1887
Volume 28, Issue 4
  • ISSN 1384-6655
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9811
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This study investigates the factors significantly constraining dative alternation in Chinese by adopting mixed-effects logistic regression modelling. The analysis showed that such factors significantly affected the choice of dative variants in Chinese, including the animacy, pronominality, and definiteness of the recipient, the accessibility and concreteness of the theme, and the length difference between the theme and the recipient. Findings were compared with those for the English dative alternation discussed in the literature. When the theme was recoverable from context or shorter than the recipient, the prepositional dative construction was preferred in both English and Chinese. This can be explained by the principles of end-focus and end-weight. However, when the recipient was animate or definite, the double object construction was preferred in English, while the prepositional dative construction was more likely to be used in Chinese. This divergence is due to the different syntactic and semantic features of their recipient markers.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.21086.zha
2023-03-06
2025-01-17
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aoun, J., & Li, Y. H.
    (1989) Scope and constituency. Linguistic Inquiry, 20(2), 141–172.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Arnold, J., Losongco, A., Wasow, T., & Ginstrom, R.
    (2000) Heaviness vs. newness: The effects of structural complexity and discourse status on constituent ordering. Language, 76(1), 28–55. 10.1353/lan.2000.0045
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2000.0045 [Google Scholar]
  3. Baayen, R. H.
    (2008) Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics Using R. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511801686
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801686 [Google Scholar]
  4. (2011) Corpus linguistics and naive discriminative learning. Brazilian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 295–328. 10.1590/S1984‑63982011000200003
    https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-63982011000200003 [Google Scholar]
  5. Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D., & Bates, D.
    (2008) Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journal of Memory and Language, 59(4), 390–412. 10.1016/j.jml.2007.12.005
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2007.12.005 [Google Scholar]
  6. Baayen, R. H., Endresen, A., Janda, L., Makarova, A., & Nesset, T.
    (2013) Making choices in Russian: Pros and cons of statistical methods for rival forms. Russian Linguistics, 37(3), 253–291. 10.1007/s11185‑013‑9118‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11185-013-9118-6 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bartoń, K.
    (2020) MuMIn: Multi-Model Inference. R package version 1.43.17. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S.
    (2015) Fitting linear mixed effect models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48. 10.18637/jss.v067.i01
    https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01 [Google Scholar]
  9. Bresnan, J., Cueni, A., Nikitina, T., & Baayen, R. H.
    (2007) Predicting the dative alternation. InG. Bouma, I. Krämer & J. Zwarts (Eds.), Cognitive Foundations of Interpretation (pp.69–94). Royal Netherlands Academy of Science.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Bresnan, J., & Hay, J.
    (2008) Gradient grammar: An effect of animacy on the syntax of give in New Zealand and American English. Lingua, 118(2), 245–259. 10.1016/j.lingua.2007.02.007
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2007.02.007 [Google Scholar]
  11. Bresnan, J., & Ford, M.
    (2010) Predicting syntax: Processing dative constructions in American and Australian varieties of English. Language, 86(1), 168–213. 10.1353/lan.0.0189
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.0.0189 [Google Scholar]
  12. Chang, H.
    (2014) Muyu wei yingyu he fayu de xuexizhe dui hanyu shuangbin ju jiqi yuge zhuanhuan jiegou de xide yanjiu [The acquisition of Chinese double object constructions and dative alternation constructions by English and French native speakers]. Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong [Applied Linguistics], 23(2), 96–106.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Chen, P.
    (1987) Shi hanyu zhong mingci xing chengfen xiangguan de sizu gainian [Explanation on four groups of concepts related to nominal components in Chinese]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 36(2), 81–92.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. (2016) Hanyu dingzhi fanchou he yufahua wenti [The problem of Chinese definitional category and grammaticalization]. Dangdai Xiucixue [Contemporary Rhetoric], 35(4), 1–13.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Collins, P.
