1

Phrase Structure (Continued)

3.3 An alternative account

� As can be seen from the above discussion, Huang (1998/1982)’s and Li’s (1990)

characterizations of Chinese are not so accurate and there are some counterexamples

to or wrong predictions of their proposals. To remedy this, I propose that Chinese

syntactic structure can be characterized as follow:

(25) Chinese syntactic structure

a. In terms of the order of the head and its NP or clause complement, Chinese is

head-initial.

b. In terms of the order of the head and its PP complement, Chinese is head-final

except that such PPs can also occur after the head if such an ordering conforms

to the unfolding of the event in the real world.

c. In terms of the order of the head and the adjuncts, Chinese is head-final except

when the adjunct is used to provide new information about degree or result or

new (evaluative) information in terms of quality or quantity.

� As can be seen from (25), the first two statements concern the order of the head and

its complements and the third one is about the order of the head and the adjuncts.

3.3.1 Order of the head and its complement

� (25a) predicts that as far as the order of the head and its NP or clause complement is

concerned, Chinese is consistently head-initial, as shown in (26-28).

(26) a. Ta hen manyi ziji-de gongzuo.

he very satisfied self-MM job

‘He is very satisfied with his job.’

b. Wo hen gaoxing ni neng zhaodao ni-de xingfu.

I very happy you can find you-MM happiness

‘I am glad that you can find your happiness.’

(27) a. Ta hen xiangxin wo-de hua.

he very believe I-MM words

‘He very much believes my words.’

b. Wo xiangxin ta shi yi-ge hao ren.

I believe he be one-CL good person

‘I believe that he is a good person.’

(28) a. cong Beijing dao Xianggang

from Beijing to Hong.Kong

‘from Beijing to Hong Kong’

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b. zhiyu ta lai bu lai

as.for he come not come

‘as for whether he comes or not’

� (25b) concerns the order of the head and its PP complement. It predicts that all such

PPs can occur before the head, as shown in (29-31).

(29) a. dui diren de jingong

towards enemy MM attack

‘the attack on the enemy’

b. dui ta de piping

towards he MM criticism

‘the criticism of him’

(30) a. Ta dui ziji-de gongzuo hen manyi.

he towards self-MM job very satisfied

‘He’s very satisfied with his job.’

b. Wo zhen wei ta zihao.

I really for he proud

‘I’m really proud of him.’

(31) a. Zhangsan gei Lisi ji-le yi-ben shu.

Zhangsan to Lisi send-PERF one-CL book

Intended: ‘Zhangsan sent a book to Lisi.’

b. Zhangsan zai zhuozi-shang fang-le yi-ben shu.

Zhangsan at table-on place-PERF one-CL book

Intended: ‘Zhangsan put a book on the table.’

� (25b) also predicts that PP complements can also occur after the head if such an

ordering conforms to the unfolding of the event in the real world. As shown in (32),

this prediction is borne out. In this respect, compare (32) and (33). In (32a), for

example, the goal gei Lisi ‘to Lisi’ occurs after the verb ji ‘to send,’ and this conforms

to the unfolding of the event of sending. As a result, (32a) is grammatical. As for (33),

however, what he did should go before my feeling good, if there is any temporal

ordering of the two at all. As putting the PP after the head violates the temporal

constraint, (33) is predicted to be ungrammatical in Chinese and this is also borne out.

(32) a. Zhangsan ji-le yi-ben shu gei Lisi.

Zhangsan send-PERF one-CL book to Lisi

Intended: ‘Zhangsan sent a book to Lisi.’

b. Zhangsan fang-le yi-ben shu zai zhuozi-shang.

Zhangsan place-PERF one-CL book at table-on

Intended: ‘Zhangsan put a book on the table.’

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(33) *Wo zhen zihao wei ta.

I really proud for he

Intended: ‘I’m really proud of him.’

3.3.2 Order of the head and the adjuncts

� (25c) predicts that most adjuncts in Chinese occur before the head, as shown in (34).

(34) a. Women dou xihuan guo xingfu-de shenghuo. (NP)

we all like spend happy-MM life

‘We all like to live a happy life.’

b. Zhangsan kuaisu-de xiang wo pao-guolai. (VP)

Zhangsan fast-MM towards I run-DIR

‘Zhangsan ran fast to me.’

c. Ta bu xihuan chuan tai gui-de yifu. (AP)

he not like wear too expensive-MM clothes

‘He does not like to wear clothes that are too expensive.’

d. Feng zai jiqi menglie-de chui-zhe. (AdvP)

wind PROG extremely strong-MM blow-DUR

‘The wind is blowing extremely hard.’

