Ling171.Lec.

Handout 1: Prelimiaries

1. Basic Clausal Structures

1.1. Structures of complementation:

(1) a. Zhangsan lai-le.

b. Zhangsan kanjian-le Lisi.
c. Zhangsan zhu zai Meiguo.
d. Zhangsan zhidao Lisi bu chengshi.
e. Zhangsan song-le Lisi yi-ben shu.
f. Zhangsan fang-le yi-ben shu zai zhuozi-shang.
g. Zhangsan gaosu wo Lisi bu chengshi.

NP
(2) V' ! Vo (NP) ( PP )
CP

1.2. Adjunct structures

(3) a. Zhangsan zuotian zai jiali toutou-de da-le yi-ge dianhua.

Zhangsan yesterday at home secretly do-le one-CL telephone
'Zhangsan made a telephone call secretly at home yesterday.'

b. Zhangsan yingwei tianqi buhao bu-neng lai.

Zhangsan because weather not-not not-can come
'Zhangsan could not come, because the weather was not good.'

c. yingwei tianqi bu hao, Zhangsan bu-neng lai.

because weather not good Zhangsan not-can come
'Because the weather was not good, Zhangsan couldn't come.'

(4) X' ----> YPadjunct X'

XP ----> YPadjunct XP

1.3. "Preposed" complements:

(5) a. Zhangsan jie-zou-le wo-de shu.

Zhangsan borrow-away-Perf my book
'Zhangsan borrowed my book.'

b. Zhangsan ba wode shu jie-zou-le.

Zhangsan BA my book borrow-away-Perf
'Zhangsan borrowed my book.'

(6) a. Zhangsan zai zhuozi-shang fang-le yi-ben shu.

 Ling171.Lec.2

Zhangsan at table-top put-Perf one-CL book

'Zhangsan put a book on the table?'

b. Zhangsan fang-le yi-ben shu zai zhuozi-shang.(=1f)

(7) a. wo-de shu bei Zhangsan jie-zou-le.

my book by Zhangsan borrow-away-Perf
'My book was borrowed (away).'

b. wo-de shu bei jie-zou-le.

'My book was borrowed.

1.4. So-called "V' Complements": the FDRMP constructions

(8) a. Zhangsan pao-le liang tian.

Zhangsan run-Perf two hour
'Zhangsan ran two hours.'

b. Zhangsan pao-le liang ci.

Zhangsan run-Perf two time
Zhangsan ran twice.

c. Zhangsan pao-de hen lei.

Zhangsan run-DE very tired
Zhangsan ran and got tired.

d. Zhangsan pao-de hen kuai.

Zhangsan run-DE very fast
Zhangsan runs fast.

(9) a. Zhangsan kan-le (*shu) liang-ge zhongtou.

Zhangsan read-Perf book two-CL hourt
Zhangsan read (a book) for two hours.

b. Zhangsan kan-le (*shu) liang ci.

Zhangsan read (a book) twice.

c. Zhangsan kan-de (*shu) hen lei. kan (*shu) de . . .

Zhangsan read (a book) and got tired.

d. Zhangsan kan-de (*shu) hen kuai. kan (*shu) de . . .

Zhangsan read (a book) very fast

(10) a. shu, Zhangsan kan-le laing ci.

b. Zhangsan shu kan-le liang ci.
c. Zhangsan ba shu kan-le liang ci.
 Ling171.Lec.3

d. shu bei Zhangsan kan-le liang ci.

e. Zhangsan kan-le liang ci de shu.
f. Zhangsan kan-le liang ci shu.

(11) a. ta da-le Zhangsan liang ci.

he hit-Perf Zhangsan two time
He hit Zhangsan twice.

b. wo chengzan-le ta liang nian.

I praised him for two years.

c. wo piping-le ta san ci /san-ge zhongtou.

I criticized him for three times/hours.

(12) Zhangsan mai-le yi-ben shu gei wo kan.

Zhangsan buy-Perf one-CL book for me read
Zhangsan bought a book for me to read.

(13) a. Zhangsan mai-le yi-ben shu hen youqu.

Zhangsan bought one-CL book very interesting
Zhangsan bought a book, and the book is very interseting.

b. Zhangsan jiao-guo yi-ge xuesheng hen congming.

Zhangsan teach-EXP one-CL student very clever
Zhangsan taught a student (he is clever).

c. zuotian zher fasheng-le yi-jian chehuo zhen kepa.

yesterday here happen-Perf one-CL accident really horrible
A traffic accident happened (and it was awful).

1.5. Unaccusatives and Existentials

1.6. Have and Be
1.7. Some Theoretical Issues

a. How do the Chinese word order facts fit into UG?

-the complment rule
-the adjunct rule

b. The status of the FDRMP "complements".

-subcategorization
-optionality
-why the “filter”?
-why the exceptions to the “filter”?