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The view from yue: Chinese comparative correlatives

Chen-Sheng Luther Liu

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Tahsueh Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

Received 12 July 2006; received in revised form 22 January 2008; accepted 23 January 2008 Available online 10 April 2008

Abstract

The Chinese comparative correlative involves a quantificational tripartite structure. The mapping between its syntactic tree structure and the corresponding quantificational tripartite structure is subject to the Revised Extended Mapping Hypothesis. Semantically, the correlative degree adverb yue ‘more’ functions to regulate a relationship between a pair of degree/quantity variables and a comparison relation. The relationship between these two variables is subject to the condition: For every x1, there must exist an x2;

the degree value of x2on the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be larger

than that of x1on the same scale, and vice versa. These two degree/quantity variables ‘directly’ compared

with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be associated with two ‘corresponding’ variables (syntactically or semantically) predicated by the same predicate, respectively. These two ‘corresponding’ variables are those that are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’. The type of predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ provides further information to help identify the nature of the ‘indirect’ variables (i.e. individuals, times or worlds).

# 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Comparative correlatives; Degree arguments; Individual-level predicates; Quantity arguments; Quantifica-tional tripartite structure; Revised Extended Mapping Hypothesis; Stage-level predicates; Typology

1. Introduction

In Chinese, there are many pairs of correlative words serving to connect clauses together into compound or complex sentences. The yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ pair is such a case that makes it impossible for the clauses to be independent sentences, as shown by examples in (1) (Chao, 1968; Ding et al., 1979; Li and Thompson, 1981; Xing, 1985, 2001; McCawley, 1988; Zhao, 1999; Hsiao and Tsao, 2002).

www.elsevier.com/locate/lingua Lingua 118 (2008) 1033–1063

E-mail address:csliu@faculty.nctu.edu.tw.

0024-3841/$ – see front matter # 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2008.01.002

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(1) a. Pingguo yue tian, yue haochi. Apple more sweet more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, the more delicious it is.’ b. *Pingguo yue tian.

Apple more sweet c. *Yue haochi.

More delicious

Interestingly, example (1a) (henceforth the yue . . . yue ‘more. . . more’ construction) can be rewritten as a condition without much loss of meaning, as (2a) illustrates.1

(2) a. Pingguo ruguo/yaoshi yue tian, jiu yue haochi.

Apple if more sweet then more delicious

‘If an apple is sweeter, then it will be more delicious.’ b. Ruguo/Yaoshi Zhangsan lai, Lisi jiu bu hui lai.

If/If Zhangsan come, Lisi then not will come ‘If Zhangsan comes, then Lisi will not come.’

However, as the interpretation of (1a) indicates, if there is a positive difference in sweetness between the two apples, then there must be a corresponding or resulting positive difference in deliciousness between the two apples (Chao, 1968; Fillmore, 1987; McCawley, 1988; Hsiao and Tsao, 2002). So, the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction differs from (2b) (henceforth the ruguo-conditional) in that in the former a comparison must be made in each clause while it is not necessary in the latter. Besides, these two constructions at least still differ from each other in the following ways: First, the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction may describe an on-going situation or a past event while the ruguo-conditional cannot, as the contrast between (2b) and (3a–b) illustrates (Xing, 2001:379–380).

(3) a. Keren yue lai, yue duo, cai keneng hui bu gou. Guest more come more more food possible will not enough

‘The more cumulative the reference property of the guest’s coming event is, the larger the amount of guests is. It is possible that the food will not be enough.’ b. Zuotian ta yue piping wo, wo jiu yue shengqi, suoyi wo jintian bu

Yesterday he more criticize I I then more angry so I today not gen ta jianghua.

with he speak

‘The more cumulative the reference property of his criticizing me event was, the angrier I was. So, I do not want to talk with him today.’