� (25c) also predicts that adjuncts in Chinese should occur after the head if they are

used to provide new information about degree or result or new (evaluative)

information in terms of quality or quantity. As shown in (35), this prediction is borne

out.

(35) a. Zhangsan pao-de tui dou suan le. (degree/result)

Zhangsan run-MM leg EMPHASIS sore SFP

‘Zhangsan ran so much so that his legs were sore.’

b. Zhangsan-de Putonghua shuo-de hen hao. (evaluation; quality)

Zhangsan-MM Mandarin speak-MM very well

‘Zhangsan speaks Mandarin very well.’

c. Wo deng-le ta san-ge xiaoshi. (quantity; duration)

I wait-PERF he three-CL hour

‘I waited for him for three hours.’

d. Wo deng-le ta san ci. (quantity; frequency)

I wait-PERF he three time

‘I waited for him three times.’

3.3.3 Some special constructions

� Ba-construction ((36)): In (36a), the ba-NP shu ‘book’ is semantically an argument

of huai ‘return,’ but syntactically it is realized as a PP complement introduced by ba,

which is a preposition according to Huang (1998/1982) and Li & Thompson (1974).

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As a result, the occurrence of ba-shu in (36a) preverbally does not count as a

counterexample to my characterization of Chinese syntactic structure in (25). In fact,

it is something actually predicted by (25b). As for (36b), the ba-NP men ‘door’ is not

a syntactic argument of the resultative verb compound ti-chu ‘kick out,’ although

semantically it is an argument of ti ‘kick,’ the first part of the compound. From a

holistic point of view, ba men in (36b), in fact, functions more like an adjunct, and

therefore occur preverbally.

(36) a. Ta yijing ba shu huai-le.

he already BA book return-PERF

‘He already returned the book.’

b. Zhangsan ba men ti-chu-le yi-ge dong.

Zhangsan BA door kick-out-PERF one-CL hole

‘Zhangsan kicked out a hole in the door.’

� Bei-construction ((37)): Some Chinese passives allow a postverbal constituent, as

shown in (37b). On our analysis, when there is no postverbal constituent as in (37a),

there is an empty category that is coreferential with the subject of the sentence. That

is, the overt NP Zhangsan-de che ‘Zhangsan’s car’ serves as the subject of the

sentence, but the empty category coreferential with this overt NP functions as the

complement of zhuang ‘hit,’ thus conforming to (25a). As for the bei-phrases in (37),

they are syntactically adjuncts, just like the by-phrase in English passives such as the

English translations of (37). As a result, the fact that such phrases occur preverbally

conforms to (25b).

(37) a. [Zhangsan-de che]i bei ren zhuang-le φi.

Zhangsan-MM car PASSIVE people hit-PERF

‘Zhangsan’s car was hit by someone.’

b. Ta bei jingcha moshou-le jiazhao.

he PASSIVE police confiscate-PERF driver’s.license

‘His driver’s license was confiscated by the police.’

� Verb-copying construction ((38)): As pointed out by Huang (1998/1982: 34), the

first VP in the verb-copying construction functions as an adverbial. As a result, it

should be analyzed as an adjunct. If so, the occurrence of the first VP kan shu ‘read

books’ before the main verb kan ‘read’ follows from (25c).

(38) Zhangsan kan shu kan-de hen lei.

Zhangsan read book read-MM very tired

‘Zhangsan read books and he became so tired.’

� Comparative construction ((39)): As the bi-phrase in the comparative construction is

not a subcategorized complement but an adjunct, the occurrence of bi ta gege ‘than

his older brother’ before gao ‘tall’ also conforms to (25c).

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(39) Zhangsan bi ta gege gao.

Zhangsan than he older.brother tall

‘Zhangsan is taller than his older brother.’

� Topicalization: As for topicalizations like (40), I assume that there is an empty

category that is the complement of the verb and is coreferential with the initial NP,

although no movement is assumed. On this analysis, topicalizations are also

consistent with our account of Chinese syntactic structure.

(40) [Na-ben shu]i, wo kan-guo φi.

that-CL book I read-EXP

‘As for that book, I read it before.’

3.4 Conclusion

� Chinese syntactic structure can be given a rather neat and natural account if we look

at the following three orders separately: the order of the head and its NP or clause

complements, the order of the head and its PP complements, and the order of the head

and the adjuncts.

� As can be seen from (25), a successful characterization of Chinese syntactic structure

cannot be carried out with syntactic terms alone. Rather, it also needs to take into

consideration the function of the different constituents in the event being described.

• Recall that with respect to the order of the head and its PP complement and the

order of the head and the adjuncts, Chinese is head-final except that some

adjuncts and PP complements can or should occur after the head.

