Cover not available
Article published In:
International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 3:2 (2016) ► pp.179–200

Object expletives in Chinese and the structural theory of predication

| Zhejiang University
| Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics

Based on her conception that the subject is the least droppable NP in a clause, and that object position is generated only because the thematic structure of the predicator requires it, Rothstein (1995, 2001, 2006) proposes a structural theory of predication whereby predication is a syntactic relation which is independent of theta–role assignment holding between a predicate and its subject. Based on this theory, she goes as far as to claim that “there can be no such thing as an object pleonastic”. This article provides evidence from Mandarin and some Chinese dialects, showing that there is a third person singular pronoun that can occur as expletive in object positions. It is argued on empirical grounds that a structural theory of predication such as Rothstein’s, which rests upon parsimonious English data, still faces the challenge faced by the Principle of Projection.

Keywords: subcategorization, predication, object expletive, principle of projection
Published online: 20 December 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.3.2.01wu
References
Abney, S
(1987) The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Authier, J.M
(1991) V-governed expletives, case theory and the projection principle. Linguistic Inquiry, 221, 721–740Google Scholar
Bybee, J., & Fleischman, S
(Eds.) (1995) Modality and discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carnie, A
(2006) Syntax: A generative introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
(2008) Constituent structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chao, Y.-R
(1968) A grammar of spoken Chinese. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Chen, M.Y
(1979) Metrical structure: Evidence from Chinese poetry. Linguistic Inquiry, 101, 371–420.Google Scholar
Chomsky, N
(1981) Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.Google Scholar
(1986) Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin and use. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
(1991) Some notes on economy of derivation and representation. In R. Freidin (Ed.), Principles and parameters in comparative syntax (pp. 417–454). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Duanmu, S
(2002) The phonology of standard Chinese. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Feng, S.L
(1997) Hanyu de yunlu, cifa yu jufa [Interactions between morphology, syntax and prosody in Chinese]. Beijing: Beijing University Press.Google Scholar
Givón, T
(1989) Mind, code and context: Essays in pragmatics. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Goldberg, A.E
(1995) Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
(2006) Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Guo, X.L
(2005) Hanyu shi lunji [On the history of Chinese language]. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T.J
(1982) Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Iljic, R
(1987) Empty ta in Mandarin Chinese. Computational Analyses of Asian and African Languages, 261, 15–34.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, R
(1972) Semantic interpretation in generative grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
(1990) Semantic structures. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Klavans, J.L
(1995) On clitics and cliticization. New York: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Li, Y.-H.A
(1985) Abstract case in Chinese. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
(1990) Order and constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lin, J.W
(1993) Object expletives in Chinese. Paper presented at North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics , University of Delaware.
Lin, J.W., & Zhang, N
(2006) The syntax of the non-referential TA ‘it’ in Mandarin Chinese. Chinese Language and Linguistics, 71, 799–824.Google Scholar
Lü, S.X
(1985) Jindai Hanyu zhidaici [Pronouns in Modern Chinese]. Shanghai: Xuelin Publishing House.Google Scholar
Ma, Q.Z
(1983) Xiandai Hanyu de shuangbinyu gouzao [Constructions with double objects in Modern Chinese]. Yuyanxue Luncong (Studies in Linguistics), 101, 166–196.Google Scholar
Maling, J
(1993) On nominative and accusative: The hierarchical assignment of grammatical case in Finnish. In A. Holmberg & U. Nikanne (Eds.), Case and other functional categories in Finnish syntax (pp. 49–74). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Man, Y.-H.P
(1998) Postverbal KEOI as a marker for nonasserted bounded clauses. In S. Matthews (Ed.), Studies in Cantonese linguistics (pp. 53–62). Hong Kong: The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Matthews, S., Xu, H.L., & Yip, V
(2005) Passive and unaccusative in the Jiejiang dialect of Chaozhou. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 141, 267–298. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ōta, T
(1958/2003) A historical grammar of modern Chinese (Trans. by S.-Y. Jiang & C.-H. Xu). Beijing: Peking University Press.Google Scholar
Postal, P.M., & Pullum, G.K
(1988) Expletive noun phrases in subcategorized positions. Linguistic Inquiry, 191, 635–670.Google Scholar
Rothstein, S
(1983) The syntactic forms of predication. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
(1995) Pleonastics and the interpretation of pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry, 261, 499–529.Google Scholar
(2001) Predicates and their subjects. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
(2006) Predication. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (2nd ed., Vol. 101, pp. 73–76). Oxford: Elsevier. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sobin, N
(2011) Syntactic analysis: The basics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Tang, J
(1990) Chinese phrase structure and the extended X-bar theory. Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Wechsler, S., & Lee, Y.-S
(1996) The domain of direct case assignment. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory,141, 629–664. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, E
(1980) Predication. Linguistic Inquiry, 111, 203–238.Google Scholar
(1983) Against small clauses. Linguistic Inquiry, 141, 287–308.Google Scholar
(1987) NP trace and theta-theory. Linguistics and Philosophy, 101, 203–238. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wu, X.-Z.Z
(2004) Grammaticalization and language change in Chinese: A formal view. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wu, Y., & Matthews, S
(2010) How different are expletive and referential pronouns? A parsing perspective. Lingua, 1201, 1805–1820. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yuan, Y.L
(2012) Hanyu juzi d jiaodian jiegou he yuyi jieshi [The focus structure of Chinese sentence and its semantic account]. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, L
(2002) The expletive use of ta and how it came into being: On the characteristics of the V ta construction. Proceedings of the 1st Postgraduate Workshop on Computational Linguistics (pp. 1–5). Beijing University, China.
Zhu, D.X
(1982) Yufa Jiangyi [Lectures on Grammar]. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Zwicky, A.M
(1977) On clitics. Bloominton: Indiana University Linguistics Club.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Yu, Yue, Qiurong Zhao & Ning Cai
2022. Expletive ta in Mandarin Chinese: A Quantitative Study. Complexity 2022 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.