Accusative case in passives

Linguistics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Goodall
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The standard explanation for Ν Ρ movement in the passive construction has been that the N P must move into the nominative position because no accusative case is available. This paper examines the implications for this view of some double-object constructions in Mandarin Chinese and English that are ungrammatical as active clauses but improve significantly as passives. These facts are unexpected under the standard view of passives, but I suggest that they can be explained if we assume that the second object is not licensed for case in the active versions but is able to check accusative case in the passive version, thus arguing that accusative case is available in passive clauses.

L2 acquisition of the bei passive in Mandarin Chinese: A constructionist approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-198
Author(s):  
Chen Chen ◽  
Feng-hsi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Constructionist Approach ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Function

Abstract A major claim in the constructionist approach to language acquisition is that grammar is learned by pairings of form and function. In this study we test this claim by examining how L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese acquire the bei passive construction, a construction that is associated with the meaning of adversity. Our goal is to find out whether L2 learners make the association between the passive and adversity. Participants performed a sentence choice task under four conditions: an adversative context with an adversative verb, an adversative context with a neutral verb, a neutral context with a neutral verb and a positive context with a neutral verb. In each context participants were asked to select either the bei passive construction or its active counterpart. We found that high-level learners consistently chose the bei passive significantly more in adversative contexts than in non-adversative contexts regardless of the connotations of the verbs, while low-level learners made the distinction half of the time. In addition, while low-level learners did not yet associate adversity with the form of the construction, high-level learners did. We conclude that L2 learners do learn the bei passive construction as a form-meaning pair. The constructionist approach is supported.

Factuality lens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danjie Su
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Talk Show ◽  
Passive Construction

Abstract Why do speakers choose the Mandarin Chinese unmarked passive construction (UP) in conversation when they have other grammatical alternatives with roughly the same semantics? From the perspective of subjectivity, this study identifies the Factuality lens, a lens through which a situation is presented as a “fact” or a “truth” regardless of reality. My analysis of a video corpus of spontaneous talk show conversations using the discourse adjacent alternation method reveals that speakers tend to choose UP over other constructions to present a transitive event through the Factuality lens by emphasizing the factuality of a fact or making a non-fact appear as a fact – either deceivingly or openly in a fictitious narrative or a joke. The findings reveal that grammatical constructions can linguistically recreate a situation different from reality. The conclusion that Factuality lens is a factor that could influence speakers’ grammatical choice casts light on pragmatic consequence of grammatical choice and subjectivity in language use.

Parental numeric language input to Mandarin Chinese and English speaking preschool children

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALICIA CHANG ◽  
CATHERINE M. SANDHOFER ◽  
LAUREN ADELCHANOW ◽  
BENJAMIN ROTTMAN
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Mathematical Performance ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Syntactic Frames ◽  
Preschool Aged Children

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the number-specific parental language input to Mandarin- and English-speaking preschool-aged children. Mandarin and English transcripts from the CHILDES database were examined for amount of numeric speech, specific types of numeric speech and syntactic frames in which numeric speech appeared. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking parents talked about number more frequently than English-speaking parents. Further, the ways in which parents talked about number terms in the two languages was more supportive of a cardinal interpretation in Mandarin than in English. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for numerical understanding and later mathematical performance.

Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Stephen Skalicky ◽  
Victoria Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Forward Transfer ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the Competition Model. This is because of purportedly stark contrasts in sentence processing strategies between the two languages. Previous studies investigating sentence processing strategies of English L2 and Mandarin L2 bilinguals suggests forward transfer of L1 cues to the L2, moderated by L2 proficiency. In this paper, we argue for replication of two of these studies, namely Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001). These studies continue to be cited today as evidence of differences between English and Mandarin sentence processing strategies which is in turn taken as support for the predictions of the Competition Model. However, both studies presented methodological limitations in terms of measures of proficiency, participant and stimuli selection, and the statistical analysis. We suggest approximate replication of both of these studies and provide suggestions for how such replications might be conducted.

A Cross-Linguistic PET Study of Tone Perception in Mandarin Chinese and English Speakers

NeuroImage ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 646-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Klein ◽  
Robert J. Zatorre ◽  
Brenda Milner ◽  
Viviane Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Chinese And English

The interaction between Mandarin Chinese and English

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Ching-yu Hsieh ◽  
Mei-Rong Wang ◽  
Meg Ching-yi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Hardware ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Bulletin Board ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Hybrid Language ◽  
Online Bulletin Board ◽  
Chinese And English

This paper explores the linguistic and interactional properties of computer-mediated communication in Taiwan. We collected data from messages posted asynchronously on Internet websites. The three primary sources of messages were, in volume order, online Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), chatrooms, and MSN messenger. We identify innovative uses of English and Mandarin Chinese hybrids, examine their function, and examine the online interlocutors’ ideologies when using them. Because of computer hardware and software, English plays an essential role even in a Mandarin-dominant online discourse by offering English expressions, words, pronunciations, and Roman letters to give loanwords, euphemisms, abbreviations, sentence-final particles, and emoticons in unique ways. The resultant hybrid language forms are easier to type, playful, funny, friendly, and trendy. The writer’s personality and cultural mentality are disclosed in such communication. Many speakers are alarmed about the effects of this language practice — the online interaction between English and Mandarin Chinese — on the development of Chinese in Taiwan.

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