International Journal of Chinese Linguistics - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2020

Abstract

This paper provides a classification of modal verbs of possibility and necessity in Late Archaic and Early Middle Chinese based on an analysis of their scopal features with respect to negation. It shows that circumstantial readings and deontic readings are interpreted in two different syntactic positions which can be determined by the scope of negation following the cartographic approach proposed in Tsai (2008, 2015) and the proposal of Cormack and Smith (2002) of a Polarity Head, which constitutes a syntactic divide of the domain of necessity modals from the domain of circumstantial modals. Our analysis of the scope of negation demonstrates that the deontic interpretation of possibility modals requires their upward movement from the lexical to the functional domain as part of the grammaticalization process from pre-modal lexical verbs to modal auxiliaries of different functions in Modern Mandarin. In Early Middle Chinese, negated modal verbs of possibility start to replace the synthetic modal negators of Archaic Chinese as part of the general process of analyticization of Chinese. We also show that the only true necessity modals in Late Archaic Chinese belong to the category of circumstantial modals due to their scopal features when they are negated.

Abstract

Instead of classifying natural languages in terms of their answering systems for polar questions, this study investigates how languages construct the answering system for the polar questions with a special concentration on the answering system of the Chinese ma particle question and English polar questions. We argue that the primarily mechanism that natural languages adopt to construct an answering system is the focus mechanism which is based on the relationship between a focus sensitive marker and its association of focus. The different answering patterns to polar questions result from different scopes of focus. In a polar question, what is being focused by the focus sensitive marker or focus operator falls into question scope (focus association). The respondent answers the polar question based on the proposition in the question scope. Answering with a positive particle expresses agreement with that question proposition while answering with a negative particle conveys that the question proposition is not true.

Abstract

Quantifier phrases (QP) can co-occur in a single sentence, which may cause ambiguity in terms of scope relation, viz. wide scope and narrow scope interpretations. Aoun & Li (1993) claim that quantifier scope ambiguity also exists in Chinese passive construction, such as yige nűren bei meige ren ma ‘a woman was scolded by everyone’. Following Lee (1986)’s proposal, it is argued in this paper that the scopal relations of Chinese QPs are not purely syntactic as in Aoun & Li’s analysis, but should be determined by the interaction between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Based on naturalistic data, it is shown that (i) Chinese QPs can be classified into whQP, distributive-universal QP and group-denoting QP, whose semantic properties determine the scope relations between them; (ii) in general, a QP is devoid of referentiality, yet it can acquire referentiality depending on its co-occurrence with other QPs or contextual factors; (iii) the subject definiteness constraint in Chinese, a language-specific constraint, would affect the interpretation of subject QPs in Chinese passive construction.

Abstract

Causatives and passives are two different types of syntactic constructions, but their interaction can be observed cross-linguistically. By investigating the causative-passive correlation in Chinese, English and French, we try to offer an appropriate account for the causative-passive correlation by specifying its necessary conditions. We argue that the constructions which involve the causative-passive correlation must be mono-phasal, and the embedded object can be co-referred to the matrix subject by syntactic movement.

Abstract

Wutun is a distinct form of Northwest Mandarin spoken by approximately 4000 people in a rural area called Seng ge gshong (‘the valley of the lion’) in the Wutun language, or Wutun 五屯 in Standard Chinese, located a few kilometers from Rong bo (Long wu 龙务), the county seat of Reb gong (Tongren 同仁), in the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, People’s Republic of China. This article analyzes some features of basic and cultural Wutun vocabulary (Northwest Mandarin, Standard Chinese, and Tibetan items, as well as hybrid and idiosyncratic words) exploring prospects for lexical borrowing in an intense language contact situation, as well as the impact of the environment, cultural influences, and linguistic prestige in the development of the lexicon of a small language community.

抽象

本文提出对普通话声调描写的改进意见：把以单字调为基础的观念改为以连读调为基础。普通话的声调描写应为：阴平55、阳平35、上声11、去声53。理由可以有三点：1、连读调更接近于本调。2、单字调带有边界成分。3、连读调更接近实际语言交际。另外我们还找到两个理论依据。一个是麦迪森的平调定义，一个是赵元任的双数调原则。文章列出大量的声学和感知实验的证据来支持我们的意见。同时指出：普通话声调的这种轴对称结构表现出最大区别原理的最佳对立状态。讨论认为，五度值是一种半调值、半调位的记调法，具有相当的模糊性。实际语言中极少有分为五级调阶的。

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