Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:40:37.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Object relative clauses in Archaic Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Edith Aldridge
Edith Aldridge*
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article proposes that Late Archaic Chinese object relative clauses were reduced relative clauses consisting of a TP dominated by DP. They contained a functional morpheme suo, which attracted an operator to the edge of the vP before moving to T in order to provide T with an [N] feature that could be selected by D. The embedded subject moved to the specifier of the nominalized T, where it valued genitive case with D under Agree. The reduced nature of SUO relative clauses accounts for the fact that a unique strategy was required for relativization on VP-internal positions, as opposed to subject position, since the lack of a CP layer denied the clause a uniform landing site for operators originating internal and external to vP. This analysis also accounts for the loss of the relativization asymmetry by correlating it with the loss of nominalizing morphology such as genitive case.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article propose que les propositions relatives d’objet en chinois archaïque tardif étaient des propositions réduites qui consistaient en un ST dominé par un SD. Elles contiennent un morphème fonctionnel suo, qui attire un opérateur au bord du vP avant de se déplacer vers T afin de donner à T un trait [N] qui peut être sélectionné par D. Le sujet enchâssé se déplace au specifieur du T substantivé où il a la valeur du cas génitif avec D sous Accord. La nature réduite de propositions relatives SUO rend compte du fait qu’il fallait une stratégie unique pour la relativisation sur les positions internes au SV, par opposition à la position sujet, puisque, en l’absence d’un niveau SC, la proposition n’offrait aucun site d’atterrissage unique pour les opérateurs provenant de l’intérieur et de l’extérieur de SV. Cette analyse rend compte également de la perte de l’asymétrie de relativisation en la corrélant avec la perte de la morphologie nominalisante, telle que le cas génitif.

Keywords

reduced relative clausegenitive subjectdiachronic syntaxChinesesuoproposition relative réduitesujet génitifsyntaxe diachroniquechinoissuo
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 58 , Issue 2: The syntax of relative clauses La syntaxe des propositions relatives , July 2013 , pp. 239 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Abney, Steven Paul. 1987. The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. 2009. Old Chinese determiner Zhe. In Historical syntax and linguistic theory, ed. Crisma, Paola and Longobardi, Giuseppe, 233–248. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. 2010. Clause-internal wh-movement in Archaic Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 19:1–36.Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. 2012. PPs and applicatives in Late Archaic Chinese. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 33:139–164.Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. 2013. Survey of Chinese historical syntax: Pre-Archaic and Archaic Chinese. Language and Linguistics Compass 7:58–77.Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. To appear. Pronominal object shift in Archaic Chinese. In Syntax over time: Lexical, morphological and information-structural interactions, ed. Biberauer, Theresa and Walkden, George. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Alexopoulou, Dora. 2006. Resumption in relative clauses. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 24:57–111.Google Scholar
Aygen, N. Gulsat. 2002. Finiteness, case and clausal architecture. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Aygen, N. Gulsat. 2007. Syntax and semantics of genitive subject-case in Turkic. California Linguistic Notes 32(2): 1–39.Google Scholar
Baker, Mark C. 2005. On gerunds and the theory of categories. Ms., Rutgers University.Google Scholar
Baker, Mark C. 2011. Degrees of nominalization: Clause-like constituents in Sakha. Lingua 121:1164–1193.Google Scholar
Basilico, David. 1996. Head position and enternally headed relative clauses. Language 73:498–532.Google Scholar
