國
立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
constructions.4 The former three relations (9), (10), (11) can be paraphrased with a possessive construction. In (9), the topic this man and the following sentences bear a possessor-possessed relationship. In (10), the topic the thirty-six alternatives is whole while the following running is part of the the thirty-six alternatives. In (11), the topic fish is a class and the following tuna is a member of the class. In (12), however, the
semantic relation is merely relevance and cannot be paraphrased with a possessive structure.
2.2 Topic Chain
The term “topic chain” is introduced to describe a stretch of Chinese discourse.
Typical topic chains are defined by Tsao (1979) and later revised by Chu (1998). The definitions capture major features of topic chains. However, there are topic chains with elements not perfectly matching the definition. These structures are termed atypical topic chains in the present study. In this section, we will review the definition of both typical and atypical chains.
Tsao defines a topic chain as “a stretch of discourse composed of one, and often more than one, clause, headed by a topic which serves as a common link among all the clauses” (Tsao, 1979, p. vii). A topic is characterized as having a chaining function
4 Following Tsao (1979), we will call it double nominative construction in the present study. For a detailed argumentation, please see Tsao (1979: 132-149).
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
and “often extends its semantic domain over several sentences. The sentences under the domain of a topic form a topic chain” (Tsao, 1979, p. 221). Example (6) on page 10 is repeated below as (13) for illustration:
(13) (a) 那棵 樹i 花j 小，
Nei-ke shui huaj xiao that-CLASS tree flower small (b) 0i葉子k大，
0i yezik da leaf big (c) 0i很 難看，
0i hen nankan very ugly
(d) 所以 0i 我l沒買。
suoyi 0i wol mei mai so I not buy
‘That tree, its flowers were small. Its leaves were big. It was ugly so I didn’t buy it.’ (Tsao, 1979, pp. 92-93)
In (13), clauses (a)-(d) form a topic chain. According to Li & Thompson (1976) and Tsao (1979), the topic invariably occupies the S-initial position, like neike shu (那棵 樹) ‘that tree’ in clause (a). Then, its semantic domain is extended/shared to the
following clauses (b) , (c) and (d). The topic does not need to be stated explicitly in those clauses. The clauses are linked by the zero-form topic.
However, Chinese topic chains are not always represented by the neat structure.
For example, a topic may not always occupy the S-initial position. Below (14) is an example from Tsao (1979) for illustration.
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(14) (a) 這 件 衣裳 髒了 一塊i
Zhe-jian yishang zang-le yi kuaii this-CLASS clothes dirty-ASP a spot (b) 0i 洗了 半天 沒 洗掉
0i xi-le ban-tian mei xi-diao wash-ASP half-day not wash-off
‘This dress had a dirty spot on it. (I) washed it for a long time and didn’t get it off. ’ (Tsao, 1979, p. 210)
In example (14), Tsao recognizes clause (b) as a one-clause topic chain. He does not consider (a)-(b) to be a topic chain because yi kuai (一塊) ‘a spot’ does not occupy the S-initial position and is thus not considered a topic. According to Tsao’s (1979)
definition, yi kuai (一塊) ‘a spot’ becomes a topic in clause (b) when it occupies the S-initial position. Clause (b) forms a one-clause topic chain. However, Chu (1998) does not think that a single clause forms a topic chain. He treats (a)-(b) in (14) as a topic chain. To explain (14), Chu (1998) proposes another definition of topic chain:
“A topic chain is a set of clauses linked by a topic in the form of ZA (Zero Anaphora)”
(p. 338). According to Chu (1998), a topic does not necessarily occupy the S-initial position. Following his revised definition, clauses (a) and (b) in (14) form a topic chain.
Although Chu’s revision of the definition of topic chain is more flexible and thus accommodates more topic chain structures, there are several topic chains that still do not fit the definition. First, a topic chain with an embedded structure is pointed out by Chu (1998), in which a main topic chain may contain an embedded sub-topic-chain
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(or sub-chain). Chu (1998, p. 330) cited an example (15) from Shi (1989, p. 232) to explain:
‘Lisi that dude, I was wounded for saving him. (He) didn’t even come to see me but went to New York for vacation.’
In (15), portion (a) is not a clause but just a referent mentioned for later pick-up. It is picked up in (b) but not as a topic. It does not become a topic until (d) and continues to (e). The relationship between the main chain and the sub chain can be sketched below in (16).
(16) (a) Lisi zhe-ge jiahuoi
(b) woj……tai
(c) 0j……
(d) 0i……woj
(e) 0i……
In (16), it can be clearly seen that (a) and (d)-(e) form a main topic chain under the domain of Lisi zhe-ge jiahuo and that clauses (b)-(c), under the domain of wo, form
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another topic chain (called a sub-topic-chain), which is embedded in the main topic chain. Based on this example, Chu makes a point that “not all clauses are equal in their status in relation to the chain” (p. 332).
