Topic as a grammatical function in Chinese

Abstract

This paper contests the inconsistant use of ‘topic’ in referring to a syntactic as well as a semantic notion in the literature of Chinese linguistics. We propose that ‘topic’ be reserved as a grammatical function, a syntactic notion parallel to ‘subject’ and ‘object’, as it is used in LFG, Lexical-Functional Grammar. We propose the term ‘frame’ to refer to the semantic or discoursal function encoded by the syntactic topic. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the argument that TOPIC, as a grammatical function in LFG, should not be considered subcategorizable in Mandarin Chinese, contrary to the proposal made by Huang (1989), who observed a small number of verbs requiring topics. We illustrate some of the syntactic generalizations that our analysis can maintain, which would be missed by the analysis of subcategorizable TOPIC. Finally we employ the theories of lexical diffusion and linguistic interaction (Hsieh 1990) to give a tentative account of the linguistic factors facilitating the idiosyncratic behavior of these verbs.