Abstract
This paper deals with the question whether the so-called aspectual markers ji and yi in Classical and Han period Chinese are genuine markers of the perfective aspect. The discussion is not based on the historical evolution of both markers but on their syntactic distribution in the sentence and on their semantic interplay with the verb they modify. We hypothesize that syntactically ji and yi are genuine adverbs serving to modify the aspectual value of the whole VP and not aspect markers serving to indicate the aspect of the verb comparable to the aspectual suffix -le in Modern Mandarin. A comparison of unmarked and marked VPs clearly demonstrates that in Han period Chinese a verb phrase does not have to be modified by one of the two morphemes to express perfectivity or related notions. Depending on the situation type (Aktionsart) of the verb or the verb phrase, different aspectual values can be expressed without any obvious marking. Adverbs generally serve to emphasise particular nuances of the VP and the adverbs ji and yi serve to highlight nuances such as the factual occurrence of an event or a state, frequently a state that results from a preceding event They are rather comparable to aspectual adverbs such as yijing 'already' in Modern Mandarin or 'already' in English.