International Journal of Chinese Linguistics - Volume 6, Issue 2, 2019

Abstract

Two statistical modelling methods are first used to quantify the third tone sandhi in Standard Mandarin in which the first falling-rising T3 becomes a rising T2 in the T3 + T3 disyllabic context. Growth curve analysis suggests non-neutralization of the surface F0 contours of the sandhi tone and its corresponding citation tone (T2), whereas a quantitative F0 target approximation model reveals neutralization of their underlying pitch targets, congruent with the stable and categorical tone shift properties of tone sandhi processes. The same statistical procedure is successfully extended to examine tone sandhi rules in Nanjing Mandarin. Our analysis leads to a proposal to change tonal values based on the Chao’s number system of some Nanjing Mandarin monosyllabic tones. The transformation method from acoustic data to Chao’s number applies well to our data and proves superior to those previously described in the literature.

Abstract

There is general agreement on the main features of the process through which the phonology of modern standard Chinese has evolved over three millennia from that of Old Chinese. However, according to general linguistic theory, that phonological history is impossible: the theory claims that no human language can evolve in the manner in which Chinese is believed to have evolved. Furthermore, this particular strand of general linguistic theory has recently been corroborated through stringent statistical testing. Thus there is a glaring contradiction between two areas of scholarship, and to date there has been little recognition by the scholarly community of the need to resolve this contradiction, indeed little willingness to admit its existence. I argue that the contradiction is real and serious, and needs resolution.

Abstract

This paper focuses on the causative verb 𘃡 wji¹ and 𗟻 phji¹ in the Tangut language. Causatives can be subcategorized as adversity causatives, transitive verbs (lexical causatives of intransitive verbs), analytic causatives of intransitive verbs, and causatives of transitive verbs. I argue that adversity causatives are expressed by 𘃡 wji¹, while 𗟻 phji¹ serves as the verb marking causatives of transitive verbs. Causatives of intransitive verbs can be divided according the directness of the action: direct actions, which often apply on inanimate objects, are causativized by 𘃡 wji¹ (or use other transitive verbs), and indirect actions, which usually apply on animate objects, are causativized by 𗟻 phji¹.

Abstract

Chinese middle construction (Chinese MC) uses the form ‘N+V+qilai+C’ to express passive meaning. This study has shown that Chinese MC’s internal connections can be reflected by its synchronic hierarchy. Chinese MC expands horizontally through argument structure and vertically through semantics and its expansion mechanism can be explained by the varying abstraction model of categorization which combines the prototype and the exemplar model. This study has also validated the truth that Chinese MC is a concept encompassing unclear boundaries within its members by using the schematic network model which is the combination of the radial set model and the overlapping set model to represent the internal connections of Chinese MC. By connecting Chinese MC with patient-subject sentences, this study has shown that the expansion of Chinese MC is affected by other structures. Finally, this study has unveiled the affinity between constructionalization and grammaticalization by examining how Chinese MC relates to V-qilai’s grammaticalization.

摘要

本文通过对含有光杆动宾结构和体标记的汉语非自足句的考察，提出这些句子不合法的原因在于它们都是非限定句。在对非限定句做出的功能定义的基础上，本文指出事件句的时间理解需要三类抽象“时间”，即事件时间（Situation Time, SitT），声称/指称时间（Topic/Reference Time, TT），和说话时间（Utterance Time, UT）。在此基础上，我们进一步指出限定句的骨架的必有成分包括 CP, TP, AspP 和 VP（即 VP-e）。因此，本文讨论的句子之所以不合法，可以归因于骨架的不完整。同时，本文也检验了几种修补该类句子的手段，指出其目的多是加强了谓语的潜在的事件性，以满足限定事件句骨架的需要。由此，本文提出了一种分析汉语非自足句的新的理论框架。

This article reviews The Study of Word Stress and Accent: Theories, Methods and Data978-1-107-16403-1