The morphosyntax of the sentence-final negative WHAT in Chinese

Abstract This paper reviews Yang’s (2024) analysis of the sentence-final negative WHAT in Chinese and argues that the sentence-final negative WHAT, which can be classified into two types — emphatic negation and quotative negation — should be analyzed as a suffix attached to the predicate in morphology. Specifically, the affixation of the sentence-final negative WHAT is a morphosyntactic operation that occurs in l-syntax, creating a complex word with the predicate. Additionally, both sentence-final negative WHAT and its reduplicated form should be analyzed in a unified way within morphology, with the base being as short as possible phonologically. The study also emphasizes the need for a negative force projection at the sentence periphery.