4. Findings and Analysis
4.1.3 Phonological Phrase
4.1.3.3 Verb Heads with Both Sides
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
To sum up, through the observation of the TS domain formation on the PhP level, we find that the branchingness of the nonrecursive side also counts in constructing a PhP, as stated in (57b).
4.1.3.3. Verb Heads with Both Sides
The VPs that contain both the recursive and the nonrecursive sides are divided into four types, as shown in (61). A comparison will be made between these four types of prosodic structures on the PhP level to see how the branchingness of not only the recursive sides but also the nonrecursive sides may influence the phrasing of VPs on the PhP level.
(61) VP prosodic structures on the PhP level
[±Branching] nonrecursive side [±Branching] recursive side Total
Type A + + 20
Type B + - 65
Type C - - 27
Type D - + 4
Total No. of V heads 116
These types of VPs can be further classified in to 8 kinds (introduced as (a) to (h) as follows) based on the observation of their phrasing with the C(s) on the recursive and the nonrecursive sides:
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
a. Recursive (RE) Only refers to the V head forming a PhP with only the C(s) on the recursive side and not the Cs on the nonrecursive side, as shown in (62).
(62) “Cousin gives the small mouse to the teacher.”
biao3 jie3 ba3 xiao3 lao3 shu3 gei3 lao3 shi1
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1
PhWd-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (3 1)
C-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (3 1)
PhP-D (2 3) (3) (3 2 3) (2 3 1)
IP-D (2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 1)
Inf. 1&2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 1
The verb gei3 “give” does not form a PhP with any of the clitic groups (i.e. ba3
“BA”) or PhPs (xiao3 lao3 shu3 “small mouse”) on its nonrecursive side, and it only
joins its nonbranching complement lao3 shi1 “teacher” to form a PhP domain. If gei3
“give” forms a PhP with xiao3 lao3 shu3 “small mouse”, the surface tone pattern
cannot be derived. This type of phrasing on the PhP level supports the findings in (57) that the prosodic branchingness of the nonrecursive side makes it optional for the head to include the elements on the nonrecursive when constructing a PhP.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
b. Nonrecursive (NON) Only refers to the V head forming a PhP with only the C(s) on the nonbranching nonrecursive side, and not the C(s) on the recursive side, as shown in (63).
(63) “have no better options but to find Boss Shen”
zhi3 hao3 zhao3 Shen3 lao3 ban3
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3
PhWd-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3)
C-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3)
PhP-D (2 2 3) (3 2 3)
IP-D (2 2 3) (3 2 3)
Inf. 3 2 2 3 3 2 3
The verb head zhao3 “find” only forms a PhP with the clitic group (zhi3 hao3
“have no better options”) on the nonrecursive side and not the PhP (Shen3 lao3 ban3
“Boss Shen”) on the recursive side. If gei3 “give” forms a PhP with Shen3 lao3 ban3
“Boss Shen” the surface tone pattern cannot be derived. This type of phrasing agrees
with the construction and reconstruction rule in (57) in that the head obligatorily includes the elements on the nonbranching nonrecursive side; and that the inclusion of the nonbranching complement is optional.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
c. 1C on NON + opt. RE refers to the V head forming a PhP with the nearest C on the branching nonrecursive side, and whether it forms a larger PhP with the nonbranching C on the recursive side is not crucial for deriving the surface tone pattern, as shown in (64).
(64) “find the puppy toward the north”
wang3 bei3 zhao3 xiao3 gou3
UT 3 3 3 3 3
PhWd-D (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
C-D (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
PhP-D (1) (3) (2 3 2 3)
PhP-D (2) (3) (2 3) (2 3)
IP-D (3 2 3 2 3
Inf. 2-4 3 2 2 2 3
The verb head zhao3 “find” forms a PhP with only the clitic group bei3 “north”, and whether it forms (as in PhP-D (1)) or does not form (as in PhP-D (2)) a PhP with xiao3 gou3 “puppy” does not produce different surface tone patterns. This type of
phrasing is accounted for by the revised rule in (57). In terms of the PhP structure of
the nonrecursive side of zhao3 “find”, since the preposition or co-verb wang3
“toward” does not form a PhP with its complement bei3 “north”, zhao3 “find” has a
branching nonrecursive side on the PhP level. Therefore, zhao3 “find” optionally includes bei3 “north” to form a PhP.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
d. 1C on NON Only refers to the V forming a PhP with only the nearest C on the branching nonrecursive side, as shown in (66).
