scholarly journals Local versus long-distance bound implicit arguments of inalienable relational nouns in Chinese

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
ALAN HEZAO KE ◽  
ACRISIO PIRES
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Distance Bound ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Implicit Arguments ◽  
Relational Nouns

This paper argues that inalienable relational nouns in Mandarin Chinese, specifically kinship nouns (KNs, e.g. father, sister) and body-part nouns (BPNs, e.g. head, face), have an implicit reflexive argument. Based on a syntactic comparison between KNs, BPNs, locally and long-distance bound reflexives, we argue that the implicit reflexive arguments of BPNs must be locally bound, whereas that of KNs can either be locally or long-distance bound. We conclude that these two types of implicit arguments in Mandarin Chinese correspond to locally and long-distance bound reflexives, respectively. We analyze this difference in connection with binding theory and a theory of logophoricity. We argue that the implicit argument of BPNs is a locally bound anaphor and cannot be used as a logophor, whereas that of KNs can, supporting a proposal that the logophoric property leads to long-distance binding, as argued by Huang & Liu’s (2001) for reflexives in Mandarin Chinese.

scholarly journals Covert reflexive argument in inalienable relational nouns

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hezao Ke ◽  
Acrisio Pires
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Distance Bound ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Implicit Arguments ◽  
Relational Nouns

This paper argues that inalienable relational nouns in Mandarin Chinese, specifically kinship nouns (e.g. father, sister) and body-part nouns (e.g. head, face), have an implicit reflexive argument. Based on  a syntactic comparison between kinship nouns, body-part nouns, local- and long-distance bound reflexives, we argue that the implicit reflexive arguments of kinship nouns and body-part nouns differ from each other: The implicit argument of kinship nouns must be locally bound, whereas that of body-part nouns can either be locally bound or long-distance bound. Therefore, we conclude that these two types of implicit arguments in Mandarin Chinese correspond to local- long-distance bound reflexives, respectively. Finally, we relate this difference to binding theory concerning local and long-distance anaphors.

Locality and Logophoricity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Charnavel
Keyword(s):  
Binding Theory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Morphological Identity

Anaphors such as English herself, French elle-même, and Mandarin ziji are usually claimed to obey locality requirements stated by Condition A of Binding Theory. But we observe that in various languages, the same anaphors can be exempt from these locality requirements under certain conditions. The goal of this book is to describe and explain this widespread dual behavior of anaphors on the basis of French, English, Mandarin, Korean, and Icelandic. First, several strategies are proposed for distinguishing between the two possible behaviors of anaphors. Plain instances of anaphors require local and exhaustive binding, as well as sloppy readings in ellipsis. Exempt instances of anaphors, however, only require a logophorical interpretation, that is, to occur in phrases expressing the first-personal, mental perspective of their antecedent. Second, a new theory of exempt anaphora is proposed, which consists in deriving all properties distinguishing exempt from plain anaphors to one: the presence of a silent, syntactically represented logophoric operator introducing a local, perspectival binder for superficially exempt anaphors. This hypothesis parsimoniously reduces exempt to plain anaphors obeying Condition A, thus directly accounting for the cross-linguistically widespread morphological identity of plain and exempt anaphors. Under this proposal, the reason why exempt anaphors appear to escape locality requirements is that their binder is implicit, and their mandatory logophoric interpretation derives from the nature of this binder. Finally, several diagnostics are provided for testing the hypothesis that so-called long-distance anaphors can be analyzed just like exempt instances of anaphors.

Wh-in-Situ Does Not Correlate with Wh-Indefinites or Question Particles

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bruening
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Unselective Binding

Two theories, the Clausal Typing Hypothesis (Cheng 1991) and the unselective binding theory of wh-in-situ, have linked wh-in-situ to two other phenomena typologically: the use of a question particle, and the use of wh-words as indefinites. This article shows, through a typological survey and a detailed comparison of Passamaquoddy and Mandarin Chinese, that there is no connection between wh-in-situ and either property. Passamaquoddy uses wh-words as indefinites in all the contexts Chinese does, but it is a robust wh-movement language. Crosslinguistically, languages of all possible types are attested: most crucially, wh-in-situ languages without question particles exist, and wh-in-situ languages that do not use wh-words as indefinites also exist. In fact, most languages, regardless of whether they are wh-movement or wh-in-situ languages, have question particles, and most languages use wh-words as indefinites.

scholarly journals Inducing Implicit Arguments from Comparable Texts: A Framework and Its Applications

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Roth ◽  
Anette Frank
Keyword(s):  
Computational Models ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Implicit Arguments ◽  
Argument Realization ◽  
Projection Approach ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Graph Based Model ◽  
A Current ◽  
Sentential Meaning

