Chapter 2 Properties and Previous Analyses of the RNR in General
2.8 Chapter summary
In this chapter, we have shown the general properties of English RNR constructions and have reviewed previous significant literature on the RNR. As can be seen from Table 8, Sabbagh‘s (2007) version of ATB-movement approach, unlike the traditional versions, explains the properties of constraints on typical syntactic movements. The PF-deletion approach is argued to solve the difficulties which would arise under the traditional
ATB-movement approaches. Assuming two copies of the RNR target and no overt movement involved, the PF-deletion approach easily avoids violations induced by the movement
constraints, sloppy reading, and vehicle change. Nevertheless, neither the ATB-movement approach nor the PF-deletion approach can analyze the summative agreement in RNR. This property of RNR is specifically explained under the MD approach. Yet, it fails to explain sloppy reading and asymmetric properties. The external remerge approach captures
asymmetric licensing of NPI and verbal inflection mismatch; nevertheless, the movement of the RNR target to a non c-commanding position is a theoretic problem. The eclectic approach is proposed since certain properties of RNR are in complementary distribution. However, 1. Right Edge Restriction (RER)
2. Non-constituency
3. Coordinate Structure Constraint (CSC) 4. Right Roof Constraint (RRC) violation
5. Island insensitivity
6. P-stranding
7. Strict/sloppy readings ?
8. Asymmetric vehicle change
9. Asymmetric licensing of NPI
10. Licensing of relational modifiers ?
11. Scope ambiguity
12. Summative agreement ?
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such claims seem to be refuted by empirical evidence—the occurrence of one property cannot be blamed for the absence of another property. Last but not the least, the sparse approach claims an asymmetric c-command relation and the RNR is explained by extra-grammatical inferencing. Still, it needs to specify how the process of the inferencing can account for RNR properties.
In the next chapter, we will first present the general properties of Chinese RNR and make comparison between Chinese RNR and English RNR. Then we will discuss two previous approaches proposed to the Chinese RNR in the literature.
Table 8 Summary of different approaches to RNR
Approaches57
Chapter 3
Properties and Previous Analyses of the Chinese RNR
In chapter 2, we have seen the general properties of English RNR and have reviewed three main approaches (i.e. TB-movement, PF-deletion, and MD) and two recently proposed approaches (i.e. the eclectic approach and the sparse approach.) In this chapter, we aim to show that (i) Chinese RNR shares many similarities with the English one except for the asymmetric island effects and asymmetric P-stranding, (ii) no asymmetric vehicle change, summative agreement, and scope ambiguity are observable in Chinese RNR, and (iii) two analyses of Chinese RNR, namely Cheng‘s (2012) multidominance approach and Wang‘s (2014a, b) approach with TEC plus the leftward focus movement. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 3.1 presents the general properties of Chinese RNR. Specifically, there are some restrictions on Chinese RNR, which diverges from the English counterpart. Section 3.2 reviews two previous works on Chinese RNR. Finally the summary is given in section 3.3.
3.1 General Properties of Chinese RNR
3.1.1 Similarities between English RNR and Chinese RNR Right Edge Restriction (RER)
As in English RNR, the RER is also observed in Chinese RNR (Wang 2014b). The RNR target shangban ‗work‘ in (1a) is at the rightmost position of each conjunct, following RER.
The illicit (1b) results from the RNR target mingtian ‗tomorrow‘ not being at the right peripheral of each conjunct.
(1) a. [Zhangsan mingtian hui qu ____], keishi [Lisi mingtian bu hui qu ____]
Zhangsan tomorrow will go but Lisi tomorrow not will go
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shangban
work‗Zhangsan will, but Lisi won‘t go to work tomorrow.‘
b. *[Zhangsan __ hui qu shangban], keishi [Lisi ___ bu hui qu shangban], Zhangsan will go work but Lisi not will go work
mingtian
tomorrow
‗Zhangsan will, but Lisi won‘t go to work tomorrow.‘
In addition, Wang (2014b) observes that RER is not enough to account for the cases of Chinese RNR. Seen in (2), the RNR target is at the rightmost in each conjunct, yet, the sentences are unacceptable.
