Causativity in Chinese resultative compounds: on the account of argument realization

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 語言學研究所 === 100 === Resultative compounds in Mandarin Chinese have long been a complicated issue in Chinese linguistics. Many researchers have put great effort in trying to solve the problem of how arguments of Chinese resultative compounds should be syntactically realized and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Huang, Hsin Lun, 黃心綸
Other Authors: Her, One Soon
Format: Others
Language:en_US
Online Access:http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/cs58fj
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Summary:碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 語言學研究所 === 100 === Resultative compounds in Mandarin Chinese have long been a complicated issue in Chinese linguistics. Many researchers have put great effort in trying to solve the problem of how arguments of Chinese resultative compounds should be syntactically realized and how corresponding interpretations should be achieved. Researchers of Derivational Grammar (Cheng and Huang, 1994; Cheng et al, 1997; Huang, 2006, 2007; Li, 1995) and those of Lexical Functional Grammar (Her, 2004, 2007, 2009; Shibagaki, 2009) have all attempted to propose analyses that are accurate in predicting the argument realization and compound predication of Chinese resultative compounds. This thesis aims to prove the insufficiency in the prediction power of derivational accounts and endeavors to show that the account of Lexical Functional Grammar is superior in the analysis of resultative compounds in terms of argument realization and compound interpretation. However, some resultative compounds, such as that in zhe yi da zhuozi cai pang-si wo le (‘This whole table of dishes is making me fat.’), have certain causativity that makes them different from others in terms of argument realization. Resultative compounds like these are not included in the analysis of lexicalist accounts. Based on the theoretical framework of Lexical Functional Grammar, this thesis also makes an attempt to propose a syntactic rule that predicts the correct argument realization pattern of the kind of resultative compounds mentioned above. It is the goal of this thesis that the proposed rule covers the analysis of the resultative compounds that is missing in previous accounts and makes the lexicalist account given in this thesis a better solution in working on the issues of Chinese resultative compounds.