This thesis explores the bi-comparatives in Mandarin Chinese, and the main focus is on
the debate between the Direct Analysis and the Reduction Analysis in terms of the analysis of
the underlying structure of the post-bi constituent.
The study of bi-comparatives is so popular in the fields of Chinese syntax and semantics
that many researchers of these two fields have proposed various kinds of analyses. A detailed
review of previous studies on Mandarin bi-comparatives is presented in Chapter 2, based on
the two major camps that each of them belongs to. In the camp of Direct Analysis, the central
idea is that the underlying structure of the post-bi constituent is just what we see on the surface,
and that comparative deletion does not occur inside the bi-constituent. As a result, under the
Direct Analysis, there is only one token of the predicate of comparison in the underlying
structure of a bi-comparative, which leads to the difficulties in explaining some sentences
where two tokens of the predicate of comparison are needed, for examples, bi-comparatives
with bei long passives, ba disposal constructions, verb copying constructions, and preposed
objects. As for the camp of Reduction Analysis, the essential argument is that the post-bi
constituent is in fact an elided CP in which one token of the predicate of comparison is deleted
via comparative deletion. However, three problems are faced by the Reduction Analysis: the
lack of subcomparatives, the lack of embedded standards, and the distribution of dou in
bi-comparatives. Although Erlewine (2017) and Hsieh (2017) have provided some possible
solutions to the three problems in their proposals, this thesis pointed out that their analyses are
not without problems.
In addition to the two major camps of the studies on bi-comparatives, a minor but
influential camp called the Hybrid Analysis is represented by Liu (2011). This camp advocates
that Mandarin comparatives can be classified into two types: phrasal and clausal
comparatives. Liu (2011) provides some criteria to distinguish between these two types of
bi-comparatives. He also adopts Paul’s (1993) c-command condition and his own parallelism
requirement to account for the lack of subcomparative and embedded standards in
bi-comparatives.
Nevertheless, this thesis points out some problems in Liu’s Hybrid Analysis. Therefore, a
revised Hybrid Analysis is proposed in this thesis. There are three major components in my
proposal. First of all, the distinction between phrasal and clausal bi-comparatives could be
made by looking at whether the elements in the standard of comparison form a complete
constituent. In addition, when the predicate of comparison is a DE-complement predicate, the
bi-comparative in question is a clausal one. Secondly, I propose the No Embedding Constraint
for bi-comparatives to account for the lack of embedded standards in bi-comparatives. Last but
not least, the distribution of dou in bi-comparatives is well-explained under my haplological
approach.
The study of Mandarin bi-comparatives is quite manifold, and this thesis only focuses on
a small portion of it. I believe that there is still a long way to go in the study of Mandarin
comparative constructions, but I hope this thesis indeed sheds some light for the future study
on this complicated but fascinating topic.
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