CHAPTER 2 GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS IN AN LFG
3.3 S UBCATEGORIZATION OF G RAMMATICAL F UNCTIONS
3.3.1.2 Weather Verbs
Examples: di4zhen4 'have earthquake', xia4yu3 'rain', qi3feng1 '(wind) blow', da3lei2 'thunder'.
2. a. Nei4 ge di4fang1 chang2chang2 di4zhen4.
that CLS place often earthquake
‘That place often has earthquakes.’
b. Hai3-shang4 qi3feng1 le.
sea top wind-blow LE
‘The wind is blowing on the sea.’
c.*Hai3 qi3feng1 le.
sea wind-blow LE
‘The wind is blowing on the sea.’
d. You4 xia4yu3 le.
again rain LE
‘It's raining again.’
Most weather verbs belong to this class; they may either take an overt SUBJ that has to be a place word, thus with the feature-value pair [PLACE +], or they may allow no overt SUBJ, thus 2d above does not leave one feeling the sentence is incomplete. Therefore, in effect we are saying that this type of verb subcategorizes, optionally, a locative constituent. Since we take the position that all verbs must subcategorize at least SUBJ, this locative constituent, when overt, has to be the subject. In the lexical entries we set up a
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"dummy," or default, SUBJ to account for the sentences where there is no overt subject. Note that the value OPT is a placeholder: it always succeeds in unification. Thus, when there is an overt subject such as in 2a-b above, the overt value of its FORM will replace OPT. If the subject is not a place word, for example 2c, and thus with [PLACE -], it would not unify with the verb's functional structure. When there is no overt subject, e.g., 2d, the f-structure will always have SUBJ [FORM OPT PLACE +] and therefore will not be judged as incomplete.
FI-V-1-2:
[ FS [ SUBJ [ FORM OPT PLACE + ]
] ]
di4zhen4:
[ FS [ FORM 'di4zhen4' ] FI-V-1-2
FI-V-1 ]
2d-f. you4 xia4yu3 le. 'It is raining again.' [ SUBJ [ FORM OPT
PLACE + ]
FORM 'xia4yu3'
PRED <SUBJ>
ADJ [ FORM 'you4' ]
ASPECT PERFECT
]
3.3.2 <SUBJ , OBLLOCT>
Examples: zhu4 'live', tiao4 'jump', pao3 'run', zhan4 'stand', ban1 'move, relocate', chuang3 'barge', zhuang4 'hit (intran.)', fei1 'fly', tang3 'lie', kao4
'lean', zuo4 'sit', qu4 'go', hui2 'return', gua4 'hang', tie1 'paste', cha1 'stick', zhong4 'plant'.
1. a. Ta1 zhu4 zai4/dao4 shan1-shang4.
he lives at /to hill top
‘He lives on the hill.’
b. Ta1 ban1 *zai4/dao4 Tai2bei3.
he move at /to Taipei
‘He moved to Taipei.’
c. Ta1 tiao4 zai4/dao4 shui3-li3.
he jump at /to water inside
‘He jumps in the water.’
d. Ta1 hui2 *zai4/dao4 shui3-li3.
he return at /to water inside
‘He returned into the water.’
Postverbal subcategorized locative PPs in Chinese are well-accepted in the current literature (e.g., Huang 1982, Huang 1989, Ernst 1989). First of all, some verbs in this class, such as zhu4 'live' and chuang3 'barge', do require the postverbal locative PP obligatorily. There is only one postverbal locative PP allowed and it always appears immediately after the verb. Semantically, verbs of this subcategory denote an action which crucially depends on the manner of spatial orientation (Ernst 1989:118); thus, most of these verbs denote some sort of locomotion. The oblique grammatical function OBLLOCT may be fulfilled by locational prepositional phrases such as [zai4 NP] and [dao4 NP].
Both prepositions have [ PCASE LOCT ] specified in their entries but with their own unique PFORM. Individual verbs in this class may have arbitrary requirements in selecting the particular prepositions they may co-occur with.
Such information must be specified in the individual verb entry.
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FI-V-2:
[ CAT V
FS [ PRED <SUBJ , OBLLOCT> ] ( ↑ OBLLOCT PCASE ) =c LOCT
]
zhu4:
[ FS [ FORM 'zhu4' ]
FI-V-2 ]
ban1:
[ FS [ FORM 'ban1' ]
( ↑ OBLLOCT PFORM ) =c 'dao4' FI-V-2
]
zai4:
[ CAT P
FS [ PFORM 'zai4' PCASE LOCT ]
]
dao4:
[ CAT P
FS [ PFORM 'dao4' PCASE LOCT ]
]
However, unlike 1a-d where the subject of the verbs is an actor-like NP, other verbs in this subcategory are unaccusative verbs that subcategorize a patient-like subject and a locative PP. These verbs, such as the ones in 1e and
1f below, are derivationally related to verbs that subcategorize <SUBJ , OBJ , OBLLOCT>, such as verbs in the primed sentences below.
