LINGUIST List 23.1693: Diss: Chinese/Historical Ling/Pragmatics/Syntax: LaPolla: 'Grammatical Relations in Chinese: Synchronic and diachronic considerations'

LINGUIST List 23.1693
Mon Apr 02 2012 Diss: Chinese/Historical Ling/Pragmatics/Syntax: LaPolla: 'Grammatical Relations in Chinese: Synchronic and diachronic considerations' Editor for this issue: Xiyan Wang <xiyanlinguistlist.org>
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Date: 29-Mar-2012 From: Randy LaPolla <randy.lapollagmail.com> Subject: Grammatical Relations in Chinese: Synchronic and diachronic considerations E-mail this message to a friend Institution: University of California, Berkeley Program: Department of Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 1990 Author: Randy J. LaPolla Dissertation Title: Grammatical Relations in Chinese: Synchronic and diachronic considerations Dissertation URL: http://victoria.linguistlist.org/~lapolla//rjlapolla/papers/LaPolla_Dissertation.pdf Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics Pragmatics Syntax Typology Subject Language(s): Chinese, Mandarin (cmn) Language Family(ies): Sino-Tibetan Dissertation Director: Robert D Van Valin James A. Matisoff Johanna Nichols Dissertation Abstract: The bulk of this dissertation is an analysis of grammatical relations (including syntactic, pragmatic, and semantic relations) in Modern Mandarin Chinese. In Chapter I the background, functional framework, and concepts used in the dissertation are introduced. In Chapter II it is shown that Chinese has not grammaticalized the syntactic functions 'subject' and 'object', and has no syntactic function-changing passive construction. In Chapter III the nature of word order and its relationship to information structure in Chinese is examined. It is argued that word order in Chinese does not mark 'definite' and 'indefinite' NPs, as is commonly assumed, but marks information structure. A number of marked focus structure constructions are also discussed. In Chapter IV the discussion is of the structure of Chinese discourse, developed from an analysis of the nature of discourse referent tracking. It is shown that recovery of anaphora is not based on syntactic functions, but is based on real world knowledge (semantics and pragmatics) and discourse structure. Chapter V gives the conclusions, followed by a discussion of some of the diachronic considerations that arose in the course of this investigation. It is suggested that within Sino-Tibetan, Chinese should be seen as an innovator in terms of word order, and that grammatical relations in Proto-Sino-Tibetan should be seen to be pragmatically based rather than syntactically based. This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to help keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year. See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund Drive 2012 site! http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2012/ There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST! You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to: https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit: http://linguistlist.org/donation/ The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor. Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company operates such a program. Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST! Read more issues\|LINGUIST home page\|Top of issue

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