Cantonese Aspect Markers

@cite{matthews-yip-1994} @cite{cheung-1972} @cite{cheung-2007} @cite{yip-k-f-2025} @cite{liu-yip-2026} App. B (127)

Cantonese (ISO yue, Sinitic) postverbal aspect markers, organized along the inner / outer split (Travis 2010, MacDonald 2008, Sybesma 2017): outer markers sit above vP and host viewpoint distinctions; inner markers sit inside vP and host Aktionsart-derived distinctions (notably the rich inventory of phase complements catalogued by @cite{yip-k-f-2025} and reproduced in @cite{liu-yip-2026} Appendix B).

This file commits the lexical data; the analytical positioning of -faan as outer-aspect-associated (and -gwo as inner-aspect-associated) is per Liu & Yip 2026's analysis and lives in Phenomena/Complementation/Studies/LiuYip2026.lean.

structure Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.AspectMarker : Type

A Cantonese aspect-marker lexical entry. Theory-light: surface form, gloss, a rough Aktionsart classification (perfective / experiential / progressive / continuative / repetitive), the cartographic AspFlavor it conventionally associates with (per the inner / outer split), and a pointer to the canonical citation.

• form : String
• hanzi : String
• gloss : String
• flavor : Minimalist.AspFlavor
• semantic : String
• notes : String

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.instReprAspectMarker : Repr AspectMarker

Equations

• Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.instReprAspectMarker = { reprPrec := Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.instReprAspectMarker.repr }

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.instReprAspectMarker.repr : AspectMarker → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

Outer-aspect markers (canonically associate with AspP_outer above vP)

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zo : AspectMarker

-zo 咗 — perfective, postverbal suffix (Cantonese counterpart of Mandarin -le). Outer aspect per @cite{yip-k-f-2025}.

Equations

• Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zo = { form := "-zo", hanzi := "咗", gloss := "PFV", flavor := Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer, semantic := "perfective" }

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gan : AspectMarker

-gan 緊 — progressive, postverbal suffix. Outer aspect (viewpoint). Cantonese counterpart of Mandarin zhengzai / zai (the progressive, not the again-element).

Equations

• Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gan = { form := "-gan", hanzi := "緊", gloss := "PROG", flavor := Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer, semantic := "progressive" }

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.faan : AspectMarker

-faan 返 — repetitive / restorative aspect, postverbal suffix. Liu & Yip 2026 §5–6 analyse it as AspP_outer-associated; its exceptional wide scope across nonfinite vPs is the headline Cantonese case study.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

Inner-aspect markers (canonically associate with AspP_inner within vP)

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gwo : AspectMarker

-gwo 過 — experiential aspect, postverbal suffix (Cantonese counterpart of Mandarin -guo). @cite{liu-yip-2026} §5 analyse the repetitive-flavored -gwo as AspP_inner-associated, distinct from the experiential reading. The entry here records the lexical form; the dual analysis lives in LiuYip2026.lean.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zyu : AspectMarker

-zyu 住 — continuative / durative postverbal suffix. Per @cite{matthews-yip-1994}: ngo5 zo6-zyu6 'I am sitting'. Inner aspect.

Equations

• Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zyu = { form := "-zyu", hanzi := "住", gloss := "CONT", flavor := Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner, semantic := "continuative" }

Inventory + drift sentry

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.all : List AspectMarker

Equations

• Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.all = [Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zo, Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gan, Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.faan, Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gwo, Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.zyu]

theorem Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.all_membership : List.map (fun (x : AspectMarker) => x.form) all = ["-zo", "-gan", "-faan", "-gwo", "-zyu"]

Drift sentry: this fragment covers the five aspect markers above.

theorem Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.flavor_partition : faan.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer ∧ zo.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer ∧ gan.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer ∧ gwo.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner ∧ zyu.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner

-faan and -zo and -gan are outer-aspect; -gwo and -zyu are inner-aspect.

Bridge to AspHead substrate

Each AspectMarker projects to an AspHead. -faan is the only entry that gets a probe-bearing AspHead (it is the head that triggers Liu & Yip's agreement-across-clause-boundary mechanism); the others are bare. -faan's AspHead has selectsDynamicity = none because Liu & Yip 2026 (their footnote on (78), citing data with stative jau 'have') note that -faan does NOT require a dynamic complement, in contrast with Mandarin you (which does).

def Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.AspectMarker.toAspHead (m : AspectMarker) : Minimalist.AspHead

Equations

• m.toAspHead = match m.flavor with | Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer => { flavor := Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer } | Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner => { flavor := Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner }

theorem Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.faan_is_outer : faan.toAspHead.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.outer

theorem Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.gwo_is_inner : gwo.toAspHead.flavor = Minimalist.AspFlavor.inner

theorem Fragments.Cantonese.Aspect.faan_no_dynamicity_requirement : faan.toAspHead.selectsDynamicity = none

Liu & Yip 2026's audit-flagged claim: -faan does NOT carry a [+D] selectional restriction (it composes with stative jau 'have'). Encoded by leaving selectsDynamicity = none on its AspHead.