(2) a. Descriptive Complement
*[Zhangsan kan shu kan-de ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-de ____], hen kuai Zhangsan read book read-DE Lisi also read book read-DE very fast
(Wang 2014b)
b. Resultative Complement
*[Zhangsan kan shu kan-de ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-de ____], hen lei Zhangsan read book read-DE Lisi also read book read-DE very tired
(Wang 2014b) c. Duration Phrase
*[Zhangsan kan shu kan-le __], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-le ___], san-ge xiaoshi Zhangsan read book read-Asp Lisi also read book read-Asp three-Cl hour
(Wang 2014b)
d. Frequency Phrase
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*[Zhangsan kan shu kan-le ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-le ____], san-ci Zhangsan read book read-Asp Lisi also read book read-Asp three-time
(Wang 2014b)
However, we do not agree with Wang‘s judgment for (2). Instead, there are acceptable examples of the RNR containing the above four types of elements. Just like English RNR, Chinese RNR does obey RER, the precondition for deriving RNR as in (3-6). Particularly, if we follow Huang, Li and Li (2009), the phrase following descriptive and resultative de is also subcategorized.
(3) Descriptive Complement
a. [Zhangsan kan shu kan-de ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-de ____], jinjin Zhangsan read book read-DE Lisi also read book read-DE interest
you wei
have interest
b. [Zhangsan kan shu kan-de ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-de ____], quan Zhangsan read book read-DE Lisi also read book read-DE all
sheng guan zhu
spirit focus attention (4) Resultative Complementa. [Zhangsan da-de Lisi ___], [Wangwu ye da-de Lisi______],tou po Zhangsan hit-DE Lisi Wangwu also hit-DE Lisi head break
xie liu
blood flow
b. [Zhangsan kan shu kan-de ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-de ____], tou Zhangsan read book read-DE Lisi also read book read-DE head
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hun yan hua
dizzy eye woozy (5) Duration Phrase[Zhangsan kan shu kan-le ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-le ____], zheng Zhangsan read book read-Asp Lisi also read book read-Asp completely
zheng ba-ge xiaoshi
completely eight-Cl hour (6) Frequency Phrase
[Zhangsan kan shu kan-le ____], [Lisi ye kan shu kan-le ____], chaoguo Zhangsan read book read-Asp Lisi also read book read-Asp over
san-ci
three-time
Non-constituency
The RNR target in Chinese may not be a traditional syntactic constituent which can undergo leftward movement or be clefted (cf. chapter 2). The RNR target can be a constituent as a DP in (7a), or a clause in (7b). Besides, non-constituent RNR targets are allowed as in (7c), containing two objects of the double complement construction.
(7) a. Zhangsan dong-le dan Lisi bu mingbai,
zhe ge daoli
Zhangsan understand-Asp but Lisi not understand this Cl reason‗Zhangsan understands but Lisi doesn‘t understand this reason.‘
b. Zhangsan zuotian cai faxian, dan Lisi zhiqian jiu zhidao, Zhangsan yesterday just discover but Lisi before already know
Wangwu xihuan dubo
Wangwu like gambling
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‗Zhangsan just discovered yesterday but Lisi already knew before that Wangwu likes gambling.‘
c. Zhangsan zengsong er Lisi ye zengsong -le, Wangwu yi-ben
shu
Zhangsan give and Lisi also give-Asp Wangwu one-Cl book‗Zhangsan gave and Lisi also gave Wangwu a book.‘
In particular, the non-constituent involving in (7c) can be seen from the ungrammaticality of the leftward movement as in (8a) and of the pseudo-cleft construction as in (8b) (cf. Huang, Li, and Li 2009).