    (1995) The indirect object construction in English: An informational approach. Linguistics, 33(1), 35–49. 10.1515/ling.1995.33.1.35
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1995.33.1.35 [Google Scholar]
  16. De Cuypere, L., & Verbeke, S.
    (2013) Dative alternation in Indian English: A corpus-based analysis. World Englishes, 32(2), 169–184. 10.1111/weng.12017
    https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12017 [Google Scholar]
  17. Divjak, D., & Arppe, A.
    (2013) Extracting prototypes from exemplars: What can corpus data tell us about concept representation?Cognitive Linguistics, 24(2), 221–274. 10.1515/cog‑2013‑0008
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2013-0008 [Google Scholar]
  18. Divjak, D., Dąbrowska, E., & Arppe, A.
    (2016) Machine meets man: Evaluating the psychological reality of corpus-based probabilistic models. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(1), 1–33. 10.1515/cog‑2015‑0101
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2015-0101 [Google Scholar]
  19. Garretson, G.
    (2004) Coding Practices Used in the Project Optimal Typology of Determiner Phrases [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Boston University, Boston.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Goldberg, A. E.
    (1995) Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. The University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. (2006) Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. (2019) Explain Me This: Creativity, Competition, and the Partial Productivity of Constructions. Princeton University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Gries, S. Th.
    (2003) Towards a corpus-based identification of prototypical instances of constructions. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 1(1), 1–27. 10.1075/arcl.1.02gri
    https://doi.org/10.1075/arcl.1.02gri [Google Scholar]
  24. (2013) Statistics for Linguistics with R: A Practical Introduction. Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110307474
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110307474 [Google Scholar]
  25. Gries, S. Th., & Stefanowitsch, A.
    (2004) Extending collostructional analysis: A corpus-based perspective on ‘alternations.’International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 9(1), 97–129. 10.1075/ijcl.9.1.06gri
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.9.1.06gri [Google Scholar]
  26. Gries, S. Th., & Bernaisch, T.
    (2016) Exploring epicentres empirically: Focus on south Asian Englishes. English World-Wide, 37(1), 1–25. 10.1075/eww.37.1.01gri
    https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.37.1.01gri [Google Scholar]
  27. Gundel, J. K.
    (1988) Universals of topic-comment structure. InM. Hammond, E. Moravcsik & J. Wirth (Eds.), Studies in Syntactic Typology (pp.209–239). John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.17.16gun
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.17.16gun [Google Scholar]
  28. Hawkins, J. A.
    (1994) A Performance Theory of Order and Constituency. Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. (2004) Efficiency and Complexity in Grammars. Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252695.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252695.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  30. He, X. W.
    (2003) Shuangbinyu jiegou he yuge jiegou de guanxi fenxi [The relation between the double object construction and the dative construction]. Waiguo Yu [Journal of Foreign Languages], 26(2), 25–31.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. (2008) Shuangjiwu jiegou jushi xuanze de zhiyue yinsu yanjiu [A study on the factors influencing the selection of the ditransitive constructions]. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies], 30(3), 29–36.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. (2009) Shuangjiwu jiegou de yuyi biaoda yanjiu [A semantic study of the ditransitive construction]. Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Foreign Language Teaching and Research], 4(1), 18–24.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Hopper, P. J., & Traugott, E. C.
    (1993) Grammaticalization. Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Kendall, T., Bresnan, J., & van Herk, G.
    (2011) The dative alternation in African American English: Researching syntactic variation and change across sociolinguistic datasets. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 7(2), 229–244. 10.1515/cllt.2011.011
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt.2011.011 [Google Scholar]
  35. Klavan, J.
    (2020) Pitting corpus-based classification models against each other: A case study for predicting constructional choice in written Estonian. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 16(2), 363–391.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Lambrecht, K.
    (1994) Information Structure and Sentence Form: Topic, Focus and the Mental Representations of Discourse Referents. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511620607
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620607 [Google Scholar]
  37. Levin, B.
    (1993) English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation. The University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Li, W. & Shi, P. X.
