scholarly journals Effect of Topic-prominent Features of Mandarin Chinese on English Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Haiyan Han
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Sort It ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Grammatical Agreement ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
Resultative Complement

Mandarin Chinese features a subject-verb-object word order and lacks grammatical agreement of any sort. It is basically a head-last language with the modifiers preceding the head word. Other prominent grammatical features include serial verb construction, resultative complement and the double nominative constructions. My paper focuses on the role of topic and subject in Mandarin, drawing on three views on Chinese syntactic structures, namely, SVO approach, topic-comment approach, and topic-prominence approach. A comparison is made among the different views and a conclusion is drawn that topic-prominent approach may better capture the complexities of Chinese syntax, which definitely contributes to English writing.

The Relevance of the principle of Relevance for Word Order Variation in Complex Referring Expressions in Mandarin Chinese

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Chen ◽  
Tao Ming ◽  
Xiangyu Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Corpus Data

AbstractWord order variation in Mandarin Chinese results in two constructions consisting of a noun phrase (NP), a cluster of a demonstrative and a classifier (DM), and a relative clause (RC): the OMN with the RC+DM+NP order and the IMN with DM+RC+NP order. This study used corpus data to show correlational patterns of constructional choices. Specifically, OMN is associated with new and inanimate NPs serving the grammatical role of object in the relative clause that serves the discourse function of identification. By contrast, for IMN, the head NP tends to carry given information, tends to be an animate entity, tends to serve the grammatical role of subject in the relative clause, and tends to have an RC that serves the discourse function of characterization. We suggest that the usage patterns can be interpreted in terms of the cognitive and communicative principles of relevance (Sperber and Wilson 1995).

The obligatory fronting of the undergoer argument in the Mandarin Excessive serial verb construction

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-191
Author(s):  
Ying Fan ◽  
Man Li
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
The Subject

Abstract This paper discusses the unmarked obligatory fronting of the undergoer argument in the Excessive serial verb construction (hereafter SVC) in Mandarin Chinese. Acknowledging the existing description of the semantic-syntactic characteristics of the Excessive SVC (see for example, Li 1994, Shen & Peng 2010, Zhang 2014, Fan 2017), we provide an explicit monoclausal account for the phenomenon of obligatory fronting of the undergoer argument, arguing that it directly correlates with the monoclausal structure. By doing so, we contrast our analysis with the existing analysis by Fan (2017). Furthermore, we argue that despite the flexible ordering of the actor and the undergoer arguments at the similar surface forms of the Excessive SVC, they take different positions in expressions that are in different sequences. In this case, the undergoer argument is always the subject; the actor argument functions as an external topic when it occurs before the undergoer argument and it shows similarities to an inner topic when it occurs after the undergoer argument. Nevertheless, unlike with inner topics, the actor argument that occurs after the subject of the Excessive SVC is restricted to the actor/causer role.

A Note on the Serial Verb Construction in Chinese

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Law
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb

The paper considers two superficially very similar constructions with two verbs in Chinese, and suggests a syntactic account for their different properties with respect to word-order, placement and scope of adverbs, and extraction. Specifically, it proposes to relate the cluster of properties of having alternative word-orders, the positioning and non-ambiguous construal of adverbs, as well as syntactic extraction of the object of the second verb to a structure in which the first verb takes as complement a VP headed by the second verb, and the lack of these properties to a structure in which the VP headed by the first verb is an adjunct to the VP headed by the second verb.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of the Simple Clause in Akan, Dagaare and English

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Levina Nyameye Abunya ◽  
Edward Owusu ◽  
Faustina Marius Naapane
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Basic Word ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb

The paper compares how the simple clause is expressed in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo), Dagaare (Gur, Niger-Congo) and English. It examines the simple clause in relation to noun phrase, verbal phrases, adpositional phrases, basic word order in declarative and focus constructions, and the basic locative construction. Basically, the study reveals that despite the differences, Akan and Dagaare have a lot in common as compared to English. This of course shows how distant English is from the two African languages. Certain linguistic features such as serial verb construction and focus constructions were unique to Akan and Dagaare and this, is not surprising since languages within the same language family (Niger Congo) tend to share certain lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic features. The significant variation between these languages shows where Akan and Dagaare languages diverge into other sub-family groups: Kwa and Gur, respectively.

