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Article published In: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 9:1 (2022) ► pp.1–48

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A cartographic view on mood prominence and force in Mandarin

A case of the speaker-oriented adverb zuìhǎo

 | National Taitung University
Published online: 7 June 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.20011.jhe
Abstract
This work investigates the division of labor between mood and illocutionary force in syntax by examining three modal construals encoded by the speaker-oriented adverb zuìhǎo ‘best’ (deontic, epistemic and evidential) in Mandarin, and accounts for a cluster of syntactic and pragmatic properties it is associated with. Very much in line with Tsai’s (. (2015a). A tale of two peripheries: Evidence from Chinese adverbials, light verbs, applicatives and object fronting. In Wei-tien Dylan Tsai (Ed.), The cartography of Chinese syntax: The cartography of syntactic structures (Vol. 111) (pp. 1–32). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . (2015b). A Case of V2 in Chinese. Studies in Chinese Linguistics, 36(2), 81–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and . (2015d). From microscopic view to cosmic perspective- generative landscape of Chinese syntax. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) modal system in Mandarin, it is observed that each type of zuìhǎo can co-occur with its matching modal auxiliary in the fashion of Cinque, Guglielmo. (1999). Adverbs and functional heads. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar ‘location-in-Spec’ hypothesis and encodes a certain type of illocutionary force. One persistent question is how zuìhǎo substantiates illocutionary force in syntax, while its designated position is not situated in the licensing domain of ForceP. As far as the left periphery is concerned, this work argues for a conspiracy between syntax, semantics and pragmatics to ensure the success in activating the Bidirectional Agree relation between speech act, force and mood. We argue for a speech act layer (Sa*P) externally merging to CP (Speas, Peggy and Carol, Tenny. (2003). Configurational properties of point of view roles. In Anna Maria Di, Sciullo (Ed.), Asymmetry in Gramma: Syntax and Semantics (Vol. 11) (pp. 315–345). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), whose head values the uninterpretable speech act feature [uSa] on Force0 via the Bidirectional Agree to trigger its interface with the utterance content (CP). Meanwhile, following Kempchinsky, Paula. (2009). What can the subjunctive disjoint reference effect tell us about the subjunctive? Lingua, 119(12), 1788–1810. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar idea, it is further argued in this work that Force0 hosts the uninterpretable feature [uW] which has to be checked and valued by the modal construals of zuìhǎo to determine the irrealis-realis mood. An immediate implication is that ForceP serves as a gateway to not only mood but also speech act at the interface. Several issues involved in dealing with zuìhǎo are discussed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The properties of zuìhǎo
    • 2.1Modal construals: The co-occurrence
    • 2.2The lack of illocutionary force in embedded clauses
    • 2.3The licensing of wh-nominals
    • 2.4Summary
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Modelling the speech act in syntax
    • 3.2Motivating the SaP analysis of zuìhǎo
    • 3.3Mood prominence: The licensing of wh-nominals
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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