List of Abbreviations

1 first person2 second person3 third personCAUS causativeCONJ conjunctionD dualDET determinerERG ergativeEV evidentials%

GEN genitiveIMPF imperfective#

INF infinitiveINT interjectionINV inverse directionIRR irrealisLOC locativeNEG negativeNOM nominalizerORI orientation prefixPF perfectivePT past tense*

P pluralREFL reflexiveS singularSPON spontaneous$

SUB subordinator

% The evidential markers encodes the source of the information. The reader is referred to You –Jing Lin (2000: chapter 5) for details. Notice that the imperfective markers ko-, na-, and a- also encodes meaning of evidentiality.# The imperfective in Zhoukeji rGyalrong is realized by the stem1 form of a verb with no specific markers, as in an embedded clause. And in other cases, the imperfective markers i.e. a-, na-, and ko- probably encodes modality or evidentiality, besides aspectual information, as in Xiang-Rong Lin (1993), You-Jing Lin (2000). They cannot occur in embedded clauses.* The verbal suffix -s is used only in the modally unmarked perfective situation, and its meaning i.e. past tense, is considered obsolete in Zhoukeji rGyalrong. Still, I have termed it as PT, following Bu-Fan Huang (1997) and Jackson T.-S. Sun (2000).$ I follow Prof. Sun in the nomenclature of this category.

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Table of Contents

Chinese abstractEnglish abstractAcknowledgement in ChineseList of Abbreviations

Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Language in study…………………………………………………………………11.2 Literature review…………………………………………………………………..1

1.2.1 Citation forms of verbs……………………………………………………..11.2.2 Participant nominalization………………………………………………….11.2.3 Complement and adjunct…………………………………………………...21.2.4 Jackson T.-S. Sun’s researches (forthcoming) on Caodeng rGyalrong…….3

1.3 Theoretical framework…………………………………………………………….31.3.1 Nominalization……………………………………………………………..31.3.2 Relativization………………………………………………………………41.3.3 Complementation…………………………………………………………..5

1.4 Transcription of Data………………………………………………………………61.5 Organization……………………………………………………………………….8

Chapter 2 k- and ka- in Word Formation2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..92.2 Citation form of verbs……………………………………………………………..9

2.2.1 Common verbs……………………………………………………………102.2.2 Adjectives…………………………………………………………………132.2.3 Verbs taking a non-human (agent) argument……………………………..162.2.4 Modal auxiliaries…………………………………………………………182.2.5 Derived verbs……………………………………………………………..212.2.6 The verb ka-pa……………………………………………………………

242.2.7 The opposition of k- and ka-…………………………………………….26

2.3 Participant nominalization……………………………………………………….272.3.1 Agent and patient nominalization in Xiang-Rong Lin (1993)……………282.3.2 Patient nominalization…………………………………………………….292.3.3 Agent nominalization……………………………………………………..30

2.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….32

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Chapter 3 Complementation3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………333.2 Complement types………………………………………………………………..34

3.2.1 Sentential complements…………………………………………………...353.2.2 Infinitive complements……………………………………………………383.2.3 Nominalized complements………………………………………………..423.2.4 Complement types………………………………………………………..52

3.3 Predicate types…………………………………………..……………………….553.3.1 Auxiliaries………………………………………………………………...563.3.2 Mental verbs………………………………………………………………593.3.3 Control verbs……………………………………………………………...61

3.4 Predicate nouns…………………………………………………………………..633.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..69

Chapter 4 Relativization4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………714.2 The elements in a relative construction…………………………………………..73

4.2.1 The head of a relative clause……………………………………………...744.2.2 The determiner t…………………………………………………………754.2.3 The internal structure of a relative clause………………………………...764.2.4 Internally headed relative clauses…………………………………………794.2.5 Valency changing a-……………………………………………………..80

4.3 Constraints on relativization of Zhoukeji rGyalrong…………………………….834.3.1 The inverse direction marker w(u)-……………………………………….834.3.2 Two competing strategies of relativization……………………………….864.3.3 The k- and ka- opposition………………………………………………..88

4.4 Valency changing a- and its homophones………………………………………894.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..92

Chapter 5 Conclusion5.1 The opposition of k- and ka-…………………………………………………….935.2 Future researches…………………………………………………………………94

5.2.1 Nominalization……………………………………………………………945.2.2 Complementation…………………………………………………………945.2.3 Relativization……………………………………………………………..96

References……………………………………………………………………………98

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