Atayal is an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan. This paper presents a
descriptive study of the grammaticalization in Squliq Atayal, one of the two major
dialects of the language. Several examples of grammaticalization in the named dialect
are examined, including (i) verbs like musa’/mosa’, wal/wayal, nyux/cyux being
grammaticalized into auxiliaries designating tense/aspect/mood; (ii) the locative focus
(LF) form of the verb malax as used in negative and/or imperative constructions, i.e.
laxi, serving as a negator; (iii) the ‘saying’ verb mha being treated as a complementizer
and an evidential marker; (iv) the 3rd person singular pronoun hiya’ serving as an
emphatic marker; and (v) the interrogative word nanu’ functioning as a pause filler.
The original meanings of the above-mentioned words are relatively concrete, and the
new meanings are more abstract and have more grammatical functions. It is also
noticed that these words are all polysemous; that is, their original meanings/functions
co-exist with later developed ones.