Towards a typology of progressive aspect marking in Sinitic

Compared with other aspects of grammar, the aspectual systems of Sinitic languages have received relatively more scholarly attention (e.g. Chappell 1992, Shi 2005, and Rao 2011). Nevertheless, sample-wise, the existing studies are, generally speaking, neither balanced nor comprehensive; goal-wise, they aim at providing a descriptive account in general, ra-ther than a typological and/or historical analysis. In this paper, we present the results of a first pilot study of progressive aspect marking in 41 Sinitic varieties that employ the zài 在-type progressive. The dialects considered belong to the Mandarin, Gan, Xiang, Min, Hakka, and Yue groups. We conceive this pilot study as a first step in developing an ex-haustive typology of progressive marking constructions in Sinitic. In our sample, we ob-served four different marking patterns: (i) preverbal single marking; (ii) post-VP single marking; (iii) verb suffix; (iv) preverbal and postverbal double marking. After illustrating the morpho-syntactic strategies found in our sample, we shall discuss the typological patterns and areal distribution sources for those constructions, and their pathways of grammaticalization. Also, we shall offer comparative remarks with Sinitic languages adopting other ‘be.at’ verbs as markers of progressive aspect, as e.g. Zihu Min 那 nã45-21 (Peng 2017), as well as the parallel ‘be.at’ + locative marker construction, as e.g. Tunxi Hui 是莫里 ɕi²⁴-mo³¹le ‘be.at-dist.dem’ (Lu 2018).