The Tense-Aspect System of Qixian Dialect in Shanxi

The temporal-aspectual system of the Qixian dialect, a Jin Chinese variety spoken in Shanxi Province, consists of two interrelated subsystems: a tense system and an aspect system, each exhibiting distinct yet overlapping grammatical functions. The tense system is tripartite, encoding past, present, and future temporal references through dedicated morphological and syntactic markers. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of these tense markers, elucidating their core grammatical functions while also demonstrating their secondary role in expressing modality, particularly in evidentiality and speaker attitude. The aspect system is further subdivided into dynamic and situational aspects, reflecting different dimensions of event structure. The dynamic aspect comprises four primary categories: perfective (denoting completed actions), durative (indicating ongoing states), experiential (marking past experiences), and continuative (expressing sustained or initiated actions). Notably, the continuative aspect bifurcates into inceptive (onset of an action) and persistive (continuation of a state) subcategories. Meanwhile, the situational aspect encodes four distinct event perspectives: the perfect (already realized), past experiential (formerly occurred), prospective (anticipated), and progressive (currently unfolding). A key finding of this study is the systematic interaction between tense and situational aspect in Qixian dialect, wherein grammatical markers frequently serve dual functions across these categories. This functional overlap suggests a tightly integrated temporal-aspectual framework, where tense distinctions often co-occur with aspectual nuances. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that aspectual markers exhibit greater syntactic flexibility than tense markers, allowing for pragmatic extensions into modal and discourse functions. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the grammaticalization pathways in Jin dialects and offer comparative insights into the broader typology of Chinese temporal-aspectual systems. 山西祁县方言的时体系统包括时制系统和体态系统两部分。其中时制系统包括过去时、现在时、将来时三类，本文从这三类时制对应的时制标记入手，对其语法意义及具体用法进行描写分析。体态系统包括动态和事态两部分，动态包括完成体、持续体、经历体、继续体，其中继续体又包含起始体和延续体两个次范畴；事态包括已然态、曾然态、将然态、正然态。体态系统研究涵盖对体态标记用法、特点及“体”“态”共现现象的考察。我们通过对比时制系统和体态系统发现，祁县话的“时范畴”与“态范畴”对应关联性强，语法标记高度重合。此外，时制标记在表时功能的基础上还可兼表语气。