Belletti, Adriana. 2004. Aspects of the low IP area. In The structure of CP and IP, ed. Rizzi, Luigi, 16–51. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Borsley, Robert and Kornfilt, Jaklin. 2000. Mixed extended projections. In Syntax and semantics, vol. 32: The nature and function of syntactic categories, ed. Borsley, Robert, 101–131. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Burzio, Luigi. 1986. Italian syntax: A Government-Binding approach. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Cao, Guangshun. 1986. Zutangji zhong de ‘di (di)’, ‘que (liao)’, ‘zhuo’ [‘di (di), ‘que (liao)’, and ‘zhuo’ in the Zutangji]. Zhongguo Yuwen 3:192–202.Google Scholar
Cheng, LisaLai-Shen. 1991. On the typology of wft-questions. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen. 1995. On dou-quantification. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 4:197–234.Google Scholar
Chiu, Bonnie. 1993. The inflectional structure of Mandarin Chinese. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Chiu, Bonnie. 1995. An object projection in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 4:77–117.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 2004. Beyond explanatory adequacy. In Structures and beyond: The cartography of syntactic structures, vol. 3, ed. Belletti, Adriana, 104–191. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Djamouri, Redouane. 2009. Cong jiagu, jinwen kan ‘yi’ zi yufahua de guocheng [Development of ‘yi’ in the Oracle Bones and Bronze Inscriptions]. Zhongguo Yuwen 328:3–9.Google Scholar
Feng, Chuntian. 1990. Shilun jiegou zhuci ‘di’ (‘de’) de yixie wenti [Investigation into some questions regarding the grammatical particle ‘di’ (‘de’)]. Zhongguo Yuwen 219:448–453.Google Scholar
Feng, Shengli. 1995. Guanyue lilun yu Hanyu de beidong ju [GB theory and passive sentences in Chinese]. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 1:1–28.Google Scholar
Grohmann, Kleanthes and Panagiotidis, E. Phoevos. 2009. Mixed projections: Categorial switches and prolific domains. Linguistic Analysis 35:141–161.Google Scholar
Gu, Yang. 1995. Aspect licensing, verb movement and feature checking. Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 24:49–83.Google Scholar
Guo, Xiliang. 1998. Jieci ‘yi’ de qiyuan he fazhan [Origin and development of ‘yi’]. Guhanyu Yanjiu 38:1–5.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth. 2002. On the Dagur object relative: Some comparative notes. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 11:109–122.Google Scholar
Harbsmeier, Christoph. 1982. Aspects of Classical Chinese syntax. London: Curzon Press.Google Scholar
Hsueh, Frank F.S. 1997. Verb complement in Classical Chinese and its implications as revealed by the particle VJ. yi. In Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Monograph series 10, ed. Sun, Chaofen, 27–48.Google Scholar
Huang, James C.-T. 1982. Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James. 1990. Chinese syntax and logical form. Ms., University of California, Irvine.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James. 1991. Remarks on the status of the null object. In Principles and parameters in comparative grammar, ed. Freidin, Robert, 56–76. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James. 1993. Reconstruction and the structure of VP: Some theoretical consequences. Linguistic Inquiry 24:103–138.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James. 1994. Verb movement and some syntax-semantics mismatches in Chinese. Chinese Languages and Linguistics 2:587–613.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James, Y.-H. Audrey Li, and Li, Yafei. 2009. The syntax of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kayne, Richard. 1994. The antisymmetry of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Krause, Cornelia. 2001. On reduced relatives with genitive subjects. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Lee, Thomas H. 1986. Studies on quantification in Chinese. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Li, Charles and Thompson, Sandra. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: Afunctional reference grammar. Taipei: Wenhe.Google Scholar
Li, Yin. To appear. The WEI… SUO passives in Late Classical/Middle Chinese. In Proceedings of the 24th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-24), ed. Chu, Chengzhi and Li, Zhiqiang. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Shuxiang, Lü. 1943. Lun ‘di’, ‘di’ zhi bian ji ‘di’ zi de laiyuan [On the distinction between ‘di’ and ‘di’ and the origin of ‘di’]. Reprinted in: Hanyu yufa lunwenji [Papers on Chinese grammar], 51–58. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 1955.Google Scholar