(8) a. *[Wangwu yi-ben shu] Zhangsan g zengsong-le Wangwu one-Cl book Zhangsan give-Asp
‗[Wangwu a book] Zhangsan gave.‘
b. *Zhangsang zengsong-le de shi Wangwu yi-ben shu Zhangsan give-Asp DE be Wangwu one-Cl book
‗What Zhangsan gave was Wangwu a book.‘
Coordinate Structure Constraint (CSC)
Both English and Chinese RNR respect Coordinate Structure Constraint. The
representation in which a movement chain starts from a single conjunct and ends out of the coordinate structure is banned. Extraction of the RNR target in two conjuncts (rather than all three conjuncts) as in (9) and (10) is prohibited. In contrast, the grammatical (11) indicates that the CSC is observed.
(9) *[Zhangsan jia fujin you zahuo dian], [Lisi gongsi pangbian you _____], Zhangsan home near have grocery store, Lisi office next to have
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[Wangwu xuexiao pangbian ye you_____], bianli
shangdian
Wangwu school next to also have convenience store‗There‘s a grocery store near Zhangsan‘s home, a convenience store next to Lisi‘s office and one next to Wangwu‘s school.
(10) *[Zhangsan jia fujin you _____], [Lisi gongsi panbian you zahuo dian], Zhangsan home near have Lisi office next to have grocery store [Wangwu xuexiao pangbian ye you_____], bianli
shangdian
Wangwu school next to also have convenience store
‗There is a convenience store near Zhangsan‘s home, a grocery store next to Lisi‘s office, and a convenience store next to Wangwu‘s school.‘
(11) [Zhangsan jia fujin you _____], [Lisi gongsi panbian you_____], Zhangsan home near have Lisi office next to have
[Wangwu xuexiao pangbian ye you_____], bianli
shangdian
Wangwu school next to also have convenience store‗There‘s a convenience store near Zhangsan‘s home, one next to Lisi‘s office, and one next to Wangwu‘s school.
Strict/sloppy readings
Both English and Chinese RNR exhibit strict/sloppy readings in RNR.
(12) Zhangsan xihuan, dan Lisi bu xihuan, ta
de zhaopian
Zhangsan like but Lisi not like he DE picture‗Zhangsan likes, but Lisi doesn‘t like, his picture.‘
a. Zhangsan likes Zhangsan‘s picture, but Lisi doesn‘t like Lisi‘s picture. (sloppy) b. Zhangsan likes Zhangsan‘s picture, but Lisi doesn‘t like Zhangsan‘s picture. (strict) c. Zhangsan likes Lisi‘s picture, but Lisi doesn‘t like Lisi‘s picture. (strict)
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A RNRed pronoun can be a bound variable which simultaneously refers to the subject in the first and in the second conjunct as in (12a). Besides, it can refer to only the subject in the first or in the second conjunct, as in (12b) and (12c). Note that a strict reading of the RNR target can be seen clearly by forcing the two subjects to differ in gender, as in (13).
(13) Zhangsan xihuan, dan Mali bu xihuan, ta
de zhaopian
Zhangsan like but Mary not like he/she DE picture‗Zhangsan likes, but Mary doesn‘t like, his/her picture.‘
a. Zhangsan likes Zhangsan‘s picture, but Mary doesn‘t like Zhangsan‘s picture. (strict) b. Zhangsan likes Mary‘s picture, but Mary doesn‘t like Mary‘s picture. (strict)
If the RNR target is his picture, it can only refer to Zhangsan as in (13a); on the other hand, if the RNR target is her picture, it can only refer to Mali as in (13b).
Asymmetric licensing of negative polarity items
An NPI is possible to be the RNR target in Chinese as renhe ‗any‘ in (14) and the indefinite shenme20 ‗any/some‘ in (15).
(14) Zhangsan mei mai er Lisi ye mei mai renhe
shu
Zhangsan not buy and Lisi also not buy any book‗Zhangsan didn‘t buy, and Lisi didn‘t buy, any books.‘
(15) Zhangsan mei chi Lisi ye mei chi, shenme dongxi Zhangsan not eat Lisi also not eat what thing
20 Wh-words in Mandarin Chinese have both an interrogative interpretation and a non-interrogative indefinite one as well (Huang 1982). Li (1992) observes that syntactically, the non-interrogative wh-words require a c-commanding non-interrogative wh licensor. Semantically, wh-words occurs in contexts where the truth value is (i) negated in negation, (ii) not fixed in questions, conditionals, non-factive verb complements, and (iii) not asserted directly (e.g., seem, probably, circumstantial le).