Excessive serial verb construction

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Fan
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Formal Similarity ◽  
Distinct Structure ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Syntactic Difference

Abstract This paper identifies a distinct serial verb construction in Mandarin Chinese: the Excessive serial verb construction. This construction exhibits formal similarity to the Resultative serial verb construction, since both of them involve adjacent unmarked verbs. Despite the similarity, the former construction differs from the latter most evidently in that it conveys an excessive meaning rather than a resultative meaning. This paper proposes that there is a syntactic difference between the two constructions. In contrast to the tight structure in the Resultative serial verb construction, which can be represented as S[vp V1 V2] le. The Excessive serial verb construction has a looser structure, which is structurally S[[vpV1] [vp V2-le]]. With respect to diagnostics of constituency, the two constructions behave in different ways. This paper further argues that correlating with a distinct structure, the Excessive serial verb construction requires obligatory topicalization of its undergoer argument, a phenomenon that is not observed in the Resultative serial verb construction. This study thus contributes to representing the interaction between the semantic properties – in particular, the function of le in the two constructions – and the syntactic properties.

Niuean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Massam
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Noun Incorporation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Theta Role ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure

This book presents a detailed descriptive and theoretical examination of predicate-argument structure in Niuean, a Polynesian language within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family, spoken mainly on the Pacific island of Niue and in New Zealand. Niuean has VSO word order and an ergative case-marking system, both of which raise questions for a subject-predicate view of sentence structure. Working within a broadly Minimalist framework, this volume develops an analysis in which syntactic arguments are not merged locally to their thematic sources, but instead are merged high, above an inverted extended predicate which serves syntactically as the Niuean verb, later undergoing movement into the left periphery of the clause. The thematically lowest argument merges as an absolutive inner subject, with higher arguments merging as applicatives. The proposal relates Niuean word order and ergativity to its isolating morphology, by equating the absence of inflection with the absence of IP in Niuean, which impacts many aspects of its grammar. As well as developing a novel analysis of clause and argument structure, word order, ergative case, and theta role assignment, the volume argues for an expanded understanding of subjecthood. Throughout the volume, many other topics are also treated, such as noun incorporation, word formation, the parallel internal structure of predicates and arguments, null arguments, displacement typology, the role of determiners, and the structure of the left periphery.

The influence of discourse context on children's provision of auxiliary BE

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNA L. THEAKSTON ◽  
ELENA V. M. LIEVEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Discourse Context ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Prior Use ◽  
Single Child ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Children's Speech

ABSTRACTChildren pass through a stage in development when they produce utterances that contain auxiliary BE (he's playing) and utterances where auxiliary BE is omitted (he playing). One explanation that has been put forward to explain this phenomenon is the presence of questions in the input that model S-V word order (Theakston, Lieven & Tomasello, 2003). The current paper reports two studies that investigate the role of the input in children's use and non-use of auxiliary BE in declaratives. In Study 1, 96 children aged from 2 ; 5 to 2 ; 10 were exposed to known and novel verbs modelled in questions only or declaratives only. In Study 2, naturalistic data from a dense database from a single child between the ages of 2 ; 8 to 3 ; 2 were examined to investigate the influence of (1) declaratives and questions in the input in prior discourse, and (2) the child's immediately previous use of declaratives where auxiliary BE was produced or omitted, on his subsequent use or non-use of auxiliary BE. The results show that in both the experimental and naturalistic contexts, the presence of questions in the input resulted in lower levels of auxiliary provision in the children's speech than in utterances following declaratives in the input. In addition, the children's prior use or non-use of auxiliary BE influenced subsequent use. The findings are discussed in the context of usage-based theories of language acquisition and the role of the language children hear in their developing linguistic representations.

“Subject-predicate predicate sentences” in modern Mandarin Chinese: A Cardiff Grammar approach

Linguistics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei He
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Syntactic Structures

AbstractThis study investigates “subject-predicate predicate sentences” (“S-P P sentences”) in modern Mandarin Chinese from a Cardiff Grammar approach with the aim of answering three main questions: (i) What is/are the functional syntactic structure(s) of the sentences to be considered in the study? (ii) What is/are the semantic motivation(s) for the structure(s)? (iii) What is/are the contextual constraints on the structure(s)? The study is guided by three basic principles: (a) language is multifunctional; (b) meaning is primary while form is the realization of meaning; and (c) different strands of meaning are realized by a single syntactic structure. Further, the study utilizes the concepts of Theme and Subject within the Cardiff Grammar in order to analyze and discuss the generally acknowledged seven types of “S-P P sentences”. The results show that only one type is truly S-P P and another type only in one sense, whereas no other types can be categorized as such. All the syntactic structures are conditioned by a different set of distinctive semantic features and contextual factors.

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