In a nutshell, my proposal is that the Chinese comparative conditional is a type of bare conditionals whose syntactic tree structure can be splitted into a tripartite representation, and the comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’, categorically being an adverb, is a polarity-like event variable bound by the necessity operator through unselective
binding (cf. Kamp (1981), Heim (1982), Nishigauchi (1990), Diesing (1992), Li (1992), Cheng (1995), Cheng and Huang (1996), Lin (1996, 1998), Beck (1997), and Tsai (2001)). This hypothesis is inspired by the following facts shown by Chinese comparative conditionals. First, like English comparative conditionals, the semantic interpretations of Chinese comparative conditional (47a-c) can be roughly formulated as (48a-c), in which we always have universal quantification over pairs and parts of the pair can be world as in (46a), individual as in (54b), or times as in (47c) (cf. (37a-c) and Beck (1997, 236-237)).21
(47) a. Zhangsan yue kao, yue hao. (world) Zhangsan more test more good
‘The more Zhangsan was tested, the better his grade will be.’
b. Nuhaizi yue da, yue piaoliang. (individual) Girl more big more beautiful
‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she is.’
c. Tianqi yue re, shui he-de yue duo. (time) Weather more hot water drink-DE more more
‘The hotter it is, the more water people will drink.’
(48) a. ∀w1, w2 [Zhangsan is tested later in w1 than in w2] → [Zhangsan is tested better in w1 than in w2].
b. ∀x, y [girl(x) & girl(y) & x is older than y] → [x is more beautiful than y].
c. ∀t1, t2 [It was hotter at t1 than at t2] → [People drink more water at t1 than at x2].
As (48a-c) illustrate, the subordinate clause always enters into the restriction in a way the same as that the if-clause in conditionals does, and the nuclear scope is provided by the matrix clause. These semantic characteristics lead us to say that, in Chinese
comparative conditionals, universal quantification seems to be a default. The following two facts further work in concert to suggest that Chinese comparative conditionals involve unselective binding: (A) Since universal quantification in Chinese comparative conditionals can be overwritten by an overt adverb of quantification, it is plausible for us to suggest that the quantificational force of Chinese comparative conditionals in fact comes from an adverb of quantification which takes the subordinate clause as its first argument and the matrix clause as its second argument, and (B) the number of variables quantified may be different. These facts are exemplified by (49a-c)-(50a-b),
respectively.
(49) a. Nuhaizi tongchang yue da, yue piaoliang.
Girl always more old more beautiful
‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she usually is.’
b. Nuhaizi daduo yue da, yue piaoliang.
Girl mostly more old more beautiful
‘In most cases, the older a girl is, the more beautiful she will be.’
c. Nuhaizi youshihou yue da, yue piaoliang.
Girl sometimes more old more beautiful
‘Sometimes, the older a girl is, the more beautiful she will be.’
(50) a. Nuhaizi yue gao, yue piaoliang, (jiu) yue rongyi bei xuanshang.
Girl more tall more beautiful then more easy BEI select
‘If a girl is taller and more beautiful, then it is more easy for her to be selected.’
b. ∀x, y [girl(x) & girl(y) & x is taller than y & x is more beautiful than y] → [x is more easy to be selected than y is].
Based on the facts above, it is reasonable to assume that Chinese comparative conditionals involve unselective binding and the necessity operator is the default (or natural) operator in cases without any adverb of quantification. According to Cheng and Huang (1996), in bare conditionals wh-words introduce variables bound by the
necessity operator through unselective binding. So, if we assume that the Chinese comparative conditional is a type of bare conditional, there must be some elements that introduce variables bound by the default operator in Chinese comparative conditionals.
We would like to suggest that the Chinese comparative conditional morpheme yue
‘more’ is such an element. Along the line of Beck (1997, 247-249), we suggest that the Chinese comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’ denotes a relation between a pair of variables, the comparative morpheme and a relation between variables and
degrees, as shown in (51) (cf. (40)).
(51) [[yue’]] (x1, x2) ([[-er’]]) (D<s, ,d, t>>) iff ∃d[d > 0 & [[-er’]] (D(x1))(d)(D(x2))]
Seen in this way, the relation denoted by the comparative conditional morpheme yue
‘more’ as in the first clause of (52a) (i.e., a relation between a pair of time variables, the comparative morpheme and a relation between time variables and degrees) can be compared to a comparing event: a comparison between the degree of temperature at t1
and that at t2. Since the proposition denoted by the first clause of (52a), in which yue
‘more’ appears, does not entail existence of a referent satisfying the description of the time variables t1 and t2, the two degree variables derived by mapping these two time variables (i.e., t1 and t2) into the scale associated with the adjective re ‘hot’ (i.e., temperature) cannot be identified, either (cf. (52b)).