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‗Zhangsan didn‘t eat, and Lisi didn‘t eat, anything.‘
In both examples, the NPI can be interpreted as in the immediate scope of its licensor in each conjunct, deriving the interpretation that ‗neither Zhangsan nor Lisi bought any book‘ and
‗Neither Zhangsan nor Lisi ate anything‘ as in (14) and (15) respectively. Now consider ban
‗half‘ in (16) and (17).
(16) a. Zhangsan chi-le
ban-wan mian
Zhangsan eat-Asp half-Cl noodle‗Zhangsan ate a half bowl of noodles.‘
b. Zhangsan mei chi ban-wan mian Zhangsan not eat half-Cl noodle
‗Zhangsan didn‘t eat any noodles.‘
(17) Zhangsan bu xiang chi Lisi ye bu xiang chi, ban-wan mian Zhangsan not want eat Lisi also not want eat, half-Cl noodle
‗Zhangsan doesn‘t want to eat, and Lisi also doesn‘t want to eat, any noodles.‘
(Wang 2014b)
Besides a literal meaning ‗half‘ as in (16a), ban can be an NPI like renhe ‗any‘ with the appropriate NPI licensor (e.g., mei ‗not‘) as in (16b), meaning ‗any noodles‘. As for the RNR example in (17), the NPI ban can be properly licensed by mei ‗not‘ in each conjunct (Wang 2014).
Recall that if there is only one instance of the NPI licensor in the RNR, the sentence is well-formed when the licensor is in the second conjunct rather than in the first conjunct (cf.
Hartmann 2000). Wang (2014b) finds a similar pattern in Chinese RNR. The grammatical (18a) shows that the NPI renhe ‗any‘ can be licensed by a negative operator in the second
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conjunct, rather than by a negative operator in the first conjunct as in the ungrammatical (18b).
(18) a. Zhangsan mai-le dan Lisi mei mai renhe
shu
Zhangsan buy-Asp but Lisi not buy any book‗Zhangsan bought, but Lisi didn‘t buy, any books.‘
b. *Lisi mei mai dan Zhangsan mai-le
renhe shu
Lisi not buy but Zhangsan buy-Asp any book ‗Lisi didn‘t, but Zhangsan bought, any books.‘Wang also notices that the RNRed ban ‗half‘ is ambiguous because it has both a literal meaning half and an NPI meaning any. Consider (19).
(19) a. Zhangsan xiang chi, keshi Lisi bu xiang chi ban-wan mian Zhangsan want eat but Lisi not want eat half-Cl noodle
‗Zhangsan wants to eat noodles, but Lisi doesn‘t want to eat any noodles.‘
(Wang 2014b) b.*Lisi bu xiang chi, keshi Zhangsan xiang chi ban-wan mian
Lisi not want eat but Zhangsan want eat half-Cl noodle
(Intended meaning: Lisi doesn‘t want to eat any noodles, but Zhangsan wants to eat a half bowl of noodles.)
(Derived meaning: Lisi doesn‘t want to eat a half bowl of noodles, but Zhangsan wants to eat a half bowl of noodles.)
If the NPI licensor bu ‗not‘ is in the second conjunct as in (19a), the NPI reading of ban wan
mian ‗any noodles is available only in the second conjunct; if bu ‗not‘ is in the first conjunct
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as in (19b), the NPI reading is unavailable even in the first conjunct.
Licensing of relational modifiers
Just as English RNR licenses relational modifiers (e.g., same, different, and each other), Chinese RNR does, too. Relational adjectives such as xiangtong ‗same‟ and butong ‗different‘
can occur in Chinese RNR, yielding a conjunct-internal reading (i.e. a distributive reading) and a conjunct-external reading.
