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Article published In: Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 12:2 (2021) ► pp.181–214

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Indefinite subjects in Mandarin Chinese

ORCiD logo with link | University of Arizona
 | University of Arizona
Published online: 19 February 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.20024.nie
Abstract
Indefinite subjects in Mandarin Chinese are dis-preferred or restricted according to previous studies although they do exist in natural data. In this study we examine two issues: when they are used and why they are used. The first issue is best answered by looking at the information status of indefinite subjects. We adopt the framework of givenness and newness developed by 1992. The ZPG letter: Subjects, Definiteness, and Information-status. In Sandra Thompson & William Mann (ed.), Discourse Description: Diverse Analyses of a Fund Raising Text, 295–325. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and revised by Birner’s ( 2004. Discourse Functions at the Periphery: Noncanonical Word Order in English. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 351. 41–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, 2006. Inferential Relations and Noncanonical Word Order. In Betty J. Birner & Gregory L. Ward (ed.), Drawing the Boundaries of Meaning: Neo-Gricean Studies in Pragmatics and Semantics in Honor of Laurence R. Horn, 31–51. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). We find that although indefinite subjects are new most of the time, most of them also carry some old information; the given-before-new principle is satisfied. For the second issue, we examine topic continuity of indefinite subjects in discourse. We find that they perform a discourse function different from that of the post-verbal NPs in existential sentences. Most of the time their referents are non-persistent, and they are not discourse topics, unlike post-verbal NPs in existential sentences.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Information status
    • 2.1Inferrables
    • 2.2Brand-new
    • 2.3Modifiers
  • 3.Corpus study
    • 3.1Types of indefinite subjects
      • 3.1.1Identity inferrables
      • 3.1.2Elaborating inferrable
      • 3.1.3Bridging inferrable
      • 3.1.4Anchored brand-new
      • 3.1.5Unanchored brand-new
    • 3.2Frequency of modifiers
  • 4.Indefinites in SVO and the yǒu construction
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Two issues
    • 5.2Indefinites in non-canonical positions
    • 5.3Persistence and word order
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (45)
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