Chapter 3 Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 7c
3.2.1 The structure of the ADQ
Recall that the ADQ can quantify its host nominal phrase like quantifier all in
English; hence, I suggest that the ADQ is a quantity-denoting expression (QP) (Huang
at al. 2009). Then, as aforementioned, the host nominal phrase can be either a QP or a
DP. Basically, the structure of a DP and that of a QP are similar, but only DP has a DP
layer, which denotes the referentiality of a nominal phrase (Hsieh 2008, Huang et al.
2009, Huang et al. 2014). The examples of QP and DP are shown in (92)-(9c),
respectively.
(92) San-ge xuesheng bu gou.
three-CL student not enough
‘Three students are not enough.s
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(9c) San-ge gaogaoshoushou mianmaojiaohao de nvhai zou-le
three-CL tall.and.slender good.looking DE girl walk-APS
jin-lai.
come.in
‘Three tall, slender and good looking girls walked in.s
According to Hsieh (2008), Huang et al. (2009) and Huang et al. (2014),
although the nominal phrase sanhge xuesheng ‘three studentss in (92) and sanhge
gacgacshcushcu mianmacjiachac de nvhai ‘three tall, slender and good looking girlss
in (9c) seem to have a similar surface form, they have different underlying structures.
To be specific, the structure of (92) does not contain a DP layer but that of (9c) does.
In (92), the nominal phrase sanhge xuesheng ‘three peoples in fact is a
quantity-denoting phrase so it does not have a DP layer, while in (9c), the nominal
phrase sanhge gacgacshcushcu mianmacjiachac de nvhai ‘three tall, slender and good
looking girlss has a DP layer. Due to the quantity-denoting property, I believe that the
ADQ is structurally like the quantity-denoting expression (QP) in (92). As to the
structure of the quantity expression, Borer (2005), Hsieh (2008), Huang et al. (2009)
and Huang et al. (2014) propose different structures for it, under different assumption
as to whether the nominal phrase in Chinese is right-branching or left-branching.
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Since this thesis is not concerned about this issue, I will simply adopt Borerss (2005)
structure for convenience, as shown in (94).14
(94) Quantity Phrase (#P)
a. san-ge ren
three-CL person
‘three peoples
14 According to Borer (2005), the Quantity phrase, #P, is responsible for the assignment of quantity to the nominal phrase. Furthermore, in the structure <e> stands an open value, which can be assigned different values. The script marks, # and DIV, indicate the category of the phrase.
three
#P
NP CLP
#s
ren ge
<e>
#<e>
DIV87 b. suoyou ren
all person
‘all people.s
Next, we shall move on to the structure of the constituent containing the ADQ
and its host nominal phrase. I propose that an ADQ is adjoined to its host nominal
phrase to form a constituent, like the English quantifier all and bcth in (88)-(89).
Quirk et al. (1972), Baker (1995) and Adger (200c) indicate that the English quantifier
all and bcth are pre-determiners and adjoin to the nominal phrase they quantify, as
shown in (95). Along the same line, I propose that the structure of the constituent
containing an ADQ and its associated nominal phrase is like the example (96).
suoyou
#P
NP
#s
ren
<e>
#88
89
ADQ and the pre-determiner quantifier all and bcth in English, I propose that the ADQ
adjoins to its host nominal phrase as well, as shown in (96a-b).
I will provide arguments for the structure I adopt for the ADQ and its host
nominal phrase. I will show that the ADQ and its host nominal phrase form a
constituent and that the ADQ adjoins to the host nominal phrase.
First, I will argue that the ADQ and its host nominal phrase form a constituent
based on constituency tests, as shown in (97)-(98), which support the structure in (96).
yi-dui fuqi
90 (97) Topicalization
[Na-dui fuqi liang-ge ren] i, wo hen xihuan ti.
that-CL husband.wife two-CL person I very like
‘I really like both of that married couple.s
(98) Relativization
Laoshi changchang ti-dao ti de [na-dui xiongdi liang-ge
teacher often mention DE that-CL brother two-CL
ren] i lai-le.
person come-ASP
‘Both of that pair of brothers, the teacher often mentioned, came.s
Given the constituency tests in (97)-(98), the ADQ and its host nominal phrase
can be topicalized and relativized together as a constituent.