(52) a. Tianqi yue re, shui he-de yue duo.
Weather more hot water drink-DE more more
‘The hotter it is, the more water people will drink.’
b. ∀t1, t2 [It was hotter at t1 than at t2] → [People drink more water at t1 than at t2].
Given this semantic characteristic, we suggest that yue ‘more’, which, as we suggest, denotes a comparing event, behaves like a polarity-like event variable whose use is
felicitous if and only if the local proposition in which yue ‘more’ appears does not entail existence of a referent satisfying the description of the comparing event (cf. Lin (1998, 230)). In other words, we consider the Chinese comparative conditional morpheme yue
‘more’ a polarity-like event variable bound by the necessity operator through
unselective binding. Assuming this, we would have the semantic representation (53a) simplified as (53b), in which the comparing event (or the relation denoted by the
comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’) is represented by the polarity-like event variable e (In spite of this, at some semantic level, (53b) still has the semantic
representation as in (53a)).
(53) a. ∀t1, t2[∃d[d > 0 & the max d2[hot(d2, λx[hott2(x)])(weather)] = d + the max d1[hott1(x)](weather)]] →
[∃d’[d’ > 0 & the max d2[more(d2, λx[moret2(x)])(amount of water consumed by people)] = d’ + the max d1[moret1(x)](amount of water consumed by people)]]
b. ∀e [the weather is e hot] → [people drink e more water]
Second, one of the most important distinctions between Chinese and English in forming comparative conditionals is shown by the contrast between (54a) and (54b) (cf.
footnote (17)).22
(54) a. Tianqi yue re, Zhangsan jiu juede yue lei.
Weather more hot Zhangsan then feel more tired
‘The hotter it is, the more tired Zhangsan feels.’
b. [CP [AP The hotter]i [C’ it is ti]], [CP [AP the more tired]j [C’ John feels tj]].
As (54b) shows, the adjective hot is overtly pied-piped along with the comparative conditional morpheme the … -er to [Spec, CP], but in Chinese comparative conditionals the adjective re ‘hot’ stays in situ along with the comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’. 23 The distinction between Chinese and English comparative conditionals in whether the adjective is overtly pied-piped to [Spec, CP] along with the comparative conditional morpheme is reminiscent of the most important and familiar typological distinction between Chinese and English: Chinese wh-questions are formed by leaving wh-words in situ while English by moving wh-words to [Spec, CP] (cf. Huang (1982)).
According to Cheng (1991, 1995), Li (1992), and Tsai (1994), wh-words in Chinese are polarity items – indefinite NPs which do not have inherent quantificational force but acquire their quantificational force in context, through the external element(s) that license and/or bind them. Hence, it is not implausible for us to say that behind the contrast between (54a) and (54b) is the inspiration: The comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘have’ is a polarity-like element unselectively bound by the default operator that is always available in conditionals if the Chinese comparative conditional is a type of bare conditionals.
Simply put, the distinction between Chinese and English in forming comparative conditionals, under our analysis, in fact can be reduced as a case of the parametric
variation between Chinese and English in forming wh-questions. This way of distinction between Chinese and English in forming comparative conditionals gets further support from the following fact: As Culicover and Jackendoff (1999, 554-556) point out, English comparative conditionals appear to have an internal structure involving a
long-distance dependence between the comparative phrases at the front and a gap within the CP, and the gaps in the two clauses (i.e., CPs) indeed show the typical constraints (i.e., island constraints) on long-distance dependence, as shown by (55a-c), taken from Culicover and Jackendoff (1999, 555), respectively.
(55) a. [The more counterexamples]i Mary says that Bill has helped Fred to discover ti, the less I believe her. (long-distance dependence)
b. *[The more food]i Mary knows a man that eats ti, the poorer she gets. (CNPC)
c. *[The fatter]i he goes to a doctor when he gets ti, the more he eats. (CED)
In contrast, the Chinese counterparts of (55a-c) are all grammatical, as (56a-c) illustrate (Example (56b) is provided by one of the reviewers).
(56) a. Ni chi-de yue duo, wo jiu xiangxin ni hui zhang-de yue pang.
You eat-DE more more I then believe you will grow-DE more fat
‘The more you eat, the fatter I believe you will grow.’
b. [CP [NP [CPYue ai piaoliang de] nuhaizi] [VP chi-de yue shao]]. (CNPC) More love beautiful DE girl eat-DE more less
‘The more a girl cares about her beautifulness, the less she eats.’
c. Ren yue jianjue, [[zai yue jiankun de shihou], [yue neng kefu People more constant at more difficult DE moment more can overcome kunnan]] (CED)
difficulty
‘If people are more constant, they are more likely to overcome difficulties when they are under more difficult situations.’
