Chinese Middle Constructions: Lexical Middle Formation

ISBN-13: 9789811061868 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 290 str.

Jiajuan Xiong

Opis

This book defines Chinese middle constructions as generic constructions, with their highest syntactically saturated argument always understood as an arbitrary one.

Spis treści

Chapter 1 The Middle Voice vs. the Middle Construction

1.1 The Middle Voice

1.2 The Middle Construction

1.3 The Relationship between the “Middle Voice” and the “Middle Construction”

1.4 Chinese Middle Constructions

Chapter 2 Middle Constructions: Previous Research

2.1 Syntactic Approaches

2.2 Lexical Approaches

2.3 Semantic Approaches

2.4 Parametric Approaches

2.5 Chapter Summary

Chapter 3 The Qilai Middle

3.1 The Various Usages of Qilai

3.2 The [NP Theme V-qilai AP] Pattern

3.3 The Middlehood of the [NP theme V-qilai AP] Structure

3.4 Verbal Constraints on the Qilai Middle

3.5 The Qilai Adjunct Middle

3.6 Ditransitivity in the Qilai Middle

3.7 Chapter Summary

Chapter 4 The Hao and Rongyi/nan Middles

4.1 Two Different Uses of the Prefix Hao

4.2 Hao versus Rongyi/Nan

4.3 The Hao Construction Versus the Rongyi/Nan Construction

4.4 The Middle Construction Versus the Tough Construction

4.5 Verbal Constraints on the Hao Middle and the Rongyi/Nan Middle

4.6 Are There Any Hao/Rongyi/Nan Adjunct Middles?

4.7 Ditransitivity in the Hao/Rongyi/Nan Middles

4.8 Chapter Summary

Chapter 5 The De and Bu Middles

5.1 The Semantic Volatility of De Constructions

5.2 The Syntactic Analyses of the three De Constructions

5.3 [NP Theme V-bu-A theme ]: the Unergative

5.4 [NP Theme V-de-A theme ] and [NP Theme V-bu-A theme ]: the Middles

5.5 Formational Constraints on the De-middle and the Bu-middle

5.6 Are There Any Adjunct De-middles or Bu-middles?

5.7 Are De and Bu Full-fledged Modals?

5.8 More on De: Its Chengdu Chinese Counterpart Te

5.9 Chapter Summary

Chapter 6 More on Chinese Middles

6.1 Transitive Middles

6.2 Genericity in Chinese

6.3 Theme-as-Subject Constructions in Chinese

6.4 Lexical Middles: Unergative and Transitive

6.5 Unergativity at the Clausal Level

6.6 Chapter Summary

Chapter 7 Conclusions

7.1 Summary of the Dissertation

7.2 Questions for Future Research

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

References

O autorze

​Dr. Jiajuan Xiong is currently an associate professor at the School of Foreign Languages for Business, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China. Her areas of work include Chinese syntax, Sinhala syntax, synaesthesia and Buddhist philosophy of language. She received the Excellent Ph.D. Thesis award from Hong Kong University. 

Blurb

This book defines Chinese middle constructions as generic constructions, with their highest syntactically saturated argument always understood as an arbitrary one. This working definition sets “middle construction” apart from “middle voice” in that it can be instantiated by various constructions in Chinese. By scrutinizing these constructions in the framework of Generative Syntax, the book concludes that their formation takes place at the lexical level, without resorting to any syntactic mechanisms and thus that Chinese falls into the category of “lexical middle languages”, which are in contrast to “syntactic middle languages”.