To all of my colleagues in the Indigenous and Endangered Language Lab, and to Elena Benedicto, who have given me a purpose in more ways than one over four years; to right injustices, and to be a creative problem solver, to relax once in a while, and to always be in awe of language. To my major professor, Elaine Francis, and my other committee members Ronnie Wilbur, Hong Wei, and Lori Czerwionka, I can QHYHUUHSD\\RXIRUDOORIWKHKHOS\RX¶YHJLYHQPHGXULQJWKH\HDU RUVHPHVWHU" ,VSHQW writing this thesis. All of youUZRUGVRIDGYLFHZKHQ,ZDVVWXFNHYHQLI,GLGQ¶WNQRZDW the time, to your words of consolation when I was stressed out. I will carry these lessons with me always. To my close friends from undergrad, who are breaking new ground across the country, as I pursue the academic path. Thanks to all of you for your constant companionship. EYHQWKRXJKZH¶YHJUDGXDWHGDQGPRYHGRQWKHFRPPXQLFDWLRQLV always open, and always pleasant. Thanks to my undergraduate advisor, Marianne Gupta, for letting me go to study in UNAM, and for introducing me to the field of linguistics. Thank you to the countless others for whom I lack the space and good sense to mention by name. I have had so much help over the years. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Context .................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Shanghainese Discourse Particles ......................................................................... 3 1.4 Outline of Thesis ................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 8 2.2 History and Status of Shanghainese ...................................................................... 9 2.3 Treatment of Sentence Final Particles ................................................................ 12 2.4 Sentence Final Particles in Shanghainese ........................................................... 12 2.4.1 Leq ................................................................................................................. 12 2.4.2 Aa ................................................................................................................... 13 2.4.3 Nao ................................................................................................................. 14 2.4.4 Va ................................................................................................................... 15 2.4.5 Laa ................................................................................................................. 16 2.4.6 Wa .................................................................................................................. 16 2.4.7 Lao ................................................................................................................. 17 2.4.8 Ya ................................................................................................................... 17 2.4.9 Mo .................................................................................................................. 18 2.4.10 Ne ................................................................................................................. 18 2.4.11 Lei ................................................................................................................ 19 v Page 2.4.12 Clusters ........................................................................................................ 19 2.5 The Left Periphery ....................................................................................... 19 2.6 Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 24 2.6.1 Comparative Analysis .................................................................................... 24 2.6.2 Featural Comparison ...................................................................................... 25 2.6.3 Predictions ..................................................................................................... 28 2.7 Summary ............................................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 3. METHODS ............................................................................................. 32 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 32 3.2 Research Question and Hypothesis ..................................................................... 33 3.3 Task I ± Fieldwork Exercise ............................................................................... 35 3.3.1 Subjects .......................................................................................................... 35 3.3.2 Materials ........................................................................................................ 36 3.3.3 Procedure ....................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Task II ± Acceptability Judgment Survey ........................................................... 38 3.4.1 Subjects .......................................................................................................... 38 3.4.2 Materials ........................................................................................................ 41 3.4.3 Procedure ....................................................................................................... 48 3.5 Summary ............................................................................................................. 51 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................. 53 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 53 4.2 Fieldwork Results ............................................................................................... 53 4.2.1 Leq ................................................................................................................. 53 4.2.2 Aa ................................................................................................................... 54 4.2.3 Nao ................................................................................................................. 54 4.2.4 Laa ................................................................................................................. 55 4.2.5 Va ................................................................................................................... 55 4.2.6 Wa .................................................................................................................. 56 vi Page 4.2.7 Ya ................................................................................................................... 56 4.2.8 Lao ................................................................................................................. 56 4.2.9 Lei .................................................................................................................