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Article published In: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 11:2 (2024) ► pp.247–279

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On the finiteness of complement clauses in Chinese

 | Macau University of Science and Technology
 | City University of Macau
Published online: 5 December 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.00030.hu
Abstract
This paper investigates the finiteness of complement clauses in Chinese within the theoretical framework of the Minimalist Program, with a specific focus on the independency and opacity features. Following He, Y. (2020). Time in Mandarin: The fingerprints of tense and finiteness. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University. and (2022). Finiteness, opacity, and Chinese clausal architecture. In Simpson, A. (Ed.), New explorations in Chinese theoretical syntax: Studies in honor of Yen-Hui Audrey Li, (pp. 17–76). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, this study proposes that the feature [IND] represents the independent reference time of the complement clause, and the feature [OPA] indicates the degree of opacity for syntactic operations. By integrating these two features, the paper establishes a robust differentiation between finiteness and nonfiniteness within Chinese complement clauses. Under the assumption that all complement clauses in Chinese are CP, a propositional CP is classified as finite when its Co head is positively specified for both features [+IND, +OPA]. Conversely, an event/action CP is considered nonfinite when the Co head carries a negative specification: [+ IND, −OPA] or [−IND, −OPA]. It is worth noting that if the reference time of a complement clause depends on the matrix clause, it cannot be opaque, and therefore exhibits transparency. This research sheds light on the intricate relationship between the independency and opacity features, providing valuable insights into the syntactic mechanisms underlying complement clauses in Chinese.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Syntactic features of chinese subordinate clauses in previous literature
    • 2.1Aspect markers
    • 2.2Modal auxiliary
    • 2.3Null subject PRO
    • 2.4Time adverbs
  • 3.He (2020) and Huang (2021)’s Assumption
  • 4.Finiteness and nonfiniteness in Chinese within the minimalist program framework
    • 4.1Independency
    • 4.2Opacity feature
    • 4.3The integration of independency feature and opacity feature
  • 5.The finiteness distinction among three types of verbs in Chinese
  • 6.Other syntactic features related to the finiteness distinction
    • 6.1Subjunctive evaluative words
    • 6.2Long passivation
    • 6.3Complement-adjunct asymmetry
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (28)
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