LINGUIST List 17.2904

Thu Oct 05 2006

Books: Language Description/Syntax: Ut-seong Sio

Editor for this issue: Maria Moreno-Rollins <marialinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    K. van den Heuvel, Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal: Ut-seong Sio
Message 1: Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal: Ut-seong Sio
Date: 03-Oct-2006
From: K. van den Heuvel <lotlet.uu.nl>
Subject: Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal: Ut-seong Sio


Title: Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal Series Title: LOT Dissertation Series Published: 2006 Publisher: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke
                http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Book URL: http://www.lotpublications.nl

Author: Joanna Ut-seong Sio, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics Electronic: ISBN: 9789078328032 Pages: 218 Price: U.S. $ free
Paperback: ISBN: 9789078328032 Pages: 218 Price: Europe EURO 22.71
Abstract:

'Modification and reference in the Chinese nominal' investigates theencoding of referential properties in the Chinese nominal. This studyargues that even though Chinese does not have articles, the encoding ofreferential properties can still be detected by looking at modified nounphrases. This study proposes a theory for the encoding of specificity anddefiniteness in the Chinese nominal based on Cantonese, Mandarin andWenzhou data.

By manipulating the positions of modifiers, it is shown that in Chinese,some structure to the left of the Numeral Phrase is responsible for theencoding of specificity, an observation that is obscured in unmodified nounphrases. This motivates the existence of a projection called theSpecificity Phrase in Chinese. The Specificity Phrase is present in allspecific noun phrases but absent in non-specific ones. The tie betweenspecificity and definiteness is captured by an 'agree' relation between theSpecificity Phrase and the Classifier Phrase. The latter is wheredefiniteness is encoded. The interplay between the two projectionsdetermines the overall referential properties of a noun phrase.

Modifiers in Chinese come in two types. They appear either bare or with amodification marker element. The two types of modifiers interactdifferently with the referential property of the noun phrase and deservedifferent structural status. This study argues that bare modifiers arespecifiers and marker modifiers are adjuncts, motivated by their distinctdistributions and licensing requirements.

The theory proposed here has been extended to non-Chinese languages likeMiao and Zhuang.

This thesis is of relevance to anyone interested in the study of thereferential properties of noun phrases, nominal modification, or in thestudy of different languages in China.

Linguistic Field(s): Language Description                             Syntax
Subject Language(s): Hmong Njua (blu)                             Zhuang, Northern (ccx)                             Zhuang, Southern (ccy)                             Chinese, Mandarin (cmn)                             Chinese, Yue (yue)
Written In: English (eng )

See this book announcement on our website: http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=21625


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