1. e. Yi1 fu2 hua4 gua4 zai4 mei3shu4guan3-li3.
one CLS painting hang at museum inside
‘A painting hangs in the museum.’
e' Wo3 gua4 yi1 fu2 hua4 zai4 mei3shu4guan3-li3.
I hang one CLS painting at museum inside
‘I hang a painting in the museum.’
f. Da4 shu4 zhong4 zai4 Tai2bei3.
big tree plant at Taipei
‘The big tree was planted in Taipei.’
f' Wo3 zhong4 da4 shu4 zai4 Tai2bei3.
I plant big tree at Taipei
‘I plant a big tree in Taipei.’
3.3.3 <SUBJ , OBLGOAL>
Examples: ren2ci2 'kind', hao3 'good', zun1jing4 'respectful', ke4qi4 'polite', guan1xin1 'care' ; xiao4 'laugh', wei2xiao4 'smile', ge1chang4 'sing', zuo4ai4 'make love', shi4ai4 'show affection', da3jia4 'fist-fight', hu2shuo1ba1dao4 'talk nonsense'.
1. a. Ta1 gen1/he2/tong2/xiang4/dui4 ni3 wei2xiao4.
he with/with/with /toward /to you smile ‘He smiles at you.’
b. Ta1 gen1/*he2/tong2/*xiang4/dui4 ni3 ren2ci2.
he with/with/with /toward/to you kind
‘He is kind to you.’
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c. Ta1 gen1/*he2/tong2/*xiang4/dui4 ni3 ke4qi4.
he with/with/with /toward/to you polite
‘He is polite to you.’
d. Ta1 gen1/he2/tong2/xiang4/dui4 ni3 shi4ai4.
he with/with/with /toward/to you show-affection
‘He shows affection to you.’
It is sometimes assumed that Chinese is a "right-branching" language where arguments appear postverbally (e.g., Huang 1982). However, we agree with Ernst (1989) where he argues that there is evidence that certain preverbal PPs in Chinese should be considered subcategorized as well. First of all, semantically, verbs here usually denote an emotion or action that crucially depends on the existence of a correspondent. We assign this correspondent constituent to the grammatical function of OBLGOAL. Secondly, in our discussion of constancy of semantic content of non-subcategorized dependent constituents, we have pointed out that unlike the adjunctive use of [gen1 NP]
which contributes a constant reading as a comitative PP, in sentences 2a-d [gen1 NP] has a variety of semantic content, other than the comitative reading.
Furthermore, in sentences 1a-d above, it is also obvious that verbs in this subcategory have to arbitrarily select particular prepositions for this subcategorized constituent. We will present another piece of evidence from criterion of proximity to the head, in relation to the [ba3 NP], which we argue is a subcategorized constituent, in a later section.
One of the following prepositional phrases: [gen1 NP], [dui4 NP], [xiang4 NP], [he2 NP], and [tong2 NP] may fulfill the OBLGOAL function. Since different verbs in this class may require different prepositions rather arbitrarily, such information must be specified in the individual verb entry. All these above preposition have [ PCASE GOAL ] but each has its own unique PFORM.
FI-V-3:
[ CAT V
FS [ PRED <OBLGOAL , SUBJ> ] ( ↑ OBLGOAL PCASE ) =c GOAL ]
shi4ai4:
[ FS [ FORM 'shi4ai4' ] FI-V-3
]
xiang1tong2:
[ FS [ FORM 'xiang1tong2' ]
( ↑ OBLGOAL PFORM ) =c { 'gen1' 'he2' 'tong2' } FI-V-3
]
ke4qi4:
[ FS [ FORM 'ke4qi4' ]
( ↑ OBLGOAL PFORM ) =c { 'gen1' 'tong2' 'dui4' } FI-V-3
]
guan1xin1:
[ FS [ FORM 'guan1xin1' ] ( ↑ OBLGOAL PFORM ) =c 'dui4' FI-V-3
]
gen1:
[ CAT P
FS [ PFORM 'gen1' PCASE GOAL ]
]
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dui4:
[ CAT P
FS [ PFORM 'dui4' PCASE GOAL ]
]
3.3.4 <SUBJ , OBJ>