Thematic structure and verb copying in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

In this study of verb-copying in Mandarin Chinese, it is shown that the function of verb- copying is to highlight the quantity element in a sentence. Thus, different from the traditional treatment, we propose to separate post-verbal elements of frequency and duration phrases from resultative phrases. This functional view of verb-copying coincides with the observations made in R.L. Cheng, 1976. Studies in Chinese Syntax and Semantics, Universe and Scope: Pre- supposition and Quantification in Chinese, pp. 55–102, Ting-chi Tang, R. Cheng and Ying-che Li (eds), Taipei: Student Book Co. about focus devices in Mandarin. It is also shown that verb- copying is a manifestation of interaction between the thematic structure R. Jackendoff, 1972. Semantics in Generative Grammar, Cambridge: MIT Press and R. Jackendoff, 1987. Linguistic Enquiry 18. 369–411. and the phrase structure condition C.-T.T. Huang, 1982. “Logic and Theory of Grammar,” MIT Dissertations. That is, only a certain type of verbs needs to undergo verb-copying when the verb is followed by two elements, one of which is an adverbial phrase of frequency or duration. The restriction on the use of verb-copying is shown to follow from a joint operation of the thematic structure of verbs and the phrase structure condition. Topicalization, ba-construction, and the abundance of V-O compounds in the language further supports the view that two components of grammar are interacting with each other Hsin-I Hsieh, (1990). “In Search of a Grammatical Foundation for Dialect Subgrouping.” Paper presented at IsCLL, Academia Simca, Taipei, Taiwan, 20–22 July 1990.