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International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 3:1 (2016) ► pp.100–131

Fragment answers in Mandarin Chinese

| National Kaohsiung Normal University

The derivational differences of the fragment answers in Mandarin Chinese lie in whether a fragment moves or not. Under the movement and ellipsis analysis (Merchant 2004), fragment answer to wh-question moves to SpecFocP, followed by TP ellipsis. In contrast, fragment answer to yes-no question or for correction is a base-generated structure, [pro copula fragment]. The analysis is supported not only by the existence of the copular verb and the fragment answers to questions involving the passive constructions and preposition stranding but also by cross-linguistic evidence.

Keywords: fragment answer, deletion, focus raising, island repair, preposition stranding, passive
Published online: 16 June 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.3.1.04wei
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