As we have argued, in Chinese comparative conditionals, the adjective/adverb/verb along with the comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’ stays in situ and the comparative conditional morpheme yue ‘more’ is a polarity-like event variable bound by the necessity operator through unselective binding. Since unselective binding which does not involve movement is insensitive to island constraints, the contrast between (55a-c) and (56a-c) in grammaticality thereby is expected.
So far, we have assumed that, like bare conditionals in which wh-wrods and their anaphoric counterparts must appear in different clauses, Chinese comparative
conditionals can have their syntactic tree structure splitted into a tripartite representation.
This assumption, however, is immediately challenged by the fact that it is not necessary for Chinese comparative conditional morphemes (i.e., yue’s ‘more’) to appear in
different clauses. For example, in (22b-c) (repeated as in (57a-b)), the two yue’s
‘more’s’ do not appear in different clauses. We shall argue that the syntactic tree
structure of cases like (57a-b) can be splitted into a tripartite representation by assuming Tsai’s (2001, 132) Extended Mapping Hypothesis (cf. Kamp (1980), Heim (1982), and Diesing (19992)) (cf. (58a-d)).24
(57) a. [IP [NP Yue tian de pingguo] [VP yue hao chi]].
More sweet DE apple more good eat
‘The sweeter an apple is, the more delicious it will be.’
d. [Topic/NP Yue hao de shu], [Comment/IP yue duo ren kan].
More good DE book more more people read
‘The better a book is, the more people will read it.’
(58) Extended Mapping Hypothesis:
a. Mapping applies cyclically, and vacuous quantification is checked derivationally.
b. Material from a syntactic predicate is mapped into the nuclear scope of a mapping cycle.
c. Material from XP immediately dominating the subject chain of a syntactic predicate (excluding that predicate) is mapped outside the nuclear scope of a mapping cycle. A subject chain is an A-chain with its tail in a subject
position.
d. Existential closure applies to the nuclear scope of a mapping cycle.
In (57a), material from VP (i.e., yue hao chi ‘more good eat’) is mapped into the nuclear scope and material from IP (excluding VP) into a restrictive clause (i.e., yue tian de pingguo ‘more sweet DE apple’). In a topic-comment construction like (57b), the whole IP counts a complex predicate with the null operator (semantically a lambda operator) as its open place. Thus, the tripartite representations of (57a-b) are as in (59a-b), respectively.
(59) a. ∀e [apples are e sweet] → [apples are e delicious]
b. ∀e [books are e good] → [people who read them are e more]
Our analysis has the following empirical and theoretical consequences. First, we provide a natural explanation for the anti-c-command effect shown by Chinese
comparative conditionals like (60a), in which the first yue ‘more’ c-commands the second one. According to our analysis, (60a) has a tripartite representation as in (60b).
(60) a. *[IP [NP Zhangsan] [VP yue xihuan [yue gui de dongxi]]].
Zhangsan more like more expensive DE thing
b. ∀e [… ? …] → [Zhangsan e xihuan things are e expensive]
Since there is no variable in the restrictive domain bound by the necessity operator, (60b) violates Prohibition Against Vacuous Quantification proposed by Cheng and
Huang (1996, 139) (cf. Kratzer (1989, 155)).
(61) Prohibition Against Vacuous Quantification
In a tripartite structure of quantification Q [A] [B], [X1, X2, …, Xn] (where n ≥ 1) are variables in A. For every variable in A, there must be an identical variable in B.
So, (60a) is ungrammatical. In other words, the anti-c-command condition is not a language-/construction-specific condition but a part of properties of Universal Grammar.
Second, the proposal that the Chinese comparative conditional is a type of bare conditionals in which yue ‘more’ is a polarity-like event variable bound by the necessity operator through unselective binding provides a natural account for the unboundedness requirement shown by the predicate of Chinese comparative conditionals. According to Lin (1998, 230), a polarity-like item is felicitous iff the local proposition in which it appears does not entail existence of a referent satisfying the description of it. The polarity-like nature of yue ‘more’ as in (62a) thereby implies that the proposition
denoted by the antecedent clause of (62a) fails to entail existence of a referent satisfying the spatio-temporal description of the event variable e (cf. (62c).
(62) a. Zhangsan yue kao, yue hao. (world) Zhangsan more test more good
‘The more Zhangsan is tested, the better his grade will be.’
b. ∀e [Zhangsan is tested e more] → [Zhangsan is tested e better]
c. ∀w1, w2 [Zhangsan is tested later in w1 than in w2] → [Zhangsan is tested better in w1 than in w2].
Hence, the predicate of Chinese comparative conditionals cannot be bounded because the bounded point will provide a specific reference point that satisfies to identify the comparing event spatio-temporally. So, the predicate of Chinese comparative
conditionals must be unbounded such as a state, an activity, or a derived multiple-event activity consisting of repeated achievement or semelfactive events. 25