High applicatives are not high enough: a cartographic solution

Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai

doi:10.1186/s40655-018-0034-y

Abstract

This paper examines a cluster of phenomena in Mandarin Chinese, which may collectively be characterized as “affective constructions”. Based on the diversified and sometimes hybrid nature of these affective construals, we argue that the usual dichotomy between high and low applicatives is not enough to capture their syntactic and semantic idiosyncrasies. We will need a more elaborate theory to map out the topography of applicatives under the cartographic approach. It is shown that Chinese affectives have an unusual distribution extending far beyond the boundary of the vP phase, which in turn argues for an independent applicative projection in the left periphery, presumably associated with speaker-orientedness and a presupposition of unexpectedness.

Highlights

In the literature, applicatives are often characterized as syntactic projections hosting extra arguments within the Light verb phrase (vP) phase
This means that the possession between the two internal arguments of the pseudo double object construction is only implied and can be canceled. It follows that the possessive relation in question is not part of the structural semantics of Mandarin inner affectives, where the indirect object (IO) should be analyzed as an Affectee rather than a Source. There is another class of benefactives which arguably situates even lower in the syntactic hierarchy, bearing some resemblance to English low applicatives: There is a possessive relation between the Beneficiary (IO) and the Theme (DO), but it is by no means directional, as in (33a): (33) 阿Q修了趙家三扇門。 ākīu__xīu-le__zhào-jīa__sān-shàn__mén Akiu__fix-Prf__Zhao-family__three-CL__door Akiu fixed three doors for the Zhao family
5 Concluding remarks All the findings presented above point to the conclusion that we need at least a threeway distinction of applicatives in terms of their structural height, as sketched below: I

Summary

Introduction

Applicatives are often characterized as syntactic projections hosting extra arguments within the vP phase (cf. Georgala et al 2008; Harley 2002; Hole 2006; Marantz 1984, 1993; McGinnis 2001; Pesetsky 1995; Pylkkänen 2002). High applicatives typically differ from low applicatives in not involving a directional possessive relationship. The high applicative head takes a DP specifier and a VP complement, relating a Beneficiary argument to an event denoted by the main verb. The low applicative head in (3b) takes a DP specifier and a DP complement, expressing a directional possessive relationship between two individuals, i.e., the Recipient Bill and the Theme a cake: Tsai Lingua Sinica (2018) 4:2. In this light, we may consider the following pair of affective construals in Mandarin Chinese:. The affective construal of (4a) is signaled by an applicative marker 給 gěi, which has its verbal origin as ‘give’. (4b), on the other hand, assumes a configuration often dubbed “pseudo double object construction”, in that there is no directional possession between the Affectee and the Theme argument

There is a truth-conditional distinction between the two sentences

Applicatives in the left periphery

Applicatives at the edge of vP