The Functions of (sic) liao in Singapore Mandarin

This paper provides an account of the functions of (sic) liao in Singapore Mandarin using spoken data. It is found that while liao can perform the grammatical roles of le, it presents its own constraints, particularly when used as a perfective aspect marker. Specifically, it occurs with verbal compounds in clause-final positions - an unacceptable construction in Mainland China Mandarin. Additionally, it is also observed that it co-occurs with (sic) le at the sentence-final position, resulting in a rather peculiar 'double-(sic)' construction. Some explanations are given for these occurrences of liao in Singapore Mandarin; most notably, it is hypothesized that Singapore Mandarin has retained the older construction of liao and the retention might have been brought on by the language contact with non-Mandarin dialects like Minnanese. The implication of this study is two-fold: (a) it can first shed light on a linguistic variation found in Singapore Mandarin and (b) it can also potentially serve as a reference study for future research conducted on (sic) in general.