"This volume brings together 19 cutting edge studies written by some of the most prominent linguists working on Chinese formal syntax, as a Festschrift volume dedicated to Yen-Hui Audrey Li. The contributions to the volume address a wide range of issues currently developing in the field of Chinese syntax, grouped into five thematic sections on the structure of lexical and functional projections, modal verb syntax, syntax-semantics interactions, the syntax and interpretation of particles, and the acquisition of syntactic structures. With its rich descriptive content sourced from different varieties of Chinese, and its theoretical orientation and analyses, the book provides an important new resource both for researchers with a primary interest in Chinese and other linguists interested in discovering how properties of Chinese can inform the analysis of other languages"--.

• New Explorations in Chinese Theoretical Syntax
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
  • References
• Part I. The structure of lexical and functional projections
• Finiteness, opacity, and Chinese clausal architecture
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Finiteness distinctions in Chinese and properties that diagnose them
    • 2.1 Scale of independence
    • 2.2 Scale of opacity
    • 2.3 Scale of integration
  • 3. Finiteness and clausal architecture
    • 3.1 Finiteness as clause size
    • 3.2 On C-selection and clause-size reduction
  • 4. Finiteness and syntactic coding
    • 4.1 Finiteness in nominal complementation
    • 4.2 Finiteness beyond complement types
    • 4.3 Finiteness and syntactic encoding
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Place and distance: Locative expressions in Mandarin and Cantonese
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Preliminaries
  • 3. The AxPart
  • 4. The AxPart and measure
  • 5. The AxPart and ground
  • 6. Place and the N place
  • 7. Modification or apposition
  • 8. A brief note about the alternative form
  • 9. Conclusion
  • References
• “Descriptive complements” are manner adverbials
  • 1. Introduction
    • 1.1 The descriptive construction
    • 1.2 Two types of choice for an analysis
    • 1.3 Organization
  • 2. Equivocal evidence
  • 3. (Potentially) deciding evidence
    • 3.1 Selection
    • 3.2 Argument structure
  • 4. Two non-arguments for the Complement Hypothesis
    • 4.1 Extraction from DES
    • 4.2 Postverbal position
  • 5. Summary and conclusion
  • References
• SVCs in disguise: The so-called “directional verb compounds” in Mandarin Chinese
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Clearing the ground
    • 2.1 Three verb classes
    • 2.2 SVCs: Complex and simple: Vdisplacement (Vdirectional) lái/qù ‘come/go’
    • 2.3 “Directional verb compounds” not to be analysed as SVCs
    • 2.4 Interim summary
  • 3. Internal argument sharing SVCs ( Collins 1997, 2002)
    • 3.2 Previous proposals – a short overview
  • 4. Aktionsart differences between adjacent and non-adjacent orders in SVCs
  • 5. Constraints on the position of definite object DPs in SVCs
  • 6. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Part II. Modal verb syntax
• Modal movement licensed by focus
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. High root modals and focus
    • 2.1 Focus interpretations
    • 2.2 A-not-A questions and polarity questions
  • 3. Previous approaches to high root modals
    • 3.1 Base generation approaches
    • 3.2 The interpretation of high root modals
  • 4. A movement approach
    • 4.1 Modal movement and the calculation of the focus set
    • 4.2 A-not-A questions and focus reading
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• Negative modals and prohibitives in Taiwanese Southern Min
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. M-modals and b-modals
    • 2.1 Basic data
    • 2.2 Distinctions between m-modals and b-modals
  • 3. M-modals and control