Second, syntactically the ruguo-conditional might consist of two clauses bound together by the correlative word ruguo ‘if’ and jiu ‘then’: the antecedent (i.e. the ruguo-clause) and the consequent clause, and there always exists a causal relation between these two clauses. However, the same does not always obtain in the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction. Syntactically, the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction allows the smallest clause involving the first

1Abbreviations used in this paper include—ASP: aspect markers; BEI: the passive marker; CL: classifiers; and DE: the

verbal suffix or marker for modifying phrases like genitive phrases, relative clauses, and noun complement clauses. Because of space limit, cases involving yue-lai-yue ‘more-come-more’ will not be discussed in this paper. Please see

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occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’ to occur as a relative clause while the ruguo-clause cannot occur as a relative clause, as the contrast between (4a) and (4b) shows.

(4) a. [CP[NP [CPYue da de] pingguo] [AP(jiu) yue haochi]]

More big DE apple then more delicious

‘The bigger an apple is, the more delicious it is.’

b. *[[NP[CPRuguo/Yaoshi chidao de] ren] [VP jiu hui bei chufa]].

If/If late DE person then will BEI punish

More importantly, it is not necessary for the relationship between the two clauses containing the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ to be a causal one. For instance, in (5a), it is hard for us to say that there exists a causal relation between the size of an apple and its sweetness, and similarly in (5b) it is not necessary for a small car to be cheap.

(5) a. Pingguo yue da, yue tian. Apple more big more sweet

‘The bigger an apple is, the sweeter it is.’ b. Chezi yue xiao, yue pianyi.

Car more small more cheap

‘The smaller a car is, the cheaper it is.’

Hence, in the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction, the syntactic and semantic relationship between the smallest clauses containing the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ is not made explicit; that is to say, clauses involved are simply juxtaposed to show the correlative nature of the adverb yue ‘more’. So, we shall dub the yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ construction the Chinese comparative correlative rather than the Chinese comparative conditional.2

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the Chinese yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ comparative correlative, which contains an (implicit) adverb of quantification, involves a quantificational tripartite structure by concentrating on the following questions. First, how do we map its syntactic tree structure, especially cases like (4a), to the corresponding quantificational tripartite structure? Second, what is the semantics of the correlative degree adverb yue ‘more’?3Third, why does the predicate of Chinese comparative correlatives, as (7a–e) show, display the unboundedness effect?

2

An anonymous reviewer points out to us that the Chinese comparative correlative allows the counterfactual reading by providing example (i). Among 31 native speakers whom the author consulted, 25 accept (i) as being grammatical, and 6 as being with one question mark.

(i) Ni zuotian dao-de yue zao, jintian jiu keyi zou-de yue zao. You yesterday arrive-DE more early today then can leave-DE more early ‘Yesterday, the earlier you arrived, the earlier you can leave today.’

However, we cannot say for certain whether the Chinese comparative correlative is a counterfactual or not because another reviewer points out that example (ii) is unacceptable. Among 31 informants, 22 say (ii) is ungrammatical, and the other 9 say it is with two question marks.

(ii) *Zuotian ruguo ta yue ma wo, wo jiu yue shengqi. Yesterday if he more scold I I then more angry ‘Yesterday, if he scolded me more, I would get more angry.’

So, we shall leave this issue open (seeBeck, 1997:238;Culicover and Jackendoff, 1999:545).

3Since the author is a syntactican whose knowledge of formal semantics is not good enough to provide a formal

definition (i.e. denotation) for the correlative adverb yue ‘more’, in this paper the semantics of the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ will be described in plain English.

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Fourth, why are Chinese comparative correlatives, for example (14), subject to the anti-c-command constraint (Hsiao and Tsao, 2002)? Fifth, how can we identify the nature of the variables (i.e. individuals, worlds, or times) compared along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ (see (10a–c))? Sixth, how does Chinese differ from English in building comparative correlatives?

