Cover not available

Article published In: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 2:1 (2015) ► pp.85–120

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The partitive construction in Mandarin Chinese

 | The Hong Kong Institute of Education
Published online: 10 July 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.2.1.04jin
This paper investigates the semantic and syntactic properties of [N(oun)+de+Q(uantifier)] in Mandarin Chinese. Based on a comparison with the quantitive construction [Q+N], the paper advocates that [N+de+Q] is the Chinese partitive construction. Adopting a clausal approach to the syntactic derivation of partitives, it is hypothesized that Chinese partitives are formed via applying Predicate Inversion to a small clause that features a BELONG-type possession relationship. The difference between Chinese partitives and English-type partitives in terms of the surface word order is a result of a parametric variation with respect to whether the remnant of Predication Inversion undergoes further raising or not.
References (76)
Abbott, B. (1996). Doing without a partitive constraint. In J. Hoeksema (Ed.), Partitives: Studies on the syntax and semantics of partitive and related constructions (pp. 25–56). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aboh, E.O. (2004). Topic and focus within D. Linguistics in the Netherlands, 21(1), 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Alexiadou, A., Haegeman, L., & Stavrou, M. (2007). Noun phrase in the generative perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, C.L. (1995). English syntax (2nd edition). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barker, C. (1998). Partitives, double genitives and anti-uniqueness. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 16(4), 679–717. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bašić, M. (2004). Nominal subextractions and the structure of NPs in Serbian and English. MA thesis, Universitetet i Tromsø.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bennis, H., Corver, N., & Den Dikken, M. (1998). Predication in nominal phrases. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics,1(2), 85–117. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Borer, H. (2005). In name only. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cardinaletti, A., & Giusti, G. (1992). Partitive ‘ne’ and the QP-Hypothesis: A case study. In E. Fava & G. Francescato (Eds.), Proceedings of the XVII Meeting of Generative Grammar: Trieste, February 22-24 1991 (pp. 121–141). Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). The syntax of quantified phrases and quantitative clitics. In M. Everaert & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to syntax Chapter 71, (pp. 3–93). Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheng, L.-S.L., & Sybesma, R. (1998). Yi-wan tang, yi-ge tang: Classifiers and massifiers. Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, 28(3), 385–412.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1999). Bare and not-so-bare nouns and the structure of NP. Linguistic Inquiry, 30(4), 509–542. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chierchia, G. (1997). Partitives, reference to kinds and semantic variation. In A. Lawson (Ed.), Proceedings of SALT VII (pp. 73–98). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1998a). Reference to kinds across language. Natural Language Semantics,6(4), 339–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1998b). Plurality of mass nouns and the notion of ‘semantic parameter’. In S. Rothstein (Ed.), Events and grammar (pp. 53–103). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2005). “Definites, locality, and intentional identity.” In G.N. Carlson & F.J. Pelletier (Eds.), Reference and quantification: The partee effect (pp. 143–177). Stanford: CSLI.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. (1982). Some concepts and consequences of the theory of government and binding. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000). Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In R. Martin, D. Michaels, & J. Uriagereka (Eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik (pp. 89–155). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2001). Derivation by phase. In M. Kenstowicz (Ed.), Ken Hale: A life in language (pp. 1–52). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corver, N. (2004). Some notes on emphatic forms and displacement in Dutch. In A. Breibarth & H.C. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), Triggers (pp. 137–172). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Hoop, H. 1997. A semantic reanalysis of the partitive constraint. Lingua, 103(2), 151–174. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Partitivity. In L.-S.L. Cheng & R. Sybesma (Eds.), The second glot international state-of-the-article book: The latest in linguistics (pp. 179–212). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Swart, H. (1992). Intervention effects, monotonicity and scope. In C. Barker & D. Dowty (Eds.), Proceedings of SALT, Vol. 21, (pp. 387–406). Ohio: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
den Dikken, M. (2006). Relators and linkers. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2007). Amharic relatives and possessives: Definiteness, agreement, and the linker. Linguistic Inquiry 38(2), 302–320. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
den Dikken, M., & Singhapreecha, P. (2004). Complex noun phrases and linkers. Syntax, 7(1), 1–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Diesing, M. (1992). Indefinites. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dimitrova-Vulchanova, M., & Giusti, G. (1998). Fragments of Balkan nominal structure. In A. Alexiadou & C. Wilder (Eds.), Possessors, predicates and movement in the determiner phrase (pp. 333–360). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doetjes, J.S. (1997). Quantifiers and selection: On the distribution of quantifying expressions in French, Dutch and English. The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dowty, D. (1991). Thematic proto-roles and argument selection. Language, 67(3), 547–619. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Enç, M. (1991). The semantics of specificity. Linguistic Inquiry, 22(1), 1–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Freeze, R. (1992). Existentials and other locatives. Language, 68(3), 553–595. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haegeman, L. (2010). The syntax of wek (‘which’) and zuk (‘such’) in West Flemish. Lingua, 120(4), 850–863. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoeksema, J. (1996). Introduction. In J. Hoeksema (Ed.), Partitives: Studies on the syntax and semantics of partitive and related constructions (pp. 1–24). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hsieh, M.-L. (2008). The internal structure of noun phrases in Chinese. Taipei: Crane.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T.J. (1982). Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hulk, A., & Tellier, C. (2000). Mismatches: Agreement in qualitative constructions. Probus, 12(1), 33–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackendoff, R. (1977). X-bar syntax: A theory of phrase structure. