Abstract:

In the circle of Chinese linguistics, it has been widely accepted that the verb kàn 'see' in the sentence-final position is a tentative aspect, which is highly grammaticalized.On the basis of our large-scale investigation, we demonstrate that kàn itself does not express the tentative meaning but refers to an 'observe' action for the result of the preceding tentative action.In fact, the tentative meaning comes from the delimitative quantifiers that follows the main verb, such as verb reduplication, verbal classifiers, directive resultatives, and the 'number + classifier' phrases used as the attributives of the object nouns.Also, the tentative instances are not limited to imperative sentences or other subjunctive cases, and they can freely appear in regular declarative sentences.In addition, the various tentative constructions in Chinese dialects have been examined and their diachronic origins have been explored.

Key words: tentative construction, the so-called particle kàn, delimitative temporal quantifier, diminutive form, verb reduplication