Journal of Historical Syntax

Trang Phan, Tuan-Cuong Nguyen and Masaaki Shimizu. This paper examines the diachronic evolution of perfect aspect markers in Vietnamese from the 13th to the 20th century, focusing on the development and interaction of đã, rồi, and the now-extinct đoạn. Utilizing a unique corpus that combines both primary texts in the traditional Nôm script and later texts in the modern Quốc Ngữ script, this study identifies seven distinct stages of development. In the earliest stage (up to the 13th century), đã was the sole perfect marker, primarily used preverbally and occasionally as a verb meaning ‘to finish’, with neither rồi nor đoạn present. By the 14th century, rồi emerged as a postverbal telic marker, and đoạn appeared mainly as a verb meaning ‘to finish’. Over the centuries, these markers coexisted and competed: đã expanded its functions to mark past tense, occasionally function as a conjunction (a usage that is no longer available), and sometimes serve as a sentence-final imperative marker ‘first’. Meanwhile, rồi was initially used as a verb and an immediately postverbal telic/completive marker. Over time, its usage expanded, with an increasing frequency as a perfect marker, while it also took on additional functions as a conjunction, marking temporal or logical transitions between events. On the other hand, đoạn transitioned from a verb into an immediately postverbal telic/completive marker and then into a perfect marker (and also a conjunction) before gradually disappearing by the late 19th century. The early 19th century marked the peak coexistence of all three markers as perfect markers. However, by the late 19th century, đoạn had vanished, leaving đã and rồi as the dominant markers, a pattern that persisted into the 20th century. Importantly, while đã has lost its conjunctional function in modern Vietnamese, rồi retains its conjunctional “and then” use – reflecting a broader Southeast Asian areal trend also attested in Lao lèèw4 and Thai lɛ́ɛw (Enfield 2007: 183; Olsson 2013). This study sheds light on the historical evolution of Vietnamese grammar, highlighting the complex interaction and competition between these markers. The gradual disappearance of đoạn and the increasing specialization of đã and rồi as perfect markers reflect broader trends in grammaticalization, where lexical items undergo reanalysis, semantic narrowing, and functional shifts along the functional spine from lexical to grammatical and discourse functions. The research provides valuable insights into grammaticalization theory, particularly in the areas of aspect and tense marking, and deepens our understanding of the dynamic processes that have shaped Vietnamese grammar over centuries.