LINGUIST List 13.696

Thu Mar 14 2002

Books: Chinese Linguistics

Editor for this issue: Dina Kapetangianni <dinalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. LINCOM EUROPA, New books: Chinese linguistics:The Prosodic Syntax of Chinese

The Prosodic Syntax of Chinese
SHENGLI FENG
University of Kansas

In linguistics, it has been commonly assumed that syntax can exert
influence on prosody, but the opposite direction, prosody influences
syntax, is much less widely recognized. The present manuscript argues
for a bidirectional interaction between prosody and syntax: Syntax
governs prosody and prosody also constrains syntax, based on data from
Chinese. For example, a classical problem in Chinese syntax is this:
only one constituent is, in general, allowed after the main verb.
However, if the object is a destressed element (a pronoun, for
example), two constituents can legitimately occur after the verb. This
pattern is explained by proposing a prosodic feature assignment on
elementary trees in the Tree Adjoining Grammar notation. The
manuscript is the first work that a system of prosodically constrained
syntax is proposed in the literature, and it will create a sub-field
of linguistics in the study of human languages. Table of Contents:

Preface 								

Chapter 1. Phrase Structure

1.1 Introduction							
1.2 Problems of Phrase Structure in Chinese 	 
1.2.1 Huang's Account					
1.2.2 Li's Account							
1.2.3 Huang's Revised Theory						
1.3 The Prosodic Hypothesis						
1.4 Accent, Stress and Focus						
1.4.1 Accent and Stress							
1.4.2 Stress and Focus							
1.5 Summary								

Chapter 2. Prosodic Syntax

2.1 Introduction							
2.2 Phrasal Prosody in Mandarin Chinese		
2.2.1. Chao's Last-Being-Strongest Generalization			
2.2.2. Tang's From-Light-to-Heavy Principle	
2.2.3. The Nuclear Stress Rule in Chinese 	
2.3 Theoretical Framework 						
2.3.1. TAG Formalism 						
2.3.2. Unification-Based TAG ----- Top and Bottom Feature Structures 	
2.3.3. Prosodic Feature Structures 				
2.3.3.1. VP Adjunction 						
2.3.3.2. NP Adjunction 						
2.3.3.3. Simple Sentences 				 		
2.4 Last-VP Syntax in Mandarin Chinese 		
2.4.1. Overview 							
2.4.2. The Problem of D/F Adjuncts				
2.4.3. Prosodic Explanation						
2.4.3.1. [V-NP-D/FP]						
2.4.3.2. Structure of [V Pronoun D/FP]			
2.4.3.3. [V __ D/FP]							
2.4.3.4. Intransitive V with D/FP					
2.5 The ba-Construction							
2.5.1. Bare Verb Effect							
2.5.2. Previous Accounts						
2.5.2.1. Chao's Anticlimax						
2.5.2.2. Liu's Perfectivity						 
2.5.3. A Prosodic Account						
2.5.3.1 Basic Structure						
2.5.3.2 Questions Regarding the Prosodic Hypothesis		
2.5.3.3 A Branching V' Node					
2.5.3.4 [Ba-NP V-XP] Structures					
2.5.3.5 [BaP Adv V] Structures					
2.5.3.6 Syllabic Branching Node V				
2.5.3.7 The Acceptability of Disyllabic Verbs	
2.5.3.8 Evidence for Weak and Strong Disyllabic Forms 		
2.5.3.9 An Analysis for Unacceptable Disyllabic Forms 		
2.5.3.10 [Ba-NP Zemeyang] 			 		
2.5.4. Summary 							

Chapter 3. Prosodic Word

3.1. Introduction 							
3.2. Word-stress in Mandarin Chinese 			
3.2.1. The Controversy over Compound Stress	
3.2.2. The Underlying Pattern of Compound Stress 			
3.2.3. Tone Quality 							
3.2.4. Weakening 							
3.2.5. Summary 							
3.3. The Phrasal Origin of Chinese Compounds 
3.4. The Lexicalized TAG System 				
3.4.1. An Introduction to Lexicalized TAG 	
3.4.2. Unified Stress Assignment on Elementary Trees 		
3.4.3. The Idiomatic Character of Chinese Compounds 		
3.4.4. Problems with Our Syntactic Account 	
3.5. Prosodic Morphology and Word Formation in Chinese 		
3.5.1. An Introduction to Prosodic Morphology	 
3.5.2. The Foot Formation Rule 				
3.5.3. Monosyllabicity 						
3.5.4. The Trisyllabic Foot -- the Mending Device 			
3.6. Prosodic Words and Compounding 		
3.6.1. The Constraint [M]=[s] and ALIGN:[ ]Compound=[ ]PrWd 		
3.6.2. The Derivation of PrWd (Compounding) 
3.6.3. Remaining Problems 						
3.6.3.1. Impossible [[ss]s]VP Compounds 		
3.6.3.2. Trisyllabic [s[ss]]NP Forms 		
3.6.3.3. [sss] Coordinating compounds 		
3.7. Implications and Consequences 			
3.7.1. The Chinese Lexicon and Dictionary 	
3.7.2. Interaction between the Monosyllabic Axiom and the Foot Formation
Rule				

ISBN 3 89586 369 6. 
LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 44. 
148pp. USD 60 / EUR 58 / � 33. 

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