Apart from the results of the constituency tests, I also find that the ADQ can
occur in all argument positions along with its host nominal phrase, as shown in (99).
That means they must be a constituent.
91 (99) a. Subject position
Na-dui fuqi liang-ge ren hen xihuan lvyou.
that-CL husband.wife two-CL person very like travel
‘Both of that married couple like travelling very much.s
b. Object position
Wo hen xihuan na-dui fuqi liang-ge ren.
I very like that-CL husband.wife two-CL person
‘I really like both of that married couple.s
c. Object position of prepositions
Dui na-dui fuqi liang-ge ren, wo hui geiyu
to that-CL husband.wife two-CL person I will give
wo zuida de zhufu.
I sincerest DE blessing
‘I will give both of that married couple my sincerest blessing.s
Taken together, it can be confirmed that the ADQ and its host nominal phrase
must form a constituent, which strengthens the legitimacy of the structure (96), in
which the ADQ adjoins to the host nominal phrase to form a bigger constituent.
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Next I will provide three pieces of evidence to argue for the proposal that the
ADQ adjoins to its host nominal phrase, as shown in (96). Firstly, given that the ADQ
always appears on the right periphery of its host nominal phrase, I claim that the ADQ
adjoins to the host nominal phrase on the right, as illustrated in (100).
(100) a. [tamen] liang-ge ren
they two-CL person
‘both of thems
b. [Zhangsan he Lisi] liang-ge ren
Zhangsan and Lisi two-CL person
‘both Zhangsan and Lisis
c. [Zhangsan he Lisi tamen] liang-ge ren
Zhangsan and Lisi they two-CL person
‘both Zhangsan and Lisi, they s
To explain further, as is well-known, the structure of nominal phrase in
Chinese can be complicated and different elements like pronoun, proper name,
classifier and so forth, can be piled up in a fixed order (Huang et al. 2009). To
illustrate, in (100), the proper name Zhangsan he Lisi ‘Zhangsan and Lisis must
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precede the pronoun tamen ‘theys in Chinese nominal structure. Under this
circumstance, no matter how many elements are piled up within a nominal phrase, the
ADQ will always stay in the rightmost position, which corresponds to the structure I
propose in (96), in which the ADQ adjoins to its host nominal phrase on the right.
Still another noteworthy argument is that the ADQ and its host nominal phrase
must be juxtaposed. Consider example (101) first.
(101) a. Laoshi changchang ti-dao ti de [DP [DP na-dui xiongdi]
teacher often mention DE that-CL brother
[QP liang-ge ren]]i lai-le.
two-CL person come-ASP
b. *Laoshi changchang ti-dao [DP ti [QP liang-ge ren]] DE
teacher often mention two-CL person de
[DP na-dui xiongdi]i lai-le.
that-CL brother come-ASP
‘Both of that pair of brothers, the teacher often mentioned, came.s
Examples in (101) indicates that the ADQ lianghge ren ‘two peoples and its
host nominal phrase nahdui xicngdi ‘that pair of brotherss form a constituent and the
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host nominal phrase nahdui xicngdi ‘that pair of brotherss is not allowed to move out
of this constituent. That is because the movement of the host nominal phrase would
violate the A-over-A principle (Chomsly 197c) (see (102)), which has been reduced
to Empty category principle (ECP) (Chomsly 1986).15
(102) A-over-A principle
If a transformation applies to a structure of the form [α…[A…]A…]α, where α is
a cyclic node, then it must be so interpreted as to apply to the maximal phrase of
the type A.
(Chomsly 197c:2c5)
Take (101) for instance. A-over-A principle forbids extraction of the nominal
phrase nahdui xicngdi ‘that pair of brotherss out of the more inclusive nominal phrase
nahdui xicngdi lianghge ren ‘both of that pair of brotherss, as shown in (101b).
