Cover not available
Article published In:
Concentric
Vol. 49:2 (2023) ► pp.224–260

Directional verb constructions in Mandarin

The interface of syntax and pragmatics

ORCID logo | Tunghai University
| National Chung Cheng University
In modern Chinese, a Directional Verb Construction (DVC) may contain either two or three verbs. DVCs with two verbs can be represented in three different ways, and DVCs with three verbs can be represented in four different ways. The different positions of the shared internal noun phrase (NP) argument result in divergent word orders of DVCs. Based on the Corpus of the United Daily News, this study discusses the syntax-pragmatic interface in Chinese DVCs within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) with the intention of ascertaining how NP arguments are linked to syntax in DVCs, while at the same time accounting for what pragmatic factors play a role in determining constructional schemas for argument linking. The results show that different patterns of DVCs have different focus domains, and that the differential activation state of the internal NP argument plays an essential role in determining word order. Considering the correlation between activation state and focus domain, a highly activated internal NP tends to be linked to the position following the word bǎ or immediately following V1. In contrast, a least activated NP tends to be linked to the position immediately following V2 or V3.
Keywords: directional verb construction, activation state, focus domain, RRG
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Chinese DVCs
    • 2.2Role and reference grammar
      • 2.2.1Syntactic representation
      • 2.2.2Semantic representation
      • 2.2.3Information structure
      • 2.2.4Linking algorithm
  • 3.Mandarin directional verb constructions
    • 3.1Mandarin DVCs with two verbs
    • 3.2Mandarin DVCs with three verbs
  • 4.The linking of arguments in DVCs to syntax
    • 4.1The linking system for DVCs
    • 4.2The linking of DVCs with two verbs
    • 4.3DVCs with three verbs
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • List of abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/consl.22048.lin
References (36)
References
Chafe, Wallace. 1987. Cognitive constraints on information flow. Coherence and Grounding in Discourse, ed. by Russell S. Tomlin, 21–51. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chang, Jung-hsing. 2001. The Syntax of Event Structure in Chinese. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu.
. 2007. Linking semantics and syntax in Mandarin serial verbs: A Role and Reference Grammar account. Language and Linguistics 8.1:235–266.Google Scholar
Chen, Yi-jing. 2010. Metonymy and Cross-reference Anaphora in the Chinese Ba-construction. MA thesis, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi.
Chen, Zhishuang. 2015. The word order of the directional serial verb construction in Mandarin Chinese. Proceedings of The Second Asian and European Linguistic Conference, ed. by Alison Biggs, Man Li, Aiqing Wang and Cong Zhang, 1–16. UK: Newcastle University.Google Scholar
. 2016. Mandarin Directional Serial Verb Constructions: A Constructionist Approach. Doctoral dissertation, University of York, UK.
Collins, Chris. 1997. Argument sharing in serial verb constructions. Linguistic Inquiry 28.3:461–497.Google Scholar
Cui, Songren, and Kuo-ming Sung. 2022. A Reference Grammar for Teaching Chinese: Syntax and Discourse. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gundel, Jeanette K. 1988. Universals of topic-comment structure. Studies in Syntactic Typology 17.1:209–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guo, Chun-gui. 2003. More on the position of the compound directional complement and its non-locative object. Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue 31:37–45.Google Scholar
Hansell, Mark. 1993. Serial verbs and complement constructions in Mandarin: A clause linkage analysis. Advances in Role and Reference Grammar, ed. by Robert D. Van Valin, 197–233. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Hole, Daniel. 2011. The deconstruction of Chinese shì… de clefts revisited. Lingua 121.11:1707–1733. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kimura, Hideki. 1984. On two functions of the directional complements lái and qù in Mandarin. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 12.2:262–297.Google Scholar
Lamarre, Christine. 2003. How does Chinese encode motion events?─And a few issues connected with the so-called “directional complements”. Contemporary Research in Modern Chinese 51:1–18.Google Scholar
Lambrecht, Knud. 1994. Information Structure and Sentence Form. New York & Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
LaPolla, Randy J. 1995. Pragmatic relations and word order in Chinese. Word Order in Discourse 301:297–329. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, Yuehua. 1998. Quxiang Buyu Tongshi [A Complete Illustration of Chinese Directional Complements]. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.Google Scholar
Liu, Yuehua, Wenyu Pan, and Wei Gu. 2001. Shiyong Xiandai Hanyu Yufa [A Practical Grammar of Spoken Chinese]. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan.Google Scholar
Lu, Hsiao-tung. 1977. Resultative verb compounds vs. directional verb compounds in Mandarin. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 5.2:276–313.Google Scholar
Lu, Jian-ming. 2002. Dongci hou quxiang buyu he binyu de weizhi wenti [Concerning the postverbal complement of direction and the position of the object]. Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue 11:5–17.Google Scholar
Nolan, Brian. 2012. The Structure of Modern Irish. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Paul, Waltraud. 2022. SVCs in disguise: The so-called “directional verb compounds” in Mandarin Chinese. New Explorations in Chinese Theoretical Syntax: Studies in Honor of Yen-Hui Audrey Li, ed. by Andrew Simpson, 133–162. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Prince, Ellen F. 1981. Toward a taxonomy of given-new information. Radical Pragmatics, ed. by Peter Cole, 223–255. New York & London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Tai, James H.-Y. 2003. Cognitive relativism: Resultative construction in Chinese. Language and Linguistics 4.2:301–316.Google Scholar
Teng, Shou-hsin. 1979. Remarks on cleft sentences in Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 7.1:101–114.Google Scholar
Tsao, Feng-fu. 1987. A topic-comment approach to the ba construction. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 15.1:1–54.Google Scholar
Tseng, Shu-chuan. 2010. Directional complements in Taiwan Mandarin natural speech. Language and Linguistics 11.3:469–501.Google Scholar
Van Valin, Robert D. 2005. Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Valin, Robert D., and Randy J. LaPolla. 1997. Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Function. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vendler, Zeno. 1967. Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verkuyl, Henk J. 1996. A Theory of Aspectuality: The Interaction between Temporal and Atemporal Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wu, Joy. 2007. Introduction to role and reference grammar. Language and Linguistics 8.1:5–70.Google Scholar
Zhan, Fangqiong, and Chaofen Sun. 2013. A copula analysis of shì in the Chinese cleft construction. Language and Linguistics 14.4:755–789.Google Scholar
Zhang, Huili, Haifeng Duan, and Haihua Pan. 2017. Focus-stress principle and ba construction. Language and Linguistics 18.3:479–504.Google Scholar
Zhu, Dexi. 1982. Yufa Jiangyi [Handout on Grammar]. Bejing: Shangwu Yinshuguan.Google Scholar