• Crucially, this is not a random phenomenon. As discussed earlier, PP

complements can occur after the head only when such an ordering conforms to the

unfolding of the event in the real world and adjuncts should occur after the head

when they are used to provide new information about degree or result or new

(evaluative) information in terms of quality or quantity. That is, the occurrence of

adjuncts and PP complements after the head is constrained by iconicity

considerations and by the arrangement of information from old to new. For

example, the fact that degree, extent, duration, frequency, and result adjuncts

occur postverbally can be explained by an iconicity principle, which states that the

order of syntactic constituents should reflect their function in a specific event.

Because only after an eventuality lasts for a while can one talk about its

degree/extent, duration, frequency, and result, such predicate modifiers should

occur after the predicate when presented as new information.

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4. English and Mandarin in Comparison

(40) English phrase structure

a. In terms of the order of the head and its complement, English is head-initial.

b. In terms of the order of the head and the adjunct of an XP, it precedes the head

X when the adjunct itself consists of a head alone, except that such adjuncts of a

verb and (its complement) can also follow the head of a VP. However, in cases

where the adjunct consists of more elements than its own head, it follows the

head of the XP.

(41) Mandarin phrase structure

a. In terms of the order of the head and its NP or clause complement, Chinese is

head-initial.

b. In terms of the order of the head and its PP complement, Chinese is head-final

except that such PPs can also occur after the head if such an ordering conforms

to the unfolding of the event in the real world.

c. In terms of the order of the head and the adjuncts, Chinese is head-final except

when the adjunct is used to provide new information about degree or result or

new (evaluative) information in terms of quality or quantity.

� Some aspects to consider

• Do English and Mandarin phrase structures conform to the X-bar syntax?

• Similarities between English and Mandarin phrase structures (NP or clause

complement)

• Differences between English and Mandarin phrase structures (PP complement;

adjunct)

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Passive

1. English passive voice

� Agent/Actor/Doer/Initiator; Patient/Theme

(1) a. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879.

b. The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879.

(2) a. A truck hit his car in the front yesterday.

b. His car got hit in the front yesterday.

� Usually, get passives are used in informal speech and writing to express: misfortune

from the speaker’s viewpoint, accomplishment, arrangement, and work completed.

They are typically agentless passives.

(3) a. I was rear-ended by a driver using a cell phone. (emphasis on event and agent)

b. I got rear-ended. (emphasis on event; avoiding placing blame or naming names)

� Active voice and passive voice: derivationally related or two distinct constructions?

(4) a. I will invite Louise.

b. Louise will be invited (by me).

(5) IP (=inflectional phrase)

NP I′

I VP

V′

V VP

V′

V NP

Louisei will be invited ti

(6) Passive as NP-movement

a. The subject argument of the active sentence is demoted to the status of an

adjunct.

b. The accusative Case is absorbed.

c. The Theme/Patient object undergoes NP-movement to subject position.

d. By and the Agent NP form a PP adjunct.

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2. Mandarin passives

� Two forms of passive in Mandarin: “long passive” and “short passive”

(7) Zhangsan bei Lisi da-le. (“long passive”)

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-PERF

‘Zhangsan was hit by Lisi.’

(8) Zhangsan bei da-le. (“short passive”) (with an implied Agent)

Zhangsan PASS hit-PERF

‘Zhangsan was hit.’

� Another way of classifying Mandarin passives: “direct passive” and “indirect

passive”

• “Direct passive” sentences: The subject of a passive sentence is coindexed with

the direct object of the main verb. E.g. (7-8).

• “Indirect passive” sentences: The subject may be related to something other than

the direct object, or not to any apparent syntactic position in the main clause at all.

o Inclusive indirect passives: The subject is related to some other position than

the object within the predicate (such as the possessive position).

(9) Zhangsan bei Lisi da-duan-le yi-tiao tui.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-break-PERF one-CL leg

‘Zhangsan had a leg [of his] broken by Lisi.’

(10) Zhangsan bei tufei qiang-zou-le san-jian xingli.

Zhangsan PASS bandit rob-away-PERF three-CL luggage

‘Zhangsan had three pieces of [his] luggage robbed by the bandits.’

o Exclusive indirect passives: The subject is not apparently related to any

position in the predicate at all. (The “exclusive” indirect passives are also

known as “adversative passives,” because of the strong sense of adversity they

convey on the part of the referents of their subjects.)

(11) Wo you bei ta zi-mo-le.

I again PASS he self-touch-PERF

‘I again had him ‘self-draw’ [on me].’