Furthermore, to further support the structure of the ADQ and its host nominal
phrase, I will discuss the structural similarities between the ADQ and the appositive
expression in (10c) as well as that between the ADQ and the adnominal self-intensifier
expression in (104).16
15 Thanks for Prof. Jen Ting for pointing out this possibility to me.
16 In McKay (1991) and Siemund (200c), the adnominal quantifier is named the appositive
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(10c) William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright, died in 1616.
(104) Harold Macmillan himself has a difficult time.
In the literature, the structure of the appositive expression and the adnominal
self-intensifier expression in English are shown in (105) and (106), respectively.
(105)
(106)
As seen in (105), the appositive the greatest playwright adjoins to its host
nominal phrase William Shakespeare to form a constituent, as proposed by Aoun et al.
(2001). Likewise, in (106) the adnominal self-intensifier himself adjoins to its host
nominal phrase Harcld Macmillan (Moravcsik 1972, Edmondson and Plank 1978, self-intensifier so it is unsurprising that the appositive and the adnominal self-intensifier have a similar structure.
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McKay 1991, Siemund 200c). I claim that the Chinese appositive expression (cf.
Huang et. al. 2009) and the Chinese adnominal self-intensifier expression have the
same structure as English appositive expression and the English adnominal
self-intensifier expression (see ex. (107) and (108)).
(107) Na-dui fuqi, wo didi de pengyou, zuotian
that-CL husband.wife I brother DE friend yesterday
likai-le.
leave-ASP
‘That married couple, my brotherss friends, left yesterday.s
(108) Na-dui fuqi ziji zuotian likai-le.
that-CL husband.wife self yesterday leave-ASP
‘That married couple themselves left yesterday.s
I will provide some arguments for this claim. First, both the appositive and the
adnominal self-intensifier always occur to the right of their host nominal phrases, as
shown in (109) and (110), since they adjoin to their host nominal phrases on the right
to form a constituent (see ex. (105)-(106)).
97 (109) a. tamen, wo de gaozhong tongxue
they I DE high.school classmate
‘they, my high school classmatess
b. Zhangsan he Lisi tamen, wo de gaozhong tongxue
Zhangsan and Lisi they my DE high.school classmate
‘Zhangsan and Lisi, they, my high school classmatess
c. Zhangsan he Lisi liang-ge ren, wo de gaozhong tongxue
Zhangsan and Lisi two-CL person my DE high.school classmate
‘both Zhangsan and Lisi, my high school classmatess
(110) a. tamen ziji
they self
‘themselvess
b. Zhangsan he Lisi tamen ziji
Zhangsan and Lisi they self
‘Zhangsan and Lisi themselvess
c. Zhangsan he Lisi liang-ge ren ziji
Zhangsan and Lisi two-CL person self
‘both Zhangsan and Lisi themselvess
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In (109)-(110) respectively, no matter how many elements are included in the
host nominal phrase, the appositive wc de gaczhcng tcngxue ‘my high school
classmatess and the adnominal self-intensifier always occur to the right of their host
nominal phrases. These facts fit the structures proposed by Aoun et al. (2001) and
Siemund (200c) in (105) and (106), respectively.
Another argument for the claim that the Chinese appositive expression and the
Chinese adnominal self-intensifier expression have the same structure as English
appositive expression and the English adnominal self-intensifier expression is that the
Chinese appositive and adnominal self-intensifier need to be juxtaposed with their host
nominal phrases to form a constituent. Consider example (111)-(112).
(111) a. Laoshi changchang ti-dao ti de [DP [DP na-dui fuqi],
teacher often mention DE that-CL husband.wife
[DP wo didi zuihao de pengyou]]i lai-le.
