| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 92 === This paper aims to investigate the optimal interpretation for syntactic null noun phrases (NPs) in Mandarin Chinese (henceforth Chinese) by Optimality Theory (OT). Languages are branched into pro-drop languages and non-pro-drop languages by Pro-drop Parameter in UG. Pro-drop languages, such as Spanish and Italian, permit null subjects in tensed sentences, whereas non-pro-drop languages, like English, require phonologically realized subjects. Chinese is characterized as a pro-drop language. In a pro-drop language, a null subject is usually identified by the Agreement morpheme on the verb; however, Chinese is an exception. Without rich verbal inflections, Chinese still allows the occurrence of pro-drop or even null NPs in sentences to a great degree. Therefore, Chinese recovers the dropped content of null NPs from other theories and principles, like Generalized Control Theory (GCR). The rationale for an OT perspective lies on the fact that compared with rule-based approaches, OT has the better ability to capture the different importance among constraints on null NP interpretation. Besides, due to their violability, OT constraints can explain a language phenomenon while keeping the statements simple and clear. As such, OT should offer a more significant and simplistic account for null NP interpretation than former analyses.
The set of constraint hierarchy is established from six constraints: GCR, Theta Theory, topic-comment relation, subject-object asymmetry in the status of Chinese null NPs, and the tendency to refer to a generic reference or a head noun in a relative clause. Through evaluations of ranked constraints, the findings indicate that OT as a different perspective can account for or solve the ambiguity in null NP interpretation in Chinese. It provides an explanatory model in general for the optimal reading.
|
|---|