    • 3.1 Directive modals as complementizer
    • 3.2 Logophoric PRO and directive modal complementizer
  • 4. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement
  • References
• Part III. Syntax-semantics interactions
• Skolemized topicality for indefinites and universal quantifier mei-phrases in Chinese
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The subject mei-phrase requiring co-occurrences of dou/indefinites/reflexives in its predicates
  • 3. Specificity of subject indefinites
    • 3.1 Indefinite subjects
    • 3.2 Stage-level predicates (SLPs) enhanced by spacio-temporal anchoring with indefinite subjects ( S.-Z. Huang 2004)
  • 4. Proposal – Skolemized topicality for subject indefinites and universal quantifier mei-QPs
    • 4.1 The Skolemized topicality hypothesis vs. the Skolemized EVERY hypothesis ( S.-Z. Huang 1996, 2005)
    • 4.2 How a Skolem function works with topical indefinites and topical mei-QP
  • 5. Universal quantifiers as topics in Chinese
    • 5.1 Xu & Liu (2007)
    • 5.2 Mei-phrase in the topic position for scoping– Wu & Larson (2019)
  • 6. Indefinites as topics in Chinese
    • 6.1 Specificity/referentiality of the indefinite subjects and TopicP
    • 6.2 SLPs and Topic
    • 6.3 Xu & Liu (2007) on Indefinites as topics
  • 7. On Mei-VP
  • 8. Testing the Skolemized topicality hypothesis on Ba-constructions
  • 9. Comparing Skolemized topicality with simple topicality proposed in Xu & Liu 2007
  • 10. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Chinese comparatives: Commentary on clausal vs. phrasal analyses
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Recent analyses of Chinese comparatives
  • 3. Challenges to the clausal approach
    • 3.1 Problems with comparative deletion
    • 3.2 Problems with subcomparatives and embedded standards
    • 4.3 Erlewine’s (2018) account and problems
  • 5. Remarks on arguments against the phrasal analysis
    • 5.1 Arguments based on complex predicate constructions
    • 5.2 Erlewine’s (2018) Arguments based on movement chains
  • 6. Liu’s (2011) arguments against Lin’s (2009) analysis
    • 6.1 Rang-constructions
    • 6.2 Reason clauses
    • 6.3 Object comparison in multiple standard comparatives
  • 7. A Revision of Lin (2009)
  • 8. Conclusion
  • References
• Head dependency and degree words in Mandarin
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Observations on ji in the JI-LE construction
  • 3. Observations on S-le in the JI-LE construction
  • 4. The head dependencies in the JI-LE construction
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Constraints on the representation of anaphoric definiteness in Mandarin Chinese: A reassessment
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Two ways to encode definiteness
    • 2.1 Jenks (2018) and Mandarin Chinese
  • 3. Probing the potential use of bare nouns as anaphoric definites in Mandarin
    • 3.1 NPs introduced by ba 把
    • 3.2 NPs introduced by ti 替
    • 3.3 NPs introduced by gen 跟
    • 3.4 NPs introduced by zai 在
    • 3.5 Revisiting direct and indirect objects
    • 3.6 Conclusions, consequences and extensions
    • 3.7 Discourse constraints on the bare noun pattern in anaphoric definiteness
  • 4. The representation of anaphoric definites in Korean, Hindi, and Cantonese
    • 4.1 Korean
    • 4.2 Hindi
    • 4.3 Cantonese
  • 5. Summary and conclusions
  • References
• Noncanonical arguments via the high applicative
  • 0. Introduction
  • 1. On the facts and the existing analyses
    • 1.1 Lin’s (2001) original theory: Bare roots plus s-syntactic light verbs
    • 1.2 My own analysis: Bare roots with no light verbs at all
    • 1.3 A. Li’s theory: A thematic hierarchy via light verbs
    • 1.4 Zhang’s (2018) ergative verb approach
  • 2. An applicative-based alternative account
    • 2.1 High applicatives and their use in a low-applicative language
    • 2.2 How does syntax deal with a bare lexical root?