    (2015) Beijing hua yushi jieci gei gen de yufahua ji hanyu yushi xitong [On the grammaticalization of the dative prepositions gei and gen in Peking dialect and the dative category in mandarin Chinese]. Yuyan Yanjiu [Studies in Language and Linguistics], 35(1), 45–54.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Liu, D. Q.
    (2001) Hanyu jiyu lei shuangjiwu jiegou de leixingxue kaocha [A typological study of giving-type ditransitive patterns in Chinese]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 50(5), 387–398.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Liu, F. H.
    (2006) Dative constructions in Chinese. Language and Linguistics, 7(4), 863–904.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Liu, Y. G.
    (2005) Dongci gei yufahua guocheng de yisu chuancheng ji xiangguan wenti [The verb gei]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 54(2), 130–138.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Ma, Q. Z.
    (1992) Hanyu Dongci he Dongci Xing Jiegou [The Chinese Verb and Verbal Constructions]. Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. MacDonald, M. C.
    (2013) How language production shapes language form and comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology, 41, 1–16. 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00226
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00226 [Google Scholar]
  44. Man, Z. J.
    (2003) Shengcheng yufa lilun yu hanyu shuangbinyu jiegou [Generative grammar and the double object construction in Chinese]. Xiandai Waiyu [Modern Foreign Languages], 26(3), 232–240.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Milin, P., Divjak, D., Dimitrijević, S., & Baayen, R. H.
    (2016) Towards cognitively plausible data science in language research. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(4), 507–526. 10.1515/cog‑2016‑0055
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2016-0055 [Google Scholar]
  46. Newman, J.
    (1993) The semantics of giving in Mandarin. InR. Geiger & B. Rudzka-Ostyn (Eds.), Conceptualizations and Mental Processing in Language (pp.433–485). Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110857108.433
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110857108.433 [Google Scholar]
  47. (1996) Give: A Cognitive Linguistic Study. Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110823714
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110823714 [Google Scholar]
  48. Perek, F.
    (2012) Alternation-based generalizations are stored in the mental grammar: Evidence from a sorting task experiment. Cognitive Linguistics, 23(3), 601–635. 10.1515/cog‑2012‑0018
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2012-0018 [Google Scholar]
  49. (2015) Argument Structure in Usage-based Construction Grammar. John Benjamins. 10.1075/cal.17
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.17 [Google Scholar]
  50. Peyraube, A.
    (1986) Shuangbinyu jiegou cong handai zhi tangdai de lishi fazhan [The historical development of double object construction from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 35(3), 204–216.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J.
    (1972) A Grammar of Contemporary English. Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. R Core Team
    R Core Team (2021) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.r-project.org/
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Röthlisberger, M., Grafmiller, J., & Szmrecsanyi, B.
    (2017) Cognitive indigenization effects in the English dative alternation. Cognitive Linguistics, 28(4), 673–710. 10.1515/cog‑2016‑0051
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2016-0051 [Google Scholar]
  54. Shen, J. X.
    (1999) Zai zi ju he gei zi ju [Zai constructions and gei constructions]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 48(2), 94–102.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Szmrecsanyi, B., Grafmiller, J., Heller, B., & Röthlisberger, M.
    (2016) Around the world in three alternations: Modeling syntactic variation in varieties of English. English World-Wide, 37(2), 109–137. 10.1075/eww.37.2.01szm
    https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.37.2.01szm [Google Scholar]
  56. Szmrecsanyi, B., Grafmiller, J., Bresnan, J., Rosenbach, A., Tagliamonte, S., & Todd, S.
    (2017) Spoken syntax in a comparative perspective: The dative and genitive alternation in varieties of English. Glossa, 2(1), 1–27. 10.5334/gjgl.310
    https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.310 [Google Scholar]
  57. Tang, S. W.
    (2018) Huayu juese dongci yu shuangbin ju [Discourse-role verbs and the double object construction]. Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Foreign Language Teaching and Research], 50(2), 186–194.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Theijssen, D., ten Bosch, L., Boves, L., Cranen, B., & van Halteren, H.