This paper proceeds as follows: section2begins with a general discussion on the syntax and semantics of Chinese comparative correlatives, and then the questions that any analysis on Chinese comparative correlatives has to deal with will be pointed out. In section3, we shall briefly introduce as preliminaryBeck’s (1997)proposal on the English/German comparative correlative, especially the semantics of the German comparative correlative morpheme je ‘the’, and then some remarks will be made. In section4, the proposal will be propounded first, and then some empirical and theoretical consequences will be discussed. Section5is a typological study on how Chinese differs from English in building comparative correlatives. In section6, a brief comparison withLin (2007)

along with some remarks is provided, and finally the conclusion will be stated in section7. 2. Characteristics of Chinese comparative correlatives

According to Chao (1968:121), in Chinese comparative correlatives like (6), if there is a positive difference in how father A and B differ from each other in height, then there must be a corresponding or resulting positive difference in how their children differ from each other in height. More noteworthy is that these two difference degrees are somehow related to each other. (6) Fuqin yue gao, xiaohai (jiu) hui yue gao.

Father more tall child then will more tall ‘The taller a father is, the taller his kid is.’

Given this property, Hsiao and Tsao (2002:812–813) claim that the Chinese comparative correlative is a proportional correlative in which the two difference degrees are functionally dependent on each other (Quirk et al., 1985:999–1000).4 However, we find example (6) is intuitively correct under the following scenario: Suppose that father B is 5 cm taller than father A and father B’s kid is 2 cm taller than father A’s; father C is 5 cm taller than father B, and father C’s kid is 3 cm taller than father B’s; that is, even though the two difference degrees in Chinese comparative correlatives are somewhat related to each other, it is not necessary for them to be functionally dependent on each other (Beck, 1997:245). Thus, the Chinese comparative correlative is not a proportional correlative.

Second, the situation type of predicate in Chinese comparative correlatives must be unbounded such as a state, an activity, or a derived multiple-event consisting of repeated achievement or semelfactive events, as the contrast between (7a–e) and (7f) illustrates (Hsiao and Tsao, 2002:827).5,6

4

Quirk et al. (1985:999–1000)take a similar view for the English comparative correlative.

5

The grammaticality of (7b) immediately questionsHsiao and Tsao’s (2002:821)claim that the first correlative adverb yue ‘more’ in Chinese comparative correlatives modifies quantifiable unbounded situations, including scalar states and quantifiable activities/semelfactives, but the second one can only modify a scalar state. Besides, examples containing achievement and semelfactive verbs are not examined inHsiao and Tsao (2002).

6An anonymous reviewer provides (7e) and points out to us that a verb modified by the correlative adverb

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(7) a. Nuhaizi yue da, (jiu) yue piaoliang. (state) Girl more big then more beautiful

‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she will be.’

b. Ni yue zui (ta), ta yue pao. (activity)

You more chase he/she, he/she more run

‘The more cumulative the reference property of your chasing-him event is, the more cumulative the reference property of his running event is.’

c. Men yue qiao, yue xiang. (semelfactive) Door more knock more loud

‘The more cumulative the reference property of your knocking-at-the-door event is, the louder it will be.’

d. Shibing yue si, yue duo. (achievement) Soldier more die more more

‘The more cumulative the reference property of the soldier’s dying event is, the larger the amount of dead soldiers is.’

e. Yue jian-guo da shimian de ren, yue qianxu.

More see-ASP impressive scene DE person more modest

‘The more cumulative the reference property of one’s seeing the impressive scene is, the more modest one is.’

f. *Ni yue chi-wan, duzi yue bao. (accomplishment) You more eat-finish stomach more full

The unboundedness effect leads us to expect the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ not to co-occur with an aspect marker that expresses perfectivity (i.e. it indicates that an event is

sentence, and the other 7 accept it as one with one question mark). Cases like (7e) can be accounted for by the following two ways: First, the experiential aspect marker –guo indicates that an event has been experienced with respect to some reference time. Although not all kinds of experiences might be repeatable, some are allowed to be. So, we might say that, similar to (7d), in which the event denoted by the achievement verb si ‘die’ is repeatable so that a derived multiple-event consisting of repeated achievement events is obtained, in (7e) the event denoted the VP jian-guo da shimian ‘see-ASP impressive scene’ (i.e. the experience of seeing the impressive scene) is also repeatable, as (i) shows.

