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- Volume 2, Issue, 2015
International Journal of Chinese Linguistics - Volume 2, Issue 2, 2015
Volume 2, Issue 2, 2015
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The Bound Variable Hierarchy and Donkey Anaphora in Mandarin Chinese
Author(s): Haihua Pan and Yan Jiangpp.: 159–192 (34)More LessCheng and Huang (1996) argue that both unselective binding and E-type pronoun strategies are necessary for the interpretation of natural language sentences and claim that there exists a correspondence between two sentence types in Chinese and the two strategies, namely that the interpretation of the “wh … wh” construction (which they call “bare conditional”) employs the unselective binding strategy, while the ruguo ‘if’ and dou ‘all’ conditionals use the E-type pronoun strategy. They also suggest that there is a complementary distribution between bare conditionals and ruguo/dou conditionals in the sense that the latter allows all the NP forms, e.g. (empty) pronouns and definite NPs, except for wh-phrases in their consequent clauses, and can even have a consequent clause with no anaphoric NP in it, while the former permits only the same wh-phrase appearing in both the antecedent clause and the consequent clause. Although we agree with Cheng and Huang on the necessity of the two strategies in natural language interpretation, we see apparent exceptions to the correspondence between sentence types and interpretation strategies and the complementary distribution between wh-phrases and other NPs in bare conditionals and ruguo/dou conditionals. We think that the claimed correspondence and complementary distribution are the default or preferred patterns, or a special case of a more general picture, namely that (i) bare conditionals prefer the unselective binding strategy and the ruguo ‘if’ and dou ‘all’ conditionals, the E-type pronoun strategy; and (ii) wh-phrases are more suitable for being a bound variable, and pronouns are more suitable for being the E-type pronoun. This paper proposes a Bound Variable Hierarchy to help account for the distribution of wh-phrases and pronouns in Chinese conditionals and claims that any deviation from the preferred patterns will require additional contexts or accommodation.
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Justifying silent elements in syntax
Author(s): One-Soon Her, Ching-Perng Chen and Hui-Chin Tsaipp.: 193–226 (34)More LessThis paper demonstrates in the Mandarin construction with a numeral (Num), classifier (CL) or measure word (MW), and a noun (N), each can be a silent element (SE). A multiplicative function exists between Num and CL/MW. Num as a multiplier one is redundant and can be silent. CL, whose multiplicand value is one, is redundant, when Num is overt. Thus, a silent Num YI, whose pronounced counterpart is yi ‘one’, can be licensed by an overt CL/MW, which are clitics in Mandarin and require a c-commanding head as host, which must satisfy additional prosodic constraints. A silent general CL, GE, can be licensed by an overt Num. MWs do not have SE counterparts. A silent N TIME is licensed by an overt time MW, while MONEY is licensed by a monetary MW. In both cases, the meaning of the SE is already part of the MW in [Num MW N].
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Bi-clausal sluicing approach to dislocation copying in Cantonese
Author(s): Lawrence Yam-Leung Cheungpp.: 227–272 (46)More LessThis article discusses a variant of Cantonese dislocation structures known as “dislocation copying” wherein a (non-)constituent string of the host clause gets copied at the right edge. Unlike some previous proposals, it is argued that the relationship between the host clause and the dislocated string cannot be explained purely on pragmatic grounds. Rather, a syntactic account is necessary to explain the dislocated string’s sensitivity to structure. Adopting bi-clausal analysis, we propose that dislocation copying involves the fronting of a remnant containing an elided XP to the left periphery of the second clause, followed by the sluicing of the remainder of the clause. It is argued that the dislocation string gives rise to contrastive/emphasis interpretation. We have also compared similar dislocations in Dutch, German, Japanese and Korean with Cantonese. The findings suggest that sluicing in a bi-clausal structure is common to all of these dislocation structures. The typological variation arises mainly from the different types of phrasal fronting that feed sluicing.
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Formation of the experiential aspect marker Pat4 識
Author(s): Chinfa Lienpp.: 273–299 (27)More LessThis paper first examines the distribution of tseng4 曾as an experiential aspect marker, and then the distribution of pat4 識 both as a cognition verb and as an experiential aspect in five earlier Southern Min texts. (Wu 2001abcd and Quanzhou 2010) Almost three quarters of all instances of tseng5 曾 occur in non-positive contexts. The same percentage of occurrence is also true of pat4 識, be it a cognition verb or an experiential aspect. A comparison of the use of pat4 識 as a verb and as an experiential aspect marker indicates that 16 (sixteen) tokens occur in non-positive context. Only one suspicious instance occurs in a positive context. Crucially, robust cases of reinforcement of juxtaposed negatives and experiential aspects, 未曾, show that the emergence of the experiential aspect marker pat4 (‘ever’) from its cognitive source may have been induced by the weakening of the early experiential aspect marker tseng5 曾 in the sequence ber7-tseng5 未曾 ‘have not yet; never’, of which the-tseng5 in tseng5 was deleted to result a lacuna.
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中古梵漢語言接觸引發的一種語法演變 [A grammatical change triggered by contact with Sanskrit in Medieval Chinese]
Author(s): Cheng-Hui Liupp.: 300–315 (16)More Less中古的佛經翻譯活動造成漢語長期與梵語接觸,翻譯佛經文獻語言究竟帶給漢語多大的影響,是近十多年漢語語法史研究的熱點之一。本文在此脈絡下討論譯經專用帶有梵語特徵的語法格式〔VP+已,下句〕如何感染《世說新語》存古形式〔既+VP,下句〕的語法與文篇表現。首先指出上古漢語動後標記「已」和副詞「既」的由來,其次根據一組註記「相對過去」的副詞「既」、「已」、「嘗」在上古到中古幾種敘事作品的分布,確認漢語時間標記使用趨勢,最後以《世說新語》偏離漢語趨勢的副詞「既」的用例與中古譯經動後「已」的相似之處印證梵語特徵被複製到中古書面語的現實。簡言之,漢語固有的〔VP+已,下句〕僅以「VP+已」指涉前行事件,翻譯梵語獨立分詞形態的「VP+已」主要指涉前行事件,但也容許指涉時間重疊的伴隨情況;上古漢語通行的「既+VP」在連動式指涉前行事件,而《世說新語》某些「既+VP」指涉伴隨情況,甚或為冗贅,應是受到譯經「VP+已」的感染。這種現象意味梵語〔獨立分詞+主要子句〕先已透過譯經的〔VP+已,下句〕影響中古漢語使用者的認知,進而影響到書面語的存古形式。
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