(20) a. Zhangsan mai-le er Lisi zu-le
xiangtong/butong de shu
Zhangsan buy-Asp and Lisi rent-Asp same/different DE book‗Zhangsan bought and Lisi rented the same/different books.‘ [internal external]
b. Zhangsan mai -le
xiangtong/butong de shu
er Lisi zu -le Zhangsan buy-Asp same/different DE book and Lisi rent-Aspxiangtong/butong de shu
same/different DE book
‗Zhangsan bought the same/different books, and Lisi rented the same/different books.‘
[*internal external]
Example (20a) has two interpretations: (i) the books Zhangsan bought were identical to/different from the books Lisi rented (i.e. internal reading) and (ii) the books Zhangsan bought were identical to/different from someone else and the books Lisi rented were identical to/different from someone else (i.e. external reading). Crucially, the internal reading would not be available if the RNR target is pronounced in each conjunct as in (20b).
In addition to the relational adjectives xiangtong/butong ‗same/different‘, Cheng (2012) observes that the relational pronoun bici ‗each other‘ is possible to occur in the RNR target.
See example (21).
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(21) a. Zhangsan yong shou er Lisi yong qiubang da-le bici
Zhangsan with hand while Lisi with bat hit-Asp each.other
‗Zhangsan hit Lisi with hand, while Lisi hit Zhangsan with a bat.‘ (Cheng 2012) b.* Zhangsan yong shou da-le
bici
er Lisi yong qiubang Zhangsan with hand hit-Asp each.other while Lisi with bat da-lebici
hit-asp each.other
‗Zhangsan hit Lisi with hand, while Lisi hit Zhangsan with a bat.‘ (Cheng 2012)
Pronouncing bici ‗each other‘ once is licit as in (21a) whereas pronouncing it twice is illicit as in (21b). This contrast shows that syntactically, relational pronouns need a plural
antecedent, rather than either of the two singular DPs alone.
3.1.2 Differences between English RNR and Chinese RNR Asymmetric island sensitivity
Unlike English RNR, Chinese RNR shows asymmetric island effects. First look at (22), in which both conjuncts involve an adjunct island.
(22) Adjunct island
*[wo bu hui jia gei Zhangsan yinwei wo taoyan ____], [dan Mali I not will marry to Zhangsan because I hate but Mary hui jia gei Zhangsan yinwei ta xihuan____], you qian
ren
will marry to Zhangsan because she likes have money people‗I will not marry Zhangsan because I hate, but Mary will marry Zhangsan because she loves, rich people.‘
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The RNR target in (22) is part of the adjunct and the sentence is ruled out. Note that the grammaticality of (23) cannot be used to argue for island insensitivity in RNR. This is
because in Chinese, if wh-phrases undergo movement, the movement takes place in LF, not in overt syntax. Therefore, the well-formedness of (23) may be due to the covert movement of
wh-phrase at LF, and it is irrelevant to the island conditions constraining overt movement.
Example (23) is thus not a legitimate sentence to examine island effects in Chinese RNR.
(23) Wh-island
[Zhangsan xiangzhidao weishenme____], keshi [Lisi xiangzhidao shenme
Zhangsan wonder why but Lisi wonder what
shihou____], ni
yao likai
time you want leave‗Zhangsan wonders why, but Lisi wonders when, you will leave.‘
In addition to the RNR target contained in the adjunct island in both of the conjuncts, consider (24) for the illustration of asymmetric island effects.
