Chapter 4 Analysis of Mandarin Locative Inversion
4.3 Proposed Analysis
4.3.2 Thematic Hierarchy
As discussed in section 4.2.5, the option of mapping the participants to the syntax in Mandarin is not as free as claimed by HLL (2009) when a lexical verb has no light verb in it. We claim that even though the transitive verb in Mandarin can take the Lv-less option, the mapping of participants of the event to the syntax has to follow a thematic hierarchy, which may be specific to Mandarin Chinese. We propose a thematic hierarchy, as schematized in (115).
(115) Agent/Experiencer >> Instrument/Location >> Theme >> Goal9
Although the thematic hierarchy has been argued to be universal by some researchers (Kiparsky 1985, Croft 1991, Baker 1996), there has been little agreement about the
“right” ranking of thematic roles10 to date. As Levin and Rappaport (2005) indicate, in some studies (Givon 1984, Belletti and Rizzi 1988), the thematic hierarchy is simply used to capture a local empirical generalization underlying a specific linguistic phenomenon. Therefore, it is difficult to propose a single universal ranking of semantic roles which can capture all linguistic phenomena. Newmeyer (2002) also takes the multiple rankings as evidence to doubt whether there exists a thematic hierarchy provided by UG.
We argue that a preverbal locative phrase denotes location while a postverbal locative phrase denotes goal. Let’s compare the two sets of examples below.
9 Rappaport and Levin (2000) observe that the notion of goal is not understood in the same way in previous studies. They assume that there are two kinds of goals, recipient and spatial goal. The term
‘spatial goal’ is used to indicate the goal in a change of location event and the term ‘recipient’ is used to indicate the intended possessor in a transfer of possession event.
10 The relative ranking of location or goal with respect to theme is one of the most controversial issues.
Some propose that theme is ranked higher than location and goal (Fillmore 1971, Speas 1990, Baker 1997) while others argue for the ranking of location or goal above theme (Jackendoff 1972, Grimshaw 1990, Van Valin 1990).
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(116) a. Zai zhuo-shang fang-le shu.
P. table-top put-PER book
‘On the table is put a book.’
b. Ta fang-le shu zai zhuo-shang.
he put-PER book P. table-top
‘He put a book on the table.’
(117) a. Zai zhuo-shang fang-zhe shu.
P. table-top put-DUR book
‘On the table is put a book.’
b. *Ta fang-zhe shu zai zhuo-shang.
he put-DUR book P. table-top
‘Put a book on the table.’
The durative marker -zhe can co-occur with a preverbal locative PP in (117a), but is incompatible with a postverbal locative PP in (117b). As Chirkova and Lamarre (2005) point out, despite some exceptions, it is typical for Mandarin to distinguish between the durative meaning for the preverbal locative PP and the terminative11 meaning for
11 According to Chirkova and Lamarre (2005), the verb phrase with a postverbal locative PP functions as a terminative construction that denotes a change of location. The postverbal locative PP introduced by zai is similar to the one introduced by dao ‘arrive’, having a directional meaning.
(i) a. Ta diao zai shui-li.
he fall P. water-inside
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the postverbal locative PP. The discrepancy between a preverbal locative PP and a postverbal locative PP can be also seen in the following sentences.
(118) a. Xiangrikue zai tu-li zhang-zhe.
sunflower P. soil-inside grow-DUR
‘The sunflowers are growing on the ground.’
b. *Xiangrikue zhang-zhe zai tu-li.
sunflower grow-DUR P. soil-inside
‘The sunflowers are growing on the ground.’
c. Xiangrikue zhang zai tu-li.
sunflower grow P. soil-inside
‘The sunflowers grew on the ground.’
As (118a) shows, when preceded by a locative phrase, the verb usually takes the durative aspect marker -zhe, suggesting that the preverbal locative construction
‘He fell into the water.’
b. Ta diao dao shui-li.
he fall to water-insdie
‘He fell into the water.’
(ii) a. Ta yi pigu jiu zuo zai shafa-shang.
he one buttock just sit P. sofa-top ‘He flopped into the sofa.’
b. Ta yi pigu jiu zuo dao shafa-shang.
he one buttocks just sit to sofa-top ‘He flopped into the sofa.’
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expresses a durative event. In contrast, in (118b), when followed by a locative phrase, the verb becomes incompatible with the durative aspect marker -zhe. The postverbal locative phrase, behaving like a goal, denotes the location of a person or an object as a result of the action. Hence, we suggest that a preverbal locative phrase, expressing a durative event, is location whereas a postverbal locative phrase, denoting an endpoint as a result of an action, is goal.
Given the examples in (116)-(118), we propose that theme is ranked higher than goal, but lower than location in Mandarin thematic hierarchy. If this thematic hierarchy is on the right track, we can predict that violation of this hierarchy would derive unacceptable sentences, as given below.
(119) Location >> Theme
a. Zhuozi-shang xie-le na-ge zi.
table-top write-PER that-CL character
‘On the table was written that word’
(Sub = Location, obj = Theme)
b. *Na-ge zi xie-le zhuozi-shang.
that-CL character write-PER table-top
‘That character was written on the table.’
(Sub = Theme, obj = Location)
(120) Theme >> Goal
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a. Shu gei-le Lisi. (Sub = Theme, obj = Goal)
book give-PER Lisi
‘The book was given to Lisi.’
b. *Lisi gei-le shu. (Sub = Goal,12 obj = Theme)
Lisi give-PER book
‘Lisa was given a book.’
(121) Na-ben shu fang zai zhuozi-shang. (Sub = Theme, obj = Goal)
that-CL book put P. table-top
Lit. ‘That book was put on the table.’
As the instances (120) and (121) suggest, the theme DP can be mapped to the subject position only when any other participants bear roles which are lower in the thematic hierarchy, such as goal; otherwise, it would be mapped to the object position.
In addition, as the examples in (122) demonstrate, theme cannot also serve as a subject in the presence of instrument, suggesting that instrument is ranked above theme in the thematic hierarchy.
(122) Instrument >> Theme
a. Daozi qie-le shuiguo. (Sub = Instrument, obj = Theme)
knife cut-PER fruit
12 This sentence would be acceptable if the subject bears the Agent role.
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Lit. ‘The knife is used to cut the fruit.’
b. *Shuigo qie-le daozi. (Sub = Theme, obj = Instrument)
fruit cut-PER knife
Lit. ‘The fruit was cut with a knife.’
c. Maobi xie zi. (Sub = Instrument, obj = Theme)
brush write character
Lit. ‘The brush is used to write characters.’
d. *Zi xie maobi. (Sub = Theme, obj = Instrument)
character write brush
Lit. ‘The characters are written with a brush.’
We also observe that location and instrument are incompatible with each other and thus are unranked with respect with each other, as exhibited in (123). The incompatibility between location and instrument further argues against HLL’s (2009) claim that the mapping of participants is free in syntax when a verb contains the lexical root only.
(123) Location & Instrument
a. *Zhuo-shang xie-le maobi. (Sub = Location, obj = Instrument)
table-top write-PER blush
Lit. ‘On the table was written with a brush.’
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b. *Maobi xie-le zhuo-shang. (Sub = Instrument, obj = Location)
blush write-PER table-top
Lit. ‘The blush was used to write on the table.’
c. *Panzi-li qie-le daozi. (Sub = Location, obj = Instrument)
plate-inside cut-PER knife
Lit. ‘In the plate was cut with a knife.’
d. *Daozi qie-le panzi-li. (Sub = Instrument, obj = Location)
knife cut-PER plate-inside
Lit. ‘The knife was used to cut in the plate.’