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Volume 10, Issue 1
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Abstract

Abstract

The paper presents empirical evidence for six reconstruction effects in Mandarin Chinese. It includes data concerning the copula verb, epistemic modals, scope of aspectual sentence-final particle over indefinite -phrases, downward entailing quantifiers, predicates of creation, Binding Condition B, quantifier scope and quantification. The syntactic structures in which reconstruction applies can be derived either by A- or A-bar-movement. Our investigation brings empirical facts to bear on the syntax-semantics interface showing an essential property of natural language that semantic properties and syntactic structures do not vary freely.

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2023-06-30
2024-12-11

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/content/journals/10.1075/ijchl.23002.law
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): A‑bar-movement; A‑movement; binding condition B; copy theory of movement; downward entailing quantifiers; empty expletives; epistemic modals; indefinite wh-phrases; predicates of creation; quantifier scope; reconstruction; the copula verb

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