(65) “cook the small rat to let Boss eat”
ba3 xiao3 lao3 shu3 zhu3 gei3 lao3 ban3 chi1
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1
PhWd-D (3) (3) (2 (3) (3) (3) (2 3) (1) C-D (3) (3) (2 (3) (3) (3) (2 3) (1)
PhP-D (3) (3 2 3) (2 3) (2 3) (1)
IP-D (2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 1)
Inf. 1-4 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 1
This type of phrasing differs from type (b) (NON Only) in that the V heads in type (b) have nonbranching nonrecursive sides on the PhP level and those in type (d)
have branching nonrecursive sides. In (65), the nonrecursive side of the V head gei3
“let” is branching, so it optionally forms a PhP with the nearest C zhu3 “cook”. If it
does not form a PhP domain with zhu3 “cook”, the surface tone pattern cannot be produced. Also, the head gei3 “let” does not form a PhP with the clitic groups (i.e.
lao3 ban3 chi1 “Boss eats”) on the recursive side because the complement is
branching. This type of phrasing is also predicted by the revised rule in (57).
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
e. All C(s) on NON + opt. RE refers to the V head forming a PhP with all the C(s) on the nonrecursive side, and whether it forms (as in PhP-D (1)) or does not form (as in PhP-D (2)) a larger PhP with the C(s) on the recursive side does not influence the surface tone pattern, as shown in (66).
(66) “quickly find Boss Shen”
gan3 jin3 zhao3 Shen3 lao3 ban3
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3
PhWd-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3)
C-D (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3)
PhP-D (1) (2 2 2 3 2 3)
PhP-D (2) (2 2 3) (3 2 3)
IP-D (2 2 2 3 2 3)
Inf. 3&4 2 2 2 3 2 3
The verb head zhao3 “find” obligatorily forms a PhP with gan3 jin3 “quickly”, which is on the nonbranching nonrecursive side, as predicted by rule (57). The inclusion of the nonbranching complement Shen3 lao3 ban3 “Boss Shen” on the recursive side does not produce a different surface tone pattern from not including it.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
f. 0 C(s) on NON + opt. RE refers to the V head not forming a PhP with the C(s) or PhP(s) on the branching nonrecursive side, and whether it forms (as in PhP-D (1)) or does not form (as in PhP-D (2)) a PhP with the complement does not render a
different surface tone pattern, as shown in (67).
(67) “give the small mouse to Boss”
ba3 xiao3 lao3 shu3 gei3 lao3 ban3
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
PhWd-D (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (2 3)
C-D (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (2 3)
PhP-D (1) (3) (3 2 3) (3 2 3) PhP-D (2) (3) (3 2 3) (3) (2 3)
IP-D (2 3 2 3) (3 2 3)
Inf. 1&2 2 3 2 3 3 2 3
The verb head gei3 “give” does not form a PhP with xiao3 lao3 shu3 “small mouse” because, as stated in rule (57), the head may not include the nearest C on the branching nonrecursive side. The branchingness of the nonrecursive side is caused by the PhP formation of the head ba3 “BA”, which does not form a PhP with its
complement xiao3 lao3 shu3 “small mouse”. If gei3 “give” forms a PhP with xiao3 lao3 shu3 “small mouse”, the surface tone pattern cannot be produced. Hence, it
supports they statement in (57b) that the inclusion of the nearest C on the branching nonrecursive side is optional.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
g. 0 C(s) on NON + 0 RE refers to the V head forming a PhP with the C(s) on neither the nonrecursive side nor the recursive side, as shown in (68).
