Abstract :
This article deals with the grammaticalization of the lexical meaning of
GUO “to cross, pass” in Mandarin Chinese. GUO displays two aspectual/
temporal values, known as the experiential suffix -guo and the
phase complement guo respectively. The first indicates that in the past
there is at least one instance of the event represented by the sentence
and the second that an expected event has occurred and is now over.
The experiential suffix refers to indefinite occurrences, whereas the
phase complement refers to definite occurrences. These two values can
be unified at a theoretical level. Aspectual GUO is concerned in all
cases with the location of events in time: it situates an event in the (relative)
past and it indicates either that among past events there is at least one
occurrence of this type of event (suffix -guo), or that a particular (previously
identified) event has passed, that is, entered the class of the past
events (phase complement guo).
