The Even-Construction and the Low Periphery in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

Our goal in this paper is to analyze the even-construction in Mandarin Chinese and Italian and the preposed object in the low periphery of Mandarin Chinese. In the first part of the paper, we shall see that the even-construction can play two roles: focus and topic. Although in both cases their semantics stay fundamentally the same, their syntax is crucially different. We shall see that when an even-phrase occurs in sentence-initial position, it is a topic construction; while when it occurs sentence-internally, it is a focus construction. In the second part of the paper, we study the nature of the preposed object in the low periphery of Mandarin. Contrary to the traditional analysis that considers it as a focus item (Ernst and Wang 1995; Shyu 1995, 2001, Zhang 1996, among others), we argue that the preposed object is a Contrastive Topic (i.e., a syntactic topic that gets contrastive stress). We also discuss the fact that the even-construction and the preposed object within the low periphery differ from the elements in the high periphery because they are dislocated via A-movement. Our investigation points to notions of the rules of topic and focus that are more fine-grained than what was traditionally thought. Specifically, we maintain that while the domain of topic has specific syntactic features, its semantics doesn't always have to pertain to old information. We shall also identify interesting differences between the projections in the high periphery versus those in the low periphery. 1 [ 34 ] Cartography of Chinese Syntax [ 36 ] Cartography of Chinese Syntax (8) ??Lian Xiaoyu j , Zhangsan i a, t i dou piping le t j. even Xiaoyu Zhangsan top all criticize fp 'Even Xiaoyu, as for Zhangsan, he didn't criticize.' (9) Hua, lian meiguihua j , t j dou hen pianyi. Flowers even roses all very cheap 'As for flowers, even roses are cheap.' (10) *Lian meiguihua j , hua, t j dou hen pianyi. Even roses flowers all very cheap (11) Gei Xiaoyu, lian na ben hen gui de shu i , To Xiaoyu even that cl very expensive de book, Lisi dou mai le t i. Lisi all buy fp 'For Xiaoyu, even that expensive book, Lisi bought.' (12) *Lian na ben hen gui de shu i , gei Xiaoyu, Lisi even that cl very expensive de book to Xiaoyu Lisi dou mai le t i. all buy fp (13) Zhangsan i , wo gei [na ge shazi] i ji le Zhangsan I to that cl imbecile send asp yi feng xin! one cl letter 'Zhangsan, I sent a letter to that imbecile!' (14) *Wo gei [na ge shazi] i Zhangsan i , ji le yi I to that cl imbecile Zhangsan send asp one feng xin! cl letter When different kinds of topics co-occur, their relative order is fixed. The highest position is occupied by the Aboutness Topic, followed by the Hanging Topic and the Left Dislocaton is in the lowest part in the 'Topic Field' 2 (Badan and Del Gobbo 2010). The lian-XP in sentence initial position occupies always the lowest position of the whole CP, that is it has to be always to the right of all the topics. 2.2. Perfino: Grammatical Outline As lian, perfino can introduce various types of phrases: DP, PP, VP, CP, and time adv...

Against the Low Periphery as Phrase Markers: Two Types of Contrastive Dislocations in Mandarin Chinese*

“…In section 2, we review the properties of the low periphery in Mandarin Chinese, including the short CD and the lian ‐focus. We show that the former should be characterized as a type of contrastive topic (Badan & Del Gobbo 2015; Paul 2005, 2015, Xu & Langendoen 1985). In Section 3, it is argued that the asymmetries between the long and the short CDs in Mandarin Chinese go beyond the distinction of A‐ vs. A’‐movements (cf.…”

Testing language acquisition models: null and overt topics in Mandarin

“…The existence of such a Topic is parameterized. Belletti's (2001Belletti's ( , 2004 proposal that the architecture of the domain below IP and above vP parallels that of the clause-external left periphery has been shown to be applicable to Mandarin Chinese (Badan, 2008). As for the ba construction, Tsao (1987) has argued that the post-ba NP is a kind of secondary (inner) topic.…”

On the Fine Structure of the Left Periphery

“…Badan and Del Gobbo's (2011) study of the sentence-initial lian phrase in Mandarin is largely based on Shyu (1995) and Badan (2008) (see also references cited therein). Following Badan (2008), who analyzes a sentence-initial lian phrase as syntactically occupying the Topic position given that it can be optionally followed by a Topic marker and linked to a pronoun, as shown in (98a-b) ((98a) is taken from Badan and Del Gobbo 2011: (10)), Badan and Del Gobbo conclude that a sentence-initial lian phrase is syntactically a Topic and semantically a Focus: However, close examination reveals that Mandarin sentence-initial lian phrases are not compatible with most topic markers in Mandarin.…”

“…Badan and Del Gobbo's (2011) study of the sentence-initial lian phrase in Mandarin is largely based on Shyu (1995) and Badan (2008) (see also references cited therein). Following Badan (2008), who analyzes a sentence-initial lian phrase as syntactically occupying the Topic position given that it can be optionally followed by a Topic marker and linked to a pronoun, as shown in (98a-b) ((98a) is taken from Badan and Del Gobbo 2011: (10)), Badan and Del Gobbo conclude that a sentence-initial lian phrase is syntactically a Topic and semantically a Focus: However, close examination reveals that Mandarin sentence-initial lian phrases are not compatible with most topic markers in Mandarin. In particular, following the proposal in Li and Thompson (1981: 86) that the inventory of topic markers in Mandarin includes me, ne, and ba in addition to a, it is evident that most Topic markers, including me, ne, and ba, are incompatible with a sentence-initial lian phrase, as (99a-b) show: 99 The ill-formedness of these examples provides initial support for differentiating between sentence-initial lian phrases and "genuine" Topics in Mandarin.…”