Adverbials in Paiwan Chun-ming Wu

It has been known that in many European languages like English adverbial modifiers syntactically occur as adverbs. However, this observation is not attested among Austronesian languages in Taiwan. In Formosan languages adverbial modifiers mostly surface as verbs, as was been first pointed out by Starosta (1988). Chang’s (2005) study further reveals that in Kavalan, a Formosan language, adverbials usually occur as matrix verbs and involve two types of serial verb construction (SVC). Complement types vary according to different adverbial patterns. Following Chang’s framework, this study explores the syntax of adverbial expressions in Paiwan, a Formosan language spoken in Southern Taiwan. It is observed that like Kavalan, manner and modal adverbials in Paiwan are primarily coded as verbs. Unlike Kavalan, however, frequency adverbials in Paiwan are usually coded as verbal affixes. In Paiwan adverbial modifiers which surface as verbs typically involve three types of complex predicate construction. These adverbia