A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese

The exact nature and derivation of patient-subject constructions (PSC) in Chinese are still at dispute in literature. Based on the restriction of manner adverbial modification and the nonexistence of the manner reading of zenme ‘how’ observed in Chinese PSC, a morphosyntactic analysis has been provi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Wang Changsong, Zheng Mingming
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Sciendo 2020
Materias:	external morphological merger morphosyntactic interface restriction of manner adverbial modification root patient-subject constructions Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cbfdb3a478984fc3b991ae3193c7edf1
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:cbfdb3a478984fc3b991ae3193c7edf1
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cbfdb3a478984fc3b991ae3193c7edf12021-12-02T17:48:31ZA Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese1017-127410.2478/scl-2020-0002https://doaj.org/article/cbfdb3a478984fc3b991ae3193c7edf12020-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.2478/scl-2020-0002https://doaj.org/toc/1017-1274The exact nature and derivation of patient-subject constructions (PSC) in Chinese are still at dispute in literature. Based on the restriction of manner adverbial modification and the nonexistence of the manner reading of zenme ‘how’ observed in Chinese PSC, a morphosyntactic analysis has been provided. We argue that the seeming action verb V in PSC is not a real main verb, but a verbal root to be introduced into the derivation after syntax via external morphological merger. The real main verb of PSC in syntax is a covert light verb ∅BEC, which selects a nominal phrase (NP) as its specifier (Spec) and a resultative phrase (RP) as its complement. BECP is further selected by an aspect (Asp) head le. To satisfy the extended projection principle (EPP), the NP at [Spec, BECP] moves to the [Spec, TP] in syntax. After syntax, the resultative (R) head-moves to ∅BEC at the phonological form (PF) to satisfy the phonological requirement of ∅BEC, forming R-∅BEC; then, a bare verbal root merges with R-∅BEC at PF to denote the manner of the change of state. Due to the phonological requirement of le, V-R-∅BEC head-moves to le, producing the right order of PSC. The two elided forms of PSC can be derived similarly. This research suggests that covert light verbs and morphology may play an interactive role in the derivation of some “typical” constructions in Chinese.Wang ChangsongZheng MingmingSciendoarticleexternal morphological mergermorphosyntactic interfacerestriction of manner adverbial modificationrootpatient-subject constructionsChinese language and literaturePL1001-3208ENStudies in Chinese Linguistics, Vol 41, Iss 1, Pp 33-71 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	external morphological merger morphosyntactic interface restriction of manner adverbial modification root patient-subject constructions Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208
spellingShingle	external morphological merger morphosyntactic interface restriction of manner adverbial modification root patient-subject constructions Chinese language and literature PL1001-3208 Wang Changsong Zheng Mingming A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
description	The exact nature and derivation of patient-subject constructions (PSC) in Chinese are still at dispute in literature. Based on the restriction of manner adverbial modification and the nonexistence of the manner reading of zenme ‘how’ observed in Chinese PSC, a morphosyntactic analysis has been provided. We argue that the seeming action verb V in PSC is not a real main verb, but a verbal root to be introduced into the derivation after syntax via external morphological merger. The real main verb of PSC in syntax is a covert light verb ∅BEC, which selects a nominal phrase (NP) as its specifier (Spec) and a resultative phrase (RP) as its complement. BECP is further selected by an aspect (Asp) head le. To satisfy the extended projection principle (EPP), the NP at [Spec, BECP] moves to the [Spec, TP] in syntax. After syntax, the resultative (R) head-moves to ∅BEC at the phonological form (PF) to satisfy the phonological requirement of ∅BEC, forming R-∅BEC; then, a bare verbal root merges with R-∅BEC at PF to denote the manner of the change of state. Due to the phonological requirement of le, V-R-∅BEC head-moves to le, producing the right order of PSC. The two elided forms of PSC can be derived similarly. This research suggests that covert light verbs and morphology may play an interactive role in the derivation of some “typical” constructions in Chinese.
format	article
author	Wang Changsong Zheng Mingming
author_facet	Wang Changsong Zheng Mingming
author_sort	Wang Changsong
title	A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
title_short	A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
title_full	A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
title_fullStr	A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
title_full_unstemmed	A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese
title_sort	morphosyntactic analysis of patient-subject constructions in chinese
publisher	Sciendo
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/cbfdb3a478984fc3b991ae3193c7edf1
work_keys_str_mv	AT wangchangsong amorphosyntacticanalysisofpatientsubjectconstructionsinchinese AT zhengmingming amorphosyntacticanalysisofpatientsubjectconstructionsinchinese AT wangchangsong morphosyntacticanalysisofpatientsubjectconstructionsinchinese AT zhengmingming morphosyntacticanalysisofpatientsubjectconstructionsinchinese
_version_	1718379496169537536

A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese

Ejemplares similares