I brother best DE friend come-ASP
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b. * Laoshi changchang ti-dao [NP ti [NP wo didi zuihao de
teacher often mention I brother best DE
pengyou]] de [NP na-dui fuqi]i lai-le.
friend DE that-CL husband.wife come-ASP
‘That married couple, my brotherss best friends, whom the teacher often
mentioned came.s
(112) a. zhe-xie shi dou yao guai ti fan-le zui
this-CL thing all should blame commit-ASP crime
de [DP [DP na-dui fuqi] [ziji]]i.
DE that-CL husband.wife self
b. *zhe-xie shi dou yao guai [NP ti [ziji] ] fan-le
this-CL thing all should blame self commit-ASP
zui de [NP na-dui fuqi]i.
crime DE that-CL husband.wife
‘The married couple who did crimes themselves should be blamed.s
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In (111)-(112), the extraction of the host nominal phrase nahdui fuqi ‘that
married couples out of the constituent, containing them and their host nominal phrases,
alone is not allowed.17
This supports the claim that the Chinese appositive and adnominal
self-intensifier share the similar structure to the English appositive and adnominal
self-intensifier since the structures of the appositive expression and the adnominal
self-intensifier expression in (105) and (106) do not allow the extraction of the
elements within the nominal phrase containing the appositive or adnominal
self-intensifier and their host nominal phrases. The extraction violates the A-over-A
principle (see (102)).
Based on the distribution and properties of the English appositive and
adnominal self-intensifier and the Chinese appositive and adnominal self-intensifier, I
argue that they share a similar structure, as shown in (105)-(106).
Now, recall that the structure of the constituent containing the ADQ and its
host nominal phrase (see ex (96)). It is parallel to the structure of the appositive
expression and the adnominal self-intensifier expression (see ex (105)-(106)). Apart
from the observations that the ADQ, the appositive expression and the adnominal
self-intensifier expression need to be on the rightmost position to their host nominal
17 Since in Chinese ziji ‘selfs can be an argument I think that the example (112b) can be acceptable only when ziji ‘selfs is treated as an argument. This possibility is not concerned in this thesis.
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phrases and that the host nominal phrase of the ADQ, the appositive expression and
the adnominal self-intensifier expression cannot be extracted out of the more inclusive
constituent to avoid the violation of the A-over-A principle, the ADQ, the appositive
expression and the adnominal self-intensifier expression are interchangeable, which is
a powerful argument for the structure (96), as shown in (11c)-(114).
(11c) a. Na-dui fuqi, wo didi zuihao de pengyou,
that-CL husband.wife I brother best DE friend
liang-ge ren zuotian likai-le.
two-CL person yesterday leave-ASP
b. Na-dui fuqi, liang-ge ren, wo didi zuihao
that-CL husband.wife two-CL person I brother best
de pengyou, zuotian likai-le.
DE friend yesterday leave-ASP
‘Both of that married couple, my brotherss best friends, left yesterday.s
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(114) a. Zhe dou yao guai na-dui fuqi ziji
this all should blame that-CL hansband.wife self
liang-ge ren.
two-CL person
b. Zhe dou yao guai na-dui fuqi liang-ge
this all should blame that-CL hansband.wife two-CL
ren ziji. .
person self
‘Both of that married couple who commited crimes themselves should be
blamed.s
In (11c)-(114), the AVQ can change its position with the appositive expression
and the adnominal self-intensifier expression. This supports the structure, proposed in
(96). Under my analysis that all of the constructions share an adjunction structure, it is
predicted that their positions are interchangeable.
To sum up, the use of the ADQ is to quantify its host nominal phrase so it should
be a QP which is a quantity-denoting expression. Then, I propose that the ADQ
adjoins to its host nominal phrase, as shown in (96). This structure is parallel to that of
the consitutent containing the appositive expression or the adnominal self-intensifier
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expression and their host nominal phrases. The proposed structure can be sustained by
examining the similarities among the ADQ, the appositive expression and the
adnominal self-intensifier expression. Furthermore, the most crucial piece of evidence
for the structure (96) is that the ADQ can change its position with either the
appositive expression or the adnominal self-intensifier expression, which means they
share an adjunct structure.