The Mandarin VP
The Mandarin VP

Author: Rint Sybesma

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 9401591636

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The Mandarin VP deals with a number of constructions in Mandarin Chinese which involve the main verb and the material following it, like the object NPs, resultative phrases, durative expressions and other elements. The basis claim defended in this book is that all elements that follow the main verb in a Mandarin sentence form one single constituent which functions as the complement of the verb. The Mandarin VP offers new and original analyses of such hot issues as resultative constructions, the ba-construction and verb-le. In addition, the conclusions drawn from the research into Mandarin syntax are discussed in more general theoretic terms, which leads to original proposals regarding the internal make-up of accomplishments and the status of Theta Theory. The research reported on in this book was concluded within the bounds of mainstream generative theorizing. The Mandarin VP is of interest to all syntacticians, especially those interested in Chinese.

Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese

Author: Charles N. Li

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1989-04-20

Total Pages: 722

ISBN-13: 9780520066106

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This reference grammar provides, for the first time, a description of the grammar of Mandarin Chinese, the official spoken language of China and Taiwan, in functional terms, focusing on the role and meanings of word-level and sentence-level structures in actual conversations.

Iconicity in Syntax
Iconicity in Syntax

Author: John Haiman

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1985-01-01

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 902722871X

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The papers in this volume all explore one kind of functional explanation for various aspects of linguistic form – iconicity: linguistic forms are frequently the way they are because they resemble the conceptual structures they are used to convey, or, linguistic structures resemble each other because the different conceptual domains they represent are thought of in the same way. The papers in Part I of this volume deal with aspects of motivation, the ways in which the linguistic form is a diagram of conceptual structure, and homologous with it in interesting ways. Most of the papers in Part II focus on isomorphism, the tendency to associate a single invariant meaning with each single invariant form. The papers in Part III deal with the apparent arbitrariness that arises from competing motivations.

An Introduction to Government-binding Theory in Chinese Syntax
An Introduction to Government-binding Theory in Chinese Syntax

Author: Yuanjian He

Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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One of the major concerns of current linguistic theory is to determine the set of general principles to which the syntactic structure of all natural languages conforms, and in this connection it is important to examine a variety of language families and types. Though since the 1980s, current linguistic theories such as the government-binding theory have been applied to Chinese, this volume takes up issues to which previous investigations did not pay much attention, or gave less comprehensive treatment. Its analysis of manyaspects of Chinese syntax based on careful examination of data should be of interest and value to Chinese linguists, whether G-B oriented or otherwise.

Stability, Variation and Change of Word-Order Patterns over Time
Stability, Variation and Change of Word-Order Patterns over Time

Author: Rosanna Sornicola

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2000-12-21

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9027284717

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The issue of permanence and change of word-order patterns has long been debated in both historical linguistics and structural theories. The interest in this theme has been revamped by contemporary research in typology with its emphasis on correlation or ‘harmonies’ of structures of word-order as explicative principles of both synchronic and diachronic processes. The aim of this book is to stimulate a critical reconsideration of perspectives and methods in the study of continuities and discontinuities of word-order patterns. Bringing together contributions by specialists of various theoretical backgrounds and with expertise in different language families or groups (Caucasian, Hamito-Semitic, and — among Indo-European — Hittite, Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Slavonic, Romance), the book addresses issues like the notions of stability, variation and change of word-order and their interrelations, the interplay of syntactic and pragmatic factors, and the role of internal and external factors in synchronic and diachronic dynamics of word-order. The book contains a selection of papers presented at a workshop held at the XIII International Conference on Historical Linguistics (Düsseldorf, August 1997) and additonal invited contributions.