Shuya Zhang* Rethinking the *-s suffix in Old Chinese: with new evidence from Situ Rgyalrong https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2022-2014 Received May 24, 2021; accepted July 26, 2021; published online April 7, 2022 Abstract: This paper re-examines previous hypotheses claiming the primacy of a perfect(ive) value in certain qusheng (*-s) derivations (in particular nominalization) in Old Chinese. First, it revisits examples previously cited as having been derived from the perfect(ive), and proposes to re-classify them as resulting from three different derivational processes, nominalization, verb argument demotion, and adverbializa- tion. Second, it focuses on Sino-Tibetan comparative data, in particular from Situ Rgyalrong, a language with severe isomorphism across four -s suffixes. Then, on the basis of morphological (especially stem changes) and syntactic criteria, it sorts out the relationship between the different -s suffixes in Situ, while suggesting multiple sources to account for the diverse functions of qusheng (*-s) in Old Chinese. Keywords: adverbialization; argument demotion; nominalization; Old Chinese; perfect(ive); Situ Rgyalrong 1 Introduction Although qusheng alternation 1 is the least controversial piece of evidence for Old Chinese morphology, 2 its highly polyfunctional character has been a source of consternation. *Corresponding author: Shuya Zhang, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science/Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan, E-mail: bragbarskad@gmail.com 1 Glosses follow the Leipzig glossing rules, to which the following abbreviations are added: I = stem I, II = stem II, I′ = stem I′, II′ = stem II′, ADVZ = adverbializer, AUTOBEN = autobenefactive, CM = comparative marker, DEEX = de-experiencer, DEG = degree noun, DENOM = denominal, DIS = distal, DIR = directional prefix, DOWN = downward direction, FAC = factual, EGO = egophoric, GENR = generic person, IFR = inferential, LNK = linker, NS = non-singular, NSPC = unspecified, SENS = sensory, PRO = proximal, TAME = tense-aspect- modality-evidentiality, TRANSL = translocative, UP = upward direction, V C = central grade, V NC = non-central grade. Chinese texts are transcribed according to Baxter’s (1992) Middle Chinese with an IPA adaptation. Reconstructed forms for Old Chinese are given when necessary for the sake of discussion. 2 The Qing philologists (Duan Yucai 段玉裁, Gu Yanwu 顧炎武, Qian Daxin 錢大昕 etc.) considered qusheng alternations to have been created by the teachers of classics at the time of the Six Dynasties. Zhou (1981 [1945]: 81–85) proved this hypothesis wrong, pointing out that qusheng alternations had already appeared in commentaries in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Folia Linguistica Historica 2022; 43(1): 129–167