    (2013) Choosing alternatives: Using Bayesian networks and memory-based learning to study the dative alternation. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 9(2), 227–262. 10.1515/cllt‑2013‑0007
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2013-0007 [Google Scholar]
  59. Wasow, T.
    (1997) Remarks on grammatical weight. Language Variation and Change, 91, 81–105. 10.1017/S0954394500001800
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500001800 [Google Scholar]
  60. (2002) Postverbal Behaviour. CSLI.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Wasow, T., & Arnold, J.
    (2003) Post-verbal constituent ordering in English. InG. Rohdenburg & B. Mondorf (Eds.), Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English (pp.119–154). Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110900019.119
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110900019.119 [Google Scholar]
  62. Wang, J.
    (2013) Ying Han Yupian Jianjie Huizhi [Indirect Anaphora in English and Chinese]. The Commercial Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Wolk, C., Bresnan, J., Rosenbach, A., & Szmrecsanyi, B.
    (2013) Dative and genitive variability in late modern English: Exploring cross-constructional variation and change. Diachronica, 301, 382–419. 10.1075/dia.30.3.04wol
    https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.30.3.04wol [Google Scholar]
  64. Wu, J., & Shi, Y. Z.
    (2009) Zhiyue yufa jiegou xuanze de yinsu: yi biaoda wuti chuandi de jiegou wei li [Motivations in the choice of constructions: A case study of object transfer sentences]. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies], 31(6), 17–24.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Wu, Z.
    (2017) Yingyu muyuzhe xide hanyu youding xing biaoda shouduan de yanjiu [Acquisition of mandarin definiteness devices by native speakers of English]. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies], 39(6), 20–30.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Xiong, X. L.
    (2007) Ying han yu shuangbin goushi tanxi [An analysis of the prototypicality of ditransitive constructions in English and Chinese]. Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Foreign Language Teaching and Research], 39(4), 261–267.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Xun, E. D., Rao, G. Q., Xiao, X. Y., & Zang, J. J.
    (2016) Da shuju beijing xia BCC yuliaoku de yanzhi [The construction of the BCC Corpus in the age of big data]. Yuliaoku Yuyanxue [Corpus Linguistics], 3(1), 93–109.
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Zhang, B. J.
    (1999) Xiandai hanyu de shuangjiwu jiegoushi [The ditransitive constructions in modern Chinese]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language], 48(3), 175–184.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Zhang, D.
    (2019) Ying Han Yuge Jiaoti de Duoyinsu Duibi Fenxi [A Multifactorial Contrastive Analysis of Dative Alternation Between English and Chinese] (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. (2021) Dative Alternation in Chinese. Open Science Framework. 10.17605/OSF.IO/Y8MGP
    https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Y8MGP [Google Scholar]
  71. Zhang, H. P., & Liu, Q.
    (2002) ICTCLAS [Computer Software]. Chinese Academy of Sciences.
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Zhang, W.
    (2015) Yingxiang hanyu jiyu lei shuangjiwu goushi jushi xuanze de zhiyue yinsu [The factors determining the alternation of ditransitive constructions]. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies], 37(2), 54–65.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Zhou, C. Y.
    (2000) Xiandai hanyu gei zi ju de shengcheng jufa yanjiu [The study of gei constructions in modern Chinese from the perspective of generative syntax]. Dangdai Yuyanxue [Contemporary Linguistics], 2(3), 155–167.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Zhu, D. X.
    (1979) Yu dongci gei xiangguan de jufa wenti [Syntactic issues related to the verb gei]. Fangyan [Dialect], 1(2), 81–87.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. (1982) Yufa Jiangyi [Lectures on Grammar]. The Commercial Press.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.21086.zha
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.21086.zha
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error