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1991). Parts and boundaries. Cognition, 41(1), 9–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jin, J. (2013). Functions of Chinese classifiers: A syntax-semantics interface account. Ph.D. dissertation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kayne, R.S. (1994). The antisymmetry of syntax. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keenan, E.L., & Stavi, J. (1986). A semantic characterization of natural language determiners. Linguistics and Philosophy 9(3), 253–326. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, J.-B. (2002). On the structure of English partitive NPs and agreement. Studies in Generative Grammar, 121, 309–338.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krifka, M. (1998). The origins of telicity. In S. Rothstein (Ed.), Events and grammar (pp. 197–235). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kupferman, L. (1999). Réflexions sur la partition: Les groupes nominaux partitifs et la relativisation. Langue française, 1221, 30–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ladusaw, W. (1982). Semantic constraints on the English partitive construction. In D.P. Flickinger, M. Macken, & N. Wiegand (Eds.), Proceedings of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics 1 (pp. 231–242). Calif.: Stanford University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R.W. (2008). Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Le Bruyn, B. (2007). The partitive article dei in Italian. Linguistics in the Netherlands, 24(1), 138–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, X. (2011). On the semantics of classifiers in Chinese. Ph.D. dissertation, Bar-Ilan University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Link, G. (1983). The logical analysis of plurals and mass terms: A lattice-theoretical approach. In R. Bäuerle, C. Schwarze, & A. von Stechow (Eds.), Meaning, use, and interpretation of language (pp. 302–323). Berlin: de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Longobardi, G. (1994). Reference and proper names: A theory of N-movement in syntax and logical form. Linguistic Inquiry, 25(4), 609–665.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyons, C. (1999). Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martí i Girbau, N. (2010). The syntax of partitives. Ph.D. dissertation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milner, J.C. (1978). De la Syntaxe à l’interprétation: Quantités, Insultes, Exclamations. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Picallo, M.C. (1994). Catalan possessive pronouns: The Avoid Pronoun Principle revisited. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 12(2), 259–299. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reed, A. (1989). Discourse groups and semantic groups. In J. Powers & K. de Jong (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth Eastern States Conference on Linguistics (pp. 416–427). Columbus: The Ohio State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1996). Partitives, existentials, and partitive determiners. In J. Hoeksema (Ed.), Partitives: Studies on the syntax and semantics of partitive and related constructions (pp. 143–178). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rijkhoff, J. (2009). On the co-variation between form and function of adnominal possessive modifiers in Dutch and English. In W.B. McGregor (Ed.), The expression of possession (pp. 51–106). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rizzi, L. (1990). Relativized minimality. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ross, J.R. (1967). Constraints on variables in syntax. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Selkirk, E. (1977). Some remarks on noun phrase structure. In P.W. Culicover, T. Wasow, & A. Akmajian (Eds.), Formal syntax (pp. 285–316). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson, A. (2001). Definiteness agreement and the Chinese DP. Language and Linguistics, 2(1), 125–156.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2002). On the status of ‘modifying’ de and the structure of the Chinese DP. In S.-W. Tang & C. Liu (Eds.), On the formal way to Chinese languages (pp. 74–101). Stanford: CSLI.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sio, J.U. (2006). Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal. Ph.D. dissertation, Leiden University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sleeman, P. (2002). Restrictive dependencies and Antisymmetry theory. Rivista di Grammatica Generativa, 271, 123–137.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sleeman, P., & Kester, E.-P. (2002). Partitive Constructions and Antisymmetry. In C. Beyssade, R. Bok-Bennema, F. Drijkoningen, & P. Monachesi (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory 2000 (pp. 271–286). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stickney, H. (2009). The emergence of DP in the partitive structure. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stortop, G. (2003). On the status of the partitive determiner in Italian. In J. Quer, J. Schroten, M. Scorretti, P. Sleeman, & E. Verheugd (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory 2001 (pp. 315–330). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsai, W.-T.D. (2003). Three types of existential quantification in Chinese. In Y.A. Li & A. Simpson (Eds.), Functional structure(s), form and interpretation: Perspectives from East Asian languages (pp. 161–179). London: Routledge-Curzon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2004). Tan ‘you ren’, ‘you de ren’ he ‘you xie ren’ [On you ren, you de ren and you xie ren]. Hanyu Xuebao [Chinese Linguistics], 21, 16–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verkuyl, H.J. (1993). A theory of aspectuality: The interaction between temporal and atemporal structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vos, R. (1999). A grammar of partitive constructions. Ph.D. dissertation, Tilburg University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, R. (2001). Common nouns, classifiers, and quantification in chinese. Ph.D. dissertation, The State University of New Jersey.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, N. (2006). Representing specificity by the internal order of indefinites. Linguistics 44(1), 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zamparelli, R. (1998). A theory of kinds, partitives and of/z possessives. In A. Alexiadou & C. Wilder (Eds.), Possessors, predicates and movement in the determiner phrase (pp. 259–301). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000). Layers in the determiner phrase. New York: Garland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Ionin, Tania
2025. Sensitivity to missing plural marking in L2 English: A role for cross-linguistic influence?. Second Language Research DOI logo
Ionin, Tania & Chung-yu Chen
2024. There isn’t a problem with indefinites in existential constructions in L2-English. In Current Perspectives on Generative SLA – Processing, Influence, and Interfaces [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 70], ► pp. 290 ff. DOI logo
Lyutikova, Ekaterina
2023. Person Agreement with Anaphors: Evidence from Tatar. Languages 8:1 ► pp. 46 ff. DOI logo
Li, Haoze
2022. Relative measurement and scope in Mandarin. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 7:1 DOI logo
Jin, Jing
2017. The Syntax of the Abstract-type Measurement Construction in Mandarin Chinese. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 38:1 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue