Abstract
Revising the Particles Matzai and Gamzai in Cantonese ABSTRACT This thesis studies the grammatical properties of the particles matzai and gamzai in Cantonese. I argue that matzai and gamzai are not approximate counterparts, they encode different semantic properties instead. Matzai is licensed only by negation and associated with minimal expressions. I will follow Matsui’s (2013) proposal of attenuating NPIs and suggest that matzai is a scalar attenuator. Unlike matzai, the fundamental meaning of gamzai is associated with prospective aspect. Gamzai sentences are interpreted between dynamic and stative readings. The former expresses that the result-state is predicted to exist in the imminent future; while the latter lacks such prospective meaning. I propose that gamzai is an intensional operator. It creates an intensional context for the eventive or stage-level predicates as the result-state within the scope of prospectivity. This explains why gamzai sentences can be interpreted between stative and dynamic readings. I employ possible world semantics of the imperfective paradox (Dowty 1977, 1979, Landman 1992 and Portner 1998) to resolve this problem. The result-state comes true in the non-interrupted best worlds, regardless of the interpretations of gamzai sentences. In the actual world, the event continues with its development in dynamic situations, but it stops in the stative ones. The last part of this work discusses the syntactic analysis of matzai and gamzai. I propose that matzai is an adverb which adjoins to VP or AP; while gamzai is a head of Prospective Projection. I follow Simpson’s (2001) light predicate raising to derive the correct surface positions of these two particles.