Shuxiang, Lü. 1991. Xiandai Hanyu babai ci [Eight hundred words in Modern Chinese]. Beijing: Commercial Press. [1980.]Google Scholar
Meisteremst, Barbara. To appear. Tense, aspect, and the semantics of the verb in Han Period Chinese: A linguistic study of the Shĭjì. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Miyagawa, Shigeru. 2008. Genitive subjects in Altaic. In Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Formal Altaic Linguistics (WAFL-4), ed. Boeckx, Cedric and Ulutas, Suleyman, 181–198. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar
Miyagawa, Shigeru. 2011. Genitive subjects in Altaic and specification of phase. Lingua 121:1265–1282.Google Scholar
Ohta, Tatsuo. 1958. Chugokugo Rekishi Bunpo [Historical grammar of Chinese]. Tokyo: Konan Shoin.Google Scholar
Paul, Waltraud. 2005. Low IP and left periphery in Mandarin Chinese. Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes v33:111–134.Google Scholar
Pylkkanen, Liina. 2002. Introducing arguments. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Roberts, Ian. 1994. Two types of head movement in Romance. In Verb movement, ed. Lightfood, David and Hornstein, Norbert, 207–242. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, Ian. 1997. Directionality and word order change in the history of English. In Parameters of morphosyntactic change, ed. Kemenade, Ans van and Vincent, Nigel, 397–426. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, Ian and Roussou, Anna. 2003. Syntactic change: A minimalist approach to grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sharvit, Yael. 1999. Resumptive pronouns in relative clauses. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 17:587–612.Google Scholar
Tang, C.-C. Jane. 1990. Chinese phrase structure and the Extended X’-Theory. Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University.Google Scholar
Tang, Sze-Wing. 2001. The (non-)existence of gapping in Chinese and its implications for the theory of gapping. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 10:201–224.Google Scholar
Ting, Jen. 1995. A non-uniform analysis of the passive construction in Mandarin Chinese. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester.Google Scholar
Ting, Jen. 2003. The nature of the particle SUO in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 12:121–139.Google Scholar
Ting, Jen. 2005. On the syntax of the suo construction in Classical Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 33:233–267.Google Scholar
Ting, Jen. 2010. On the climbing of the particle suo in Mandarin Chinese and its implications for the theory of clitic placement. The Linguistic Review 27:449–483.Google Scholar
Travis, Lisa. 1984. Parameters and effects of word order variation. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Tsai, W.-T Dylan. 1994. On economizing the theory of A-bar dependencies. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Wang, Li. 2004. Hanyu shigao [Lectures on Chinese]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. [1958.]Google Scholar
Wei, Peichuan. 1999. Lun xian-Qin Hanyu yunfu de weizhi [On the position of operators in Pre-Qin Chinese]. In Linguistic essays in honor of Mei Tsu-lin: Studies in Chinese historical syntax, ed. Peyaube, Alain and Sun, Chaofen, 259–297. Paris: Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie orientale.Google Scholar
Williamson, Janis. 1987. An indeflniteness restriction for relative clauses in Lakhota. In The representation of (in)definites, ed. Reuland, Eric and Meulen, Alice G.B. ter, 198–190. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Yang, Bojun and Leshi, He. 1992. Gu Hanyu yufa ji qi fazhan [Archaic Chinese grammar and its development]. Beijing: Yuwen.Google Scholar
Yue, Anne O. 1998. Zhi in Pre-Qin Chinese. T’oung Pao 84:239–292.Google Scholar
Zhou, Fagao. 1959. Zhongguo gudai yufa [Historical grammar of Ancient Chinese]. Taipei: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology.Google Scholar
Zhou, Fagao. 1963. Stages in the development of the Chinese language. Zhongguo yuwen luncong [Collectedpapers on Chinese language], 432–438. Taipei: Zhengzhong Shuju.Google Scholar

Primary sources

wenxian, Hanji dianzi[Electronic corpus of Chinese texts]. Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. Available at: http://hanji.sinica.edu.tw/.Google Scholar