In this article, we investigate aspects of sentential meaning that are not expressed in local predicate–argument structures. In particular, we examine instances of semantic arguments that are only inferable from discourse context. The goal of this work is to automatically acquire and process such instances, which we also refer to as implicit arguments, to improve computational models of language. As contributions towards this goal, we establish an effective framework for the difficult task of inducing implicit arguments and their antecedents in discourse and empirically demonstrate the importance of modeling this phenomenon in discourse-level tasks. Our framework builds upon a novel projection approach that allows for the accurate detection of implicit arguments by aligning and comparing predicate–argument structures across pairs of comparable texts. As part of this framework, we develop a graph-based model for predicate alignment that significantly outperforms previous approaches. Based on such alignments, we show that implicit argument instances can be automatically induced and applied to improve a current model of linking implicit arguments in discourse. We further validate that decisions on argument realization, although being a subtle phenomenon most of the time, can considerably affect the perceived coherence of a text. Our experiments reveal that previous models of coherence are not able to predict this impact. Consequently, we develop a novel coherence model, which learns to accurately predict argument realization based on automatically aligned pairs of implicit and explicit arguments.

On the Implicit Anaphoric Argument of Relational Nouns in Mandarin Chinese

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-842
Author(s):  
Alan Hezao Ke ◽  
Ya Zhao ◽  
Liqun Gao ◽  
Shuying Liu ◽  
Acrisio Pires
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Relational Nouns

Processing classifier–noun agreement in a long distance: An ERP study on Mandarin Chinese

2014 ◽  
Vol 137 ◽  
pp. 14-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Chieh Hsu ◽  
Shu-Hua Tsai ◽  
Chin-Lung Yang ◽  
Jenn-Yeu Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Long Distance

scholarly journals Lexical Distributivity and Implicit Arguments

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lasersohn
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Implicit Arguments ◽  
Atomic Event ◽  
Thematic Relation ◽  
Meaning Postulates ◽  
Logical Representation

Popular assumptions about distributive predicates and implicit arguments interact to predict incorrect truth conditions for sentences in which a predi­cate takes both an implicit argument and an overt distributive argument. This paper argues that the conflict provides evidence for a particular approach to argument structure and in particular to the semantics of implicit arguments: namely, a "neo-Davidsonian" approach, in which thematic roles are analyzed as relations between events and individuals, and existentially interpreted implicit arguments do not appear in the syntax or in logical representation at all. The effect of implicit arguments is produced through the use of meaning postulates guaranteeing that any atomic event of a given type must bear the appropriate thematic relation to some individual.

scholarly journals Cross-Linguistic Evidence and the Licensing of Implicit Arguments

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergely Pethő ◽  
Eva Kardos
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Implicit Arguments

This paper discusses the occurrence and the licensing of implicit object arguments, also referred to in the literature as null complements or understood arguments. Functionalist accounts (such as those by Groefsema and Németh T. which are couched in a relevance-theoretic framework) have repeatedly claimed that this phenomenon is fundamentally dependent on dis\-course-interpretational factors. In particular, it has been stated that implicit arguments can be used in Hungarian in a rather unrestricted way, and their occurrence is only limited by considerations of interpretability. We argue against both of these positions and try to show that cross-linguistic data can assist in revealing the circular nature and ultimate inadequacy of existing functional accounts of implicit argument licensing.

scholarly journals EEG Correlates of Long-Distance Dependency Formation in Mandarin Wh-Questions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Wen Lo ◽  
Jonathan R. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Anterior Negativity ◽  
With Memory

Event-related potential components are sensitive to the processes underlying how questions are understood. We use so-called “covert” wh-questions in Mandarin to probe how such components generalize across different kinds of constructions. This study shows that covert Mandarin wh-questions do not elicit anterior negativities associated with memory maintenance, even when such a dependency is unambiguously cued. N = 37 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese read Chinese questions and declarative sentences word-by-word during EEG recording. In contrast to prior studies, no sustained anterior negativity (SAN) was observed between the cue word, such as the question-embedding verb “wonder,” and the in-situ wh-filler. SANs have been linked with working memory maintenance, suggesting that grammatical features may not impose the same maintenance demands as the content words used in prior work.

Reducing Long-Distance Binding to Logophoric Exemption

2019 ◽  
pp. 264-341
Author(s):  
Isabelle Charnavel
Keyword(s):  
Binding Domain ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Empirical Claim ◽  
Distance Bound ◽  
Blocking Effects ◽  
Covert Movement ◽  
Subject Orientation

This chapter re-examines the hypothesis that some anaphors can be long-distance bound independently of their discursive conditions. All analyses of long-distance anaphora, whether they assume binding domain parameterization or covert movement, rely on the existence of a specific type of anaphors that can be bound out of the Condition A domain and are further characterized by monomorphemicity, subject orientation, sloppy readings, and blocking effects. The goal of this chapter is to question this empirical claim and examine the hypothesis that such purported long-distance anaphors can in fact be reduced to exempt anaphors subject to logophoric conditions. Some tests are proposed and applied to Icelandic sig, Mandarin ziji, French soi, and Norwegian seg/sin using online questionnaires. The results suggest that the hypothesis that long-distance binding should be eliminated from the theory and reduced to logophoric exemption is viable—pending further cross-linguistic studies.

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