The multifunctionality of Armenian complementizer te

This paper investigates Armenian te, offering novel evidence that challenges its categorization alongside semantically empty complementizers like English that. Our findings not only support recent arguments for the multifunctionality of complementizers (Staps & Rooryck 2023, Tollan & Palaz 2024) but also connect with insights on the semantic contributions of reportative and dubitative markers (Kaiser 2022). Building on Murray (2010) and Krifka (2015), we propose that when te introduces clauses under speech-act, doxastic, or epistemic verbs, it occupies a high Commitment head above ForceP, functioning as a stance operator that weakens the speaker’s commitment to the embedded proposition. This analysis highlights how complementizers may interact with broader semantico-syntactic phenomena such as evidentiality, mirativity, and speaker stance, thereby contributing to ongoing debates about the multifunctionality of complementizers (Staps & Rooryck 2023, Tollan & Palaz 2024).