Non-referential verb use in Chinese : a unified verb copying analysis

Lyn Shan Tieu

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paper

Abstract

![CDATA[This paper examines issues related to transitivity in Chinese, looking in particular at verb use in non-referential contexts. Four variants of non-referential verb use involving generic bare nouns and postverbal manner adverbs are analyzed. It is suggested that in these cases of non-referential verb use, the verb is first merged with an adverbial complement, and then copied to yield the verb copying construction. Following verb copying, conditions on linearization are proposed to determine the spellout of verb copies at the PF interface, resulting in the four variants. Cheng’s (2007) analysis of the verb copying construction is adopted in proposing a unified analysis for the four variants of non-referential verb use.]]
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-20), The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 25-27 April 2008
PublisherOhio State University
Pages843-860
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)9780982471517
Publication statusPublished - 2008
EventNorth American Conference on Chinese Linguistics -
Duration: 25 Apr 2008 → …

Conference

ConferenceNorth American Conference on Chinese Linguistics
Period25/04/08 → …

Keywords

  • Chinese language
  • verb

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