    • 2.3 ApplH vs. light verbs
  • 3. Conclusion
  • References
• Applied objects in Mandarin and the nature of selection
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Oblique arguments in Mandarin
    • 2.1 Monotransitives with circumstantial roles
    • 2.2 Monotransitives with possessive roles
    • 2.3 Ditransitives
  • 3. Projection via θ-features
    • 3.1 θ-roles as formal features
    • 3.2 More on syntactic features ( Pesetsky and Torrego 2007)
    • 3.3 Further refinements
    • 3.4 Argument inversion
  • 4. Mandarin oblique arguments as applied objects
    • 4.1 Monotransitives with canonical subjects and objects
    • 4.2 Monotransitives with canonical subjects and circumstantial objects
    • 4.3 Monotransitives with circumstantial subjects and objects
    • 4.4 Ditransitives
    • 4.5 Monotransitives with possesor subjects and possessum objects
  • 5. Syntax, semantics and selection
    • 5.1 Selection as semantic
    • 5.2 Selection as syntactic
    • 5.3 Cross-linguistic variation in selection
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• On the syntax of incompleteness: Evidence from the converbal construction in Cantonese
  • 1. Introduction: Cantonese verbal suffixes
  • 2. Three types of verbal suffixes
    • 2.1 Type 1 verbal suffixes
    • 2.2 Type 2 verbal suffixes
    • 2.3 Type 3 verbal suffixes
    • 2.4 A summary
  • 3. Syntax of marginality and incompleteness
    • 3.1 Marginality: Type 2 verbal suffixes
    • 3.2 Incompleteness: Type 3 verbal suffixes
  • 4. Converbal properties of type 3 verbal suffixes
    • 4.1 Present participles and gerunds
    • 4.2 Converbs
  • 5. Concluding remarks
  • References
• Part IV. The syntax and interpretation of particles
• On the syntax of mirativity: Evidence from Mandarin Chinese
  • 1. Setting the stage
  • 2. Mirativity as a distinctive category
  • 3. The syntax of speech act and mirativity
  • 4. Further issues
  • 5. Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• On the mirative marker leh4 in Taiwanese Southern Min
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The SFP Leh4 咧 as a continuative marker or a mood particle in Chen (2020)
  • 3. Mirativity in previous literature
  • 4. Two usages of the SFP Leh4 咧
    • 4.1 Leh4 咧 as a continuative marker
    • 4.2 Leh4 咧 as a mirative marker
    • 4.3 Syntactic positions
  • 5. Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations used for the TSM and Japanese data
  • References
• Non-veridical kaN in Taiwanese Southern Min
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. KaN
    • 2.1 The development of kaN
    • 2.2 KaN as a non-veridical operator
  • 3. A modal analysis of sī
    • 3.1 Assertion of a proposition vs. assertion of a proposition’s truth
    • 3.2 Nonveridical equilibrium
  • 4. Syntax-pragmatics interface
  • 5. Summary
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Sentence-internal discourse particles in Mandarin Chinese
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. General meaning and properties of S-internal DisPs
    • 2.1 Meaning contributions and discourse effects
    • 2.2 General properties
  • 3. Syntactic properties of S-internal DisPs
    • 3.1 Linear order in the clause
    • 3.2 DisPs in embedded clauses
  • 4. Meaning contribution of S-internal DisPs
    • 4.1 Discourse components and the table model
    • 4.2 Marking unexpectedness: The particle dào
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References:
• Part V. Acquisition of syntactic structures
• V-gei vs. double object construction: The mental representation of the Mandarin V-gei construction
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Previous syntactic priming studies
  • 3. Experiment
    • Participants
    • Materials & procedure
    • Scoring
    • Results
  • 4. Discussion
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
• Predicting the unpredictable: ‑le used in Chinese serial verb constructions
  • 0. Introduction
  • 1. Scope of the study of serial verb constructions (SVCs)
  • 2. Studies on –le used in SVC
  • 3. Corpus study
    • 3.1 Research questions
    • 3.2 Data collection and coding
    • 3.3 Results
    • 3.4 Discussion
  • 4. Conclusion and pedagogical implications
  • References
• Index