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Article In:
International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 11:2 (2024) ► pp.247–279

On the finiteness of complement clauses in Chinese

| Macau University of Science and Technology
| City University of Macau
This paper investigates the finiteness of complement clauses in Chinese within the theoretical framework of the Minimalist Program, with a specific focus on the independency and opacity features. Following He (2020) and Huang (2022), this study proposes that the feature [IND] represents the independent reference time of the complement clause, and the feature [OPA] indicates the degree of opacity for syntactic operations. By integrating these two features, the paper establishes a robust differentiation between finiteness and nonfiniteness within Chinese complement clauses. Under the assumption that all complement clauses in Chinese are CP, a propositional CP is classified as finite when its C0 head is positively specified for both features [+IND, +OPA]. Conversely, an event/action CP is considered nonfinite when the C0 head carries a negative specification: [+ IND, −OPA] or [−IND, −OPA]. It is worth noting that if the reference time of a complement clause depends on the matrix clause, it cannot be opaque, and therefore exhibits transparency. This research sheds light on the intricate relationship between the independency and opacity features, providing valuable insights into the syntactic mechanisms underlying complement clauses in Chinese.
Keywords: finiteness, complement clause, independency, opacity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Syntactic features of chinese subordinate clauses in previous literature
    • 2.1Aspect markers
    • 2.2Modal auxiliary
    • 2.3Null subject PRO
    • 2.4Time adverbs
  • 3. He (2020) and Huang (2021)’s Assumption
  • 4.Finiteness and nonfiniteness in Chinese within the minimalist program framework
    • 4.1Independency
    • 4.2Opacity feature
    • 4.3The integration of independency feature and opacity feature
  • 5.The finiteness distinction among three types of verbs in Chinese
  • 6.Other syntactic features related to the finiteness distinction
    • 6.1Subjunctive evaluative words
    • 6.2Long passivation
    • 6.3Complement-adjunct asymmetry
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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