(24) a. Zhangsan haizai kaolu yao-bu-yao jiaru dan Lisi mashang jujue-le Zhangsan still consider yes-not-yes join but Lisi right.away reject-Asp Wangwu de tiyi yinwei ta taoyan de Mali ye jiaru-le Wangwu DE suggestion because he hate DE Mary also join-Asp
bianlun she
debate club
‗Zhangsan still considers whether to join or not, but Lisi rejected Wangwu‘s suggestion right away because Mary who he hates also joined the debate club.‘
b.* Lisi mashang jujue-le Wangwu de tiyi yinwei ta taoyan
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‗Lisi rejected Wangwu‘s suggestion right awaybecause Mary who he hates also joined, but Zhangsan still considers whether to join the debate club or not.‘
Example (24a) is well-formed with the adjunct contained in the second conjunct. However, if the adjunct is inside the first conjunct as in (24b), the sentence is ill-formed. The contrast in (24) indicates that island effects arise in the first conjunct, not in the second conjunct. That is, Chinese RNR exhibits asymmetric island effects in the first conjunct. Also note that it is impossible to test relative clause islands in Chinese RNR.21
(25) *Zhangsan renshi [ yi-ge [xue-le _____] de nuhai] er Lisi renshi Zhangsan know one-Cl learn-Asp DE girl and Lisi know [san-ge [ jiao-le _____ ] de nansheng], fayu
three-Cl teach-Asp DE boy French
‗Zhangsan knows a girl who learns, and Lisi knows three men who teach, French. ‘
Chinese relative clauses are head-final as in (25). The RNR target involving part of the relative clause would inevitably violate RER in the derivation of the RNR sentence. That is,
21 Cheng (2012) wrongly attributes the ungrammaticality of (i) as the violation of island conditions.
(i)*Zhangsan renshi [ yi-ge [ t1 mai-le t2] de nuhai1 ] er Lisi renshi Zhangsan know one-Cl buy-Asp DE girl and Lisi know [san-ge [ t3 du-le t2 ] de nanhai3 [ zhe-ben shu]2
three-CL read-Asp DE boy this-Cl book
‗Zhangsan knows a girl who bought, and Lisi knows three boys who read this book‘ (Cheng 2012)
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the ungrammaticality of (25) may be due to the violation of RER, and we cannot examine whether (25) is sensitive to island conditions or not. Taken together, we conclude that Chinese RNR shows asymmetric island effects.
Asymmetric P-stranding
Recall that in English, P-stranding is allowed in leftward movement and RNR, shown in (26a) and (26b) respectively. Crucially, whether the stranded preposition lies in the first conjunct in (27a) or in the second conjunct in (27b) does not affect the grammaticality.
(26) a. Whati are they talking about ______ i? (Sabbagh 2007) b. Josh walked suddenly into ______, and Maria stormed quickly out of ______, the
dean’s office.
(Sabbagh 2007)(27) a. John talked about, and Mary ignored, the man you met in Paris. (Bošković 2004) b. Mary ignored, and John talked about, the man you met in Paris. (Bošković 2004)
In Chinese, P-stranding is generally prohibited (Li and Thompson 1981, Huang 1982).
Specifically, neither leftward nor rightward P-stranding is allowed. Example (28) shows that the preposition phrase guanyu waishi de wenti ‗the problem of eating out‘ is at the
sentence-peripheral position. Neither the leftward nor the rightward P-stranding is acceptable as in (29a) and (29b) respectively.
(28) women taolun-guo hendou ci
guanyu waishi
de wenti we discuss-Asp many time about eat-out DE problem‗We discussed about the problem of eating out many times.‘
(29) a. Leftward P-stranding
* waishi de wenti women taolun-guo hendou ci guanyu
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eat-out DE problem we discuss-Asp many time about
‗Eating out, we discussed many times.‘
b. Rightward P-stranding
*women taolun-guo guanyu hendou ci waishi de wenti we discuss-Asp about many time eat-out DE problem
‗We discussed about many times the problem of eating out.‘
P-stranding is not acceptable in Chinese RNR as in (30).
(30) *women cai taolun wan guanyu, dan tamen yijing biaojue wan guanyu we just discuss finish about but they already vote finish about
biye luxing de xingcheng
graduation trip DE itinerary
‗We just discussed about, but they already voted about, graduation trip itinerary. ‘
Interestingly, Chinese allows a preposition to be stranded in the second conjunct of RNR.
Consider the contrast in (31).22
(31) a. *Zhangsan tanlun
guanyu er Lisi
hulueni zai bali yujian
Zhangsan talk about and Lisi ignore you in Paris meetde nansheng
22 Similar to Chinese RNR, Ibnbari (2011) observes that in Russian, when there is only one preposition, it is
22 Similar to Chinese RNR, Ibnbari (2011) observes that in Russian, when there is only one preposition, it is