(68) “give cold water to Miss Li so she can take a cold shower”
ba3 len3 shui3 gei3 Li3 xiao3 jie3 xi3 leng3 shui3 zao3
UT 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
PhWd-D
(3) (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (2 3) (3) C-D (3) (2 3) (3) (3) (2 3) (3) (2 3) (3) PhP-D (3) (2 3) (3) (3 2 3) (3) (2 2 3)
IP-D (3 2 3) (2 3 2 2 (3) (2 2 3)
Inf.4 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 3
The nonrecursive side and the recursive side of the verb head gei3 “give” are both branching, so it is possible, based on rule (57), that the head forms a PhP without adjoining other C(s). The branchingness of the nonrecursive side derives from the PhP
phrasing of the head ba3 “BA”, which does not include the complement leng3 shui3
“cold water” to form a PhP. Since the nonrecursive side is branching in terms of the
PhP structure, the head gei3 “give” may not include the nearest C leng3 shui3 “cold water” to form a PhP. Since the complement is a branching sentence complement, gei3 “give” cannot form a PhP with the Cs on the recursive side.
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h. opt. NON + opt. RE refers to the cases where the surface tone patterns can be derived through either the inclusion of non-inclusion of the C(s) on the nonrecursive and the recursive sides, as shown in (69).
(69) “Cousin gives wild dogs to Boss.”
biao3 jie3 ba3 ye3 gou3 gei3 lao3 ban3
The surface tone pattern can be derived through four possible PhP phrasings for the verb head gei3 “give”. These four possible phrasings are predicted by the rule in (57). In PhP-D (1), (2) and (4), gei3 “give” does not form a PhP with the Cs on the
nonrecursive side because of its prosodic branchingness. The preposition head ba3
“BA” does not include ye3 gou3 “wild dogs” to form a PhP, so the nonrecursive side
of gei3 “give” branches in terms of the PhP structure. In PhP-D (3), the head forms a PhP with all the Cs on the nonrecursive side, because the nonrecursive side does not branch. Its nonbranchingness comes from a different phrasing of the preposition head ba3 “BA”. In this case, ba3 “BA” forms a PhP with ye3 gou3 “wild dogs”, so the
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
nonrecursive side of gei3 “give” is nonbranching in terms of the PhP structure. As stipulated in (57), gei3 “give” obligatorily includes the C(s) (i.e. ba3 ye3 gou3 “BA wild dogs”) on the nonbranching nonrecursive side within Xmax to construct a PhP. In PhP-D (1), (2) and (3), the head gei3 “give” does not form a PhP with the complement lao3 ban3 “Boss” on account of the optional inclusion specified in (57). In PhP-D (4),
the complement is included to form a PhP. All in all, regardless of the inclusion or non-inclusion of the prosodic elements on both sides, the same surface tone pattern is produced.
In consequence, the last type of the VP phrasing (h) opt. NON + opt. RE is not within the discussion below because the influence of branchingness on TS domain phrasing on the PhP level cannot be concluded from the surface tone patterns. The number of verb heads in each type of VP phrasing is presented in (70).
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(70) Phrasing of the VPs with both sides Verb Head Phrasing
b Nonrecursive (NON) Only both sides share the same branching value, the verb heads still tend to form PhPs toward the nonrecursive side, which reflects the construction and reconstruction rule of the PhP in (57). The revised rule states that when the nonrecursive side branches, the head may still form a PhP with the nearest C on the nonrecursive side. In contrast, when the recursive side branches, the inclusion is prohibited. Accordingly, the Cs on the nonrecursive side have higher chance to be joined into a PhP with the head.
The findings in this section prove that the prosodic branchingness of the
nonrecursive side on the PhP level should also be accounted for in the construction of the PhP. When the nonrecursive side branches in terms of the PhP structure, the head
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
optionally includes the nearest clitic group on the nonrecursive side within Xmax to form a PhP. However, when the recursive side branches, the optional inclusion of the complement is blocked. This may suggest a tendency of the heads forming PhPs more towards the nonrecursive side than towards the recursive side in general.