SVCs in disguise
The so-called “directional verb compounds” in Mandarin
Chinese
Waltraud Paul | Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie
orientale (CRLAO)
The so-called directional verb
compounds or directional constructions
in Mandarin Chinese, ‘V1displacement
V2direction
lái (come)/ qù (go)’, e.g.
bān chū lái ‘transport exit come’ = ‘bring out
(towards the speaker)’ are not compounds, but genuine object sharing
serial verb constructions in Collins’ (1997) sense. The different positions of the
shared internal argument are derived by raising one, two or three
verbs to v, each verb adjoining to
v as closely as possible (tucking
in à la Richards
1997), thus maintaining the relative order between the
verbs (cf. Collins 2002).
This analysis automatically predicts that the internal argument must
follow the verb (sequence) bearing the aspectual suffix, a
correlation left unexplained in previous works.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Clearing the ground
- 2.1Three verb classes
- 2.2SVCs: Complex and simple: Vdisplacement
(Vdirectional) lái/qù
‘come/go’
- 2.3“Directional verb compounds” not to be analysed as
SVCs
- 2.3.1‘Vdirectional + locative NP +
lái ‘come’/qù
‘go’
- 2.3.2Locative nouns as objects in “directional verb
compounds”
- 2.3.3“Directional verb compounds” without lái
‘come’ or qù ‘go’
- 2.4Interim summary
- 3.Internal argument sharing SVCs (Collins 1997, 2002)
- 3.2Previous proposals – a short overview
- 4.Aktionsart differences between adjacent and non-adjacent orders
in SVCs
- 5.Constraints on the position of definite object DPs in
SVCs
- 6.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgments
-
Notes
-
References
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