In addition to the embedded sub-chain, another less typical topic chain structure, called the telescopic chain is also observed by Chu (1998). In a telescopic chain, “two topic chains merge into each other at the end of one and the beginning of the other” (Chu, 1998, p. 332). According to Chu, the telescopic chain is more
common than the embedding within a topic chain. Below is an example that Chu cited from Ho (1993, p. 207):
(17) (a) 0i 到了 臥室 裡面 呢，
0i Dao-le woshi limian ne, arrive-ASP bedroom inside PART (b) 她i就 覺得 受不了，
‘Entering the bedroom, she felt she couldn’t take it anymore. In no time (she) was transformed back into her original form, (which) was a huge white snake, (that) coiled on her bed.’
This example has three short topic chains. The first one consists of (a)-(c) under the
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
domain of ta (她) ‘she;’ the second one consists of (c)-(d) under the domain of yuan xing (原形) ‘original form;’ the last one includes (d)-(e) under the domain of judade
bai she (巨大的白蛇) ‘huge white snake.’ Clause (c) as well as clause (d) is termed
the pivot, the former linking the first and the second chain while the latter linking the
second and the third chain. Chu notes that the telescopic chain, though common, presents a problem to analysts because there is no natural break between clauses. This structure is why Chinese sentences are sometimes regarded as liushuiju (流水句)
‘water-flowing sentence,’ meaning it is like non-stop flowing water.
The third atypical topic chain is topic chain with zero cataphora observed by Li (2005). She observes two atypical topic chain structures when analyzing topic chains for the purpose of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. She adopts Chu’s (1998) definition that a topic chain consists of at least two clauses which are linked by a coreferential relation between an overt NP topic and its zero form. However, against Tsao’s (1979) and Chu’s (1998) definition, she observes that a topic chain does not necessarily require an overt topic in the initial clause of a chain. Zero cataphora can occur in the first clause of a topic chain. Take (18) as an example. What is atypical about this topic chain (a)-(c) is that the clauses are linked by zero cataphora in (a) and (b). The zero forms in (a) and (b) cannot find their antecedent in the previous
discourse, so they are interpreted cataphorically. The topic is not overtly mentioned
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until (c), the third clause in this topic chain.
(18)
‘After he had an injection of camphor and a dose of medicine, he opened his eyes again.’ (Li, 2005, p. 57)
The fourth atypical topic chain, the topic chain without any overt topic, is also observed by Li (2005). This type of topic chain can be established without any overt topic in the chain. Please see the following example.
(19) (a) 他i是如此的年輕，
0i chun-jiao yongyuan fu-zhe hanqingde weixiao.
lip-corner forever wear-ASP loving smile.
(d) 0i每 星期日 自 講壇上 下來，
0i Mei xingqiri zi jiangtan-shang xialai, every Sunday from platform-on come-down, (e) 0i一定是 挾著 聖經，
0i yidingshi jia-zhe Shengjing, must tuck-ASP Bible,
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(f) 0i站 在 琴旁，
0i zhan zai qin-pang, stand at piano-side,
(g) 0i等著 施 女士 出去。
0i deng-zhe Shi Nushi chuqu.
wait-ASP Mrs. Shi go-out.
‘He was a well-built and handsome young man, and forever wearing the blissful smile of one in love. Every Sunday after his sermon, the pastor would tuck his Bible under his arm and step down to the piano to escort Mrs.
Shi out of the church.’ (Li, 2005, p. 73)
If the punctuation is neglected, this example contains one topic chain (a)-(g).
However, the author marks the boundary between (c) and (d) with a full stop. It is widely acknowledged that a Chinese full stop marks a major discourse break. In addition, it is clear that (a)-(c) and (d)-(g) are not continuous in terms of semantics.
Clauses (a)-(c) are about the pastor’s appearance while clauses (d)-(g) are about what he does every Sunday after the sermon. Clauses (a)-(c) and (d)-(g) each form a topic chain with the full stop as a boundary marker. Topic chain (a)-(c) is linked by ta (他)
‘he’ in (a). However, topic chain (d)-(g) is merely linked by zero anaphora, without any overt topic. This kind of topic chain does not match Tsao’s (1979) and Chu’s (1998) definition that a topic chain requires an overt topic.
In one of the recent studies on the Chinese topic continuation, a less restrictive definition of topic chain is proposed to include both typical and atypical topic chains.
A topic chain in Wang’s (2013) study is defined as: a series of clauses led by the same
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
topic5 (p. 109). According to Wang’s interpretation, the topic does not have to be overt as long as the clauses are under the domain of the same topic. In addition, a topic chain can have more than one covert topic, either in the form of full NP or pronoun. That is, a topic can appear first in a full NP and show up again in the same chain in the form of either a full NP or a pronoun.
So far, in this section, we have reviewed the definition of typical topic chains by Tsao (1979) and Chu (1998). We have also reviewed four examples of atypical topic chains: topic chain with an embedded structure, telescopic chain, topic chain with zero cataphora, and topic chain without any overt topic. In order to incorporate both typical and atypical topic chains in our analysis, the present study adopts the more flexible definition of topic chain by Wang (2013).