(Said of a Mahjong game where one converts by drawing the last matching tile by

oneself, rather than converting on an opponent’s discarded tile.)

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(12) wo bei ta zhemo yi zuo, jiu shenme dou kan-bu-jian-le.

I PASS he thus one sit then everything all can-not-see-PERF

‘As soon as I had him sitting this way [on me], I couldn’t see anything at all.’

(Said of a concert, when someone tall sits in front of me and blocks my view.)

2.1 Direct passives

2.1.1 Direct long passives

� Two competing traditions: (i) One line of research assumes that direct long passives

are derived as an instance of NP-movement as typical English passives are derived,

according to which an underlying object moves to a surface subject position in the

presence of the morpheme bei. (ii) The other line denies the existence of such

movement, but postulates a structure of VP complementation according to which bei

is a matrix verb taking an embedded clause whose object is deleted under identity

with the matrix subject.

� Recent version of the movement hypothesis: The passive morpheme bei has the

property of suppressing (or dethematizing) the subject argument of the main verb, and

absorbing its Accusative Case feature, which would normally be assigned to its

Theme object. The Case-less Theme object then undergoes movement to the non-

thematic subject position. The Agent argument is realized as part of an adjunct PP

headed by the passive morpheme bei, assumed to be a P.

(13) Passive as NP-movement

a. The subject argument is suppressed.

b. The accusative Case is absorbed.

c. The Theme object undergoes NP-movement to subject position.

d. Bei and the Agent NP form a PP adjunct.

(14)

IP (= Inflectional Phrase)

NP VP

PP V’

P NP V NP

Zhangsani bei Lisi da-le ti

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• Pros of the movement approach: Because passives are derived by NP-movement,

it is correctly predicted that the theme subject is necessarily related to an empty

category – an NP-trace coindexed with it – in the object position.

(15) a. *Zhangsan bei Lisi da-le ta.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-PERF him

‘Zhangsan was hit (*him) by Lisi.’

b. *Zhangsan bei Lisi da-le ziji.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-PERF self

‘Zhangsan was hit (*self) by Lisi.’

c. *Zhangsan bei Lisi da-le Wangwu.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-PERF Wangwu

‘Zhangsan was hit (*Wangwu) by Lisi.’

d. *Zhangsan bei Lisi lai-le.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi come-PERF

*‘Zhangsan was arrived by Lisi.’

o Cons of the movement approach

o First, this approach claims that the subject position of passives is a non-

thematic position, but the following sentences suggest that the subject does

not always play a pure Patient or Theme role which it inherits from the NP-

trace; it may receive a thematic role of its own. This is evidenced by passive

sentences containing subject-oriented adverbs like guyi ‘deliberately,

intentionally’ which require their subject to be an Agent or Experiencer.

(16) Zhangsan guyi bei da-le.

Zhangsan intentionally PASS hit-PERF

‘Zhangsan intentionally got hit.’

(17) Zhangsan guyi bei Lisi da-le.

Zhangsan intentionally PASS Lisi hit-PERF

‘Zhangsan intentionally got hit by Lisi.’

(18) a. *The pedestrian deliberately was hit.

b. The pedestrian deliberately got hit.

o Second, there is little evidence that the bei phrase behaves as a PP, or even as

a constituent. For example, it cannot move (as a constituent) across a time

phrase or prepose to a sentence-initial position (unlike other putative PPs).

(19) a. Zhangsan zuotian bei Lisi da-le.

Zhangsan yesterday PASS Lisi hit-PERF

‘John was hit by Bill yesterday.’

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b. *Zhangsan bei Lisi zuotian da-le.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi yesterday hit-PERF

‘John was hit yesterday by Bill.’

c. *Bei Lisi Zhangsan zuotian da-le.

PASS Lisi Zhangsan yesterday hit-PERF

Intended: ‘It was by Bill that John was hit yesterday.’

(20) a. Wo gen Zhangsan hen chudelai.

I with Zhangsan very get.along

‘I get along well with Zhangsan.’

b. Gen Zhangsan wo hen chudelai.

with Zhangsan I very get.along

‘I get along well with Zhangsan.’

(21) a. Wo bai-le yi-pen hua zai zhuozi-shang.

I put-PERF one-pot flower on table-top

‘I put a pot of flowers on the table.’

b. Wo zai zhuozi-shang bai-le yi-pen hua.

I on table-top put-PERF one-pot flower

‘I put a pot of flowers on the table.’

c. Zai zhuozi-shang wo bai-le yi-pen hua.

on table-top I put-PERF one-pot flower

‘I put a pot of flowers on the table.’

o It is widely accepted that reflexive ziji is “subject-oriented,” i.e. it must take a

subject as its antecedent. However, in (23) ziji can refer to Zhangsan or to Lisi,

suggesting that they are both subjects.

