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Language and Linguistics
Vol. 18:4 (2017) ► pp.647–698

On some mysteries, asymmetries and derivation of potential de construction in Chinese

| Beijing Institute of Technology

In this paper, some mysteries and asymmetries of the Chinese potential de construction are investigated. It is shown that a morphosytnactic approach is conducive to accounting for these puzzles. First we explore the possibility of taking de and its negative counterpart -bude as functional heads (cf. Tsai 2001; T. Wu 2004). It is proposed that bude could be a functional head with the negative potential (i.e. impossible/impermissible) meaning. This could be evidenced by both empirical data and theoretical deduction. It is argued that bu in V-bu-R, which is distinct from the normal pre-verbal negative morpheme bu, is actually bude. This helps to explain why the negative potential meaning is involved in V-bu-R. Meanwhile, V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R are both assumed to be formed through Morphological Merger (cf. Marantz 1988; Embick & Noyer 2001, 2007, etc.). Meanwhile, we have discussed some asymmetries observed between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R and some paradigmatic asymmetries between potential V-de construction and its negative potential V-bude construction. It is assumed that these syntactic asymmetries may be due to some morphological operations related to de and bude.

Keywords: de , bude , syntax-morphology interface, morphological merger
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Some mysteries and asymmetries in potential de construction
    • 2.1Adverbial modification
      • 2.1.1Manner adverbial restriction
      • 2.1.2Manner zenme and question zenme
      • 2.1.3Duration/Frequency phrase restriction
    • 2.2Imperative form restriction
    • 2.3Some asymmetries
      • 2.3.1Asymmetries between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R
        • 2.3.1.1Case-assignability of V’s
        • 2.3.1.2Double object construction
        • 2.3.1.3Movement asymmetries between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R
      • 2.3.2Asymmetries between V-de and V-bude
  • 3.The grammaticalization of de and bude
  • 4. De and bude as functional heads
    • 4.1 De as a functional head
    • 4.2 Bude as a functional head
      • 4.2.1The acquisition problem of V-bu-R
      • 4.2.2 Bu(de) and intervention effect
      • 4.2.3The counterparts of bude in other dialects
      • 4.2.4V-bu-R = V-bude-R
  • 5.The derivation of V-de and V-bude
    • 5.1The formalization of grammatical change of de and bude
    • 5.2V-bude is not derived from V-de
    • 5.3The derivation of V-de and V-bude: between morphology and syntax
  • 6.The derivation of V-de-R and V-bu-R
    • 6.1LF movement analysis in T. Wu (2004)
    • 6.2A morphosyntactic approach to V-de/bu-R
      • 6.2.1A proposal
      • 6.2.2Morphological Merger
      • 6.2.3Local Dislocation in the formation of V-de/bu-R
  • 7.Puzzles and asymmetries revisited
    • 7.1Restrictions revisited
    • 7.2Asymmetries revisited
  • 8.Conclusion and discussions
    • 8.1Conclusion
    • 8.2Unsolved problems and discussions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 10 October 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.18.4.04wan
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