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Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 18:4 (2017) ► pp.647–698

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On some mysteries, asymmetries and derivation of potential de construction in Chinese

 | Beijing Institute of Technology
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Published online: 10 October 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.18.4.04wan
Abstract
In this paper, some mysteries and asymmetries of the Chinese potential de construction are investigated. It is shown that a morphosytnactic approach is conducive to accounting for these puzzles. First we explore the possibility of taking de and its negative counterpart -bude as functional heads (cf. . 2001. On subject specificity and theory of syntax-semantics interface. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 10.21: 129–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Wu, Ching-Huei Teresa. 2004. On de/bu and the syntactic nature of resultative verbal compounding. Language and Linguistics 5.11: 271–329.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). It is proposed that bude could be a functional head with the negative potential (i.e. impossible/impermissible) meaning. This could be evidenced by both empirical data and theoretical deduction. It is argued that bu in V-bu-R, which is distinct from the normal pre-verbal negative morpheme bu, is actually bude. This helps to explain why the negative potential meaning is involved in V-bu-R. Meanwhile, V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R are both assumed to be formed through Morphological Merger (cf. . 1988. Clitics, morphological merger, and the mapping to phonological structure. Theoretical Morphology: Approches in Modern Linguistics, ed. by M. Hammond & M. Noonan, 253–270. San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Embick, David, & Rolf Noyer. 2001. Movement operations after syntax. Linguistic Inquiry 32.41: 555–595. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2007. Distributed morphology and the syntax-morphology interface. The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces, ed. by Gillian Ramchand & Charles Reiss, 289–324. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, etc.). Meanwhile, we have discussed some asymmetries observed between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R and some paradigmatic asymmetries between potential V-de construction and its negative potential V-bude construction. It is assumed that these syntactic asymmetries may be due to some morphological operations related to de and bude.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Some mysteries and asymmetries in potential de construction
    • 2.1Adverbial modification
      • 2.1.1Manner adverbial restriction
      • 2.1.2Manner zenme and question zenme
      • 2.1.3Duration/Frequency phrase restriction
    • 2.2Imperative form restriction
    • 2.3Some asymmetries
      • 2.3.1Asymmetries between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R
        • 2.3.1.1Case-assignability of V’s
        • 2.3.1.2Double object construction
        • 2.3.1.3Movement asymmetries between V-de/bude and V-de/bu-R
      • 2.3.2Asymmetries between V-de and V-bude
  • 3.The grammaticalization of de and bude
  • 4. De and bude as functional heads
    • 4.1 De as a functional head
    • 4.2 Bude as a functional head
      • 4.2.1The acquisition problem of V-bu-R
      • 4.2.2 Bu(de) and intervention effect
      • 4.2.3The counterparts of bude in other dialects
      • 4.2.4V-bu-R = V-bude-R
  • 5.The derivation of V-de and V-bude
    • 5.1The formalization of grammatical change of de and bude
    • 5.2V-bude is not derived from V-de
    • 5.3The derivation of V-de and V-bude: between morphology and syntax
  • 6.The derivation of V-de-R and V-bu-R
    • 6.1LF movement analysis in T. Wu (2004)
    • 6.2A morphosyntactic approach to V-de/bu-R
      • 6.2.1A proposal
      • 6.2.2Morphological Merger
      • 6.2.3Local Dislocation in the formation of V-de/bu-R
  • 7.Puzzles and asymmetries revisited
    • 7.1Restrictions revisited
    • 7.2Asymmetries revisited
  • 8.Conclusion and discussions
    • 8.1Conclusion
    • 8.2Unsolved problems and discussions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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