(22) Zhangsan gen Lisi taolun-le ziji de xiangfa.

Zhangsan with Lisi discuss-PERF self MM opinion

‘Zhangsani discussed with Lisij hisi/*j opinion.’

(23) Zhangsan bei Lisi guan zai ziji de jiali.

Zhangsan BEI Lisi lock at self DE home

‘Zhangsan was locked by Lisi in his own home.’ (Zhangsan’s or Lisi’s)

� Complementation approach: The above considerations favor a complementation

analysis of direct long passives, according to which bei is treated as the main verb, a

two-place predicate meaning ‘undergo,’ ‘experience,’ etc., which selects an

Experiencer as its subject and an Event as its complement. The object of the Event

complement clause is obligatorily deleted under identity with the matrix subject.

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(24) IP

…

NP V’

V IP

…

NP V’

V NP

Zhangsani bei Lisi da-le ei

A problem arises, however, concerning the obligatoriness of deleting the embedded

object. Why can’t it be replaced by an overt pronoun or reflexive? Note that an

embedded object can normally take the form of an overt pronoun or anaphor.

(25) a. Zhangsan shuo Lisi da-le ta.

Zhangsan say Lisi hit-PERF him

‘Zhangsan said Lisi hit him.’

b. Zhangsan shuo Lisi da-le ziji.

Zhangsan say Lisi hit-PERF self

‘Zhangsan said that Lisi hit himself.’

� A new analysis: A′-movement and predication

o An analysis that came close to a solution to the dilemma was first proposed by

Feng (1995). The essential spirit of Feng’s proposal is that Chinese passives

should be analyzed on a par with current treatments of the tough construction in

English. In the standard Principles-and-Parameters literature following Chomsky

(1981), the complement of tough is analyzed as involving null operator (NOP)

movement and predication. The relation between the NOP and the embedded

object position is one of movement; its relation with the matrix subject is one of

predication, or control.

(26) This problemi is easy [CP NOPi for you to solve ti].

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(27) “Tough-movement” analysis or NOP analysis of direct long passives

IP

…

NP V’

V IP

NOP IP

…

NP V’

V NP

Zhangsani bei OP Lisi da-le ei

‘Zhangsan was hit by Lisi.’

o According to this analysis, the structure of a passive involves both

complementation and movement. It involves complementation, as bei selects an

NP as its subject and a clausal category as its complement (which Huang et al.

(2009) assume to be an IP). It also involves movement of the embedded null

object (which Huang et al. assume to be adjunction to IP).

o It should be noted, however, that the NOP movement assumed here is an instance

of A′-movement (movement to a clause-peripheral, non-argument position) and

therefore differs crucially from the NP-movement assumed in the earlier approach,

which is a case of A-movement (movement to subject, an argument position).

• Evidence for the NOP analysis

o Long-distance passives: Chinese passives exhibit “unbounded” dependency.

Unbounded dependencies are a characteristic property of A′-movement. Given

NOP movement as a case of A′-movement, long-distance passivization is

entirely expected.

(28) Zhangsan bei Lisi pai jingcha zhuazou-le.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi send police arrest-PERF

‘Zhangsan was arrested by the police sent by Lisi.’

o Island sensitivity: Chinese long-distance passives exhibit island effects, thus

passing another diagnostic for A′-movement.

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(29) Zhangsan bei wo tongzhi Lisi ba zanmei *(ta) de shu

Zhangsan PASS me inform Lisi BA praise (him) MM book

dou mai-zou-le.

all buy-away-PERF

‘Zhangsan had me inform Lisi to buy up all the books that praise [him].’

o Resumptive pronouns: The distribution of resumptive pronouns in Chinese

passives also suggests that these passives are instances of A′-movement.

(30) Zhangsan bei Lisi da-le ta yi-xia.

Zhangsan PASS Lisi hit-PERF him once

‘Zhangsan was hit once by Lisi.’

The same effect can be observed with relative clauses.

(31) a. ??Lisi da-le ta de nei-ge ren lai-le.

Lisi hit-PERF him MM that-CL person come-PERF

Lit. ‘The person who Lisi hit him came.’

b. Lisi da-le ta yi-xia de nei-ge ren lai-le.

Lisi hit-PERF him once MM that-CL person come-PERF

‘The person who Lisi hit [him] once came.’

The option of using the resumptive pronoun strategy is a property of A′-movement, not of A-movement. The fact that passivization parallels

relativization so neatly in this respect lends important support to the A′-movement analysis of the passives.