(i) Zhangsan jian-guo wushu-ci de da shimian. Zhangsan see-ASP incalculable DE impressive scene

‘The number of impressive scenes that Zhangsan has seen is incalculable.’

That is to say, a derived activity might be obtained in (i). So, the experiential aspect marker –guo can occur in (7e). This assumption gets supported from the fact: the aspect marker –guo cannot co-occur with the adverb yue ‘more’ in (ii), where the predicate de mazhen ‘have the measles’ is unrepeatable, as the ungrammaticality of (ii) illustrates.

(ii) *Yue de-guo mazhen de ren, shenti yue cha. More have-ASP measles DE person body more bad

‘The more cumulative the reference property of one’s having the measles event is, the worse his/her health condition is.’

Since a person can never have the measles twice in his/her life, the predicate de mazhen ‘have the measles’ is unrepeatable. Hence, the experiential aspect marker –guo is not allowed in (ii). Thus, it is possible for the experiential aspect marker –guo to co-occur with the adverb yue ‘more’ if the predicate is repeatable. The other alternative to why the aspect marker –guo can occur in (7e) is that it is the object NP da shimian ‘impressive scene’ with an unbounded scale along the degree of impressiveness that makes the predicate jian-guo da shimian ‘see-ASP impressive scene’ atelic. So, the aspect marker –guo is allowed in (7e).

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bounded temporally, spatially, or conceptually), for example the aspectual suffix –le. The fact indeed bears out this expectation, as the contrast between (8a) and (8b) shows.7,8

(8) a. *Ni yue chufa-le ta, ta yue tiaopi.

You more punish-ASP her/him, s/he more naughty

b. Ni yue duo-zhe ta, ta yue huaiyi ni.

You more hide-ASP him/her he/she more suspect you

‘The more cumulative the reference property of your hiding yourself from him/her event is, the more he/she will suspect on you.’

Another consequence of the unboundedness condition shown by the predicate of Chinese comparative correlatives is that the negation marker bu ‘not’ can appear in Chinese comparative correlatives but the negation marker mei ‘not’ cannot, as the contrast between (9a) and (9b) illustrates.

(9) a. Xiaohaizi yue bu tinghua, (jiu) yue bu gai li ta.

Child more not well-behaved then more not should care him/her ‘The worse a child behaves, the less we should care about him/her.’ b. *Zhangsan yue mei chouyan, ni yue bu gai mai yan song ta.

Zhangsan more not smoke you more not should buy cigarette give him According toLin (2003a), the distribution of the Chinese negation marker bu ‘not’ and mei ‘not’ is aspectually sensitive. The negation marker bu ‘not’ aspectually selects as complement a stative situation that requires no input of energy in order to obtain that situation while the negation marker mei ‘not’ aspectually selects a dynamic and bounded event as complement. So, the ungrammaticality of (9b) results from violation of the unboundedness condition shown by the predicate of Chinese comparative correlatives.9

7For the notion of perfectivity, we resort toBohnemeyer and Swift (2001)andLin (2003b). FollowingBohnmeyer and

Swift’s (2001)concept of event realization,Lin (2003b), along the line ofLiu (1988), analyzes the verbal –le as a realization operator, and formally defines its meaning as follows: An event e denoted by P is realized if and only if a subevent e’ of e that also falls under P is included with the topic time, as illustrated in (i).

(i) [[le]] = lPlt2le9e’[P(e) ^ P(e’) ^ e’ Ee^ t(e’)  t2^ t2 t (epro)]]

More precisely, when P is telic, e’ is equivalent to e, hence entailing that e is perfective. However, when P is atelic, e’ can be a proper subpart of e or is equivalent to e. As a consequence, e is not necessarily included within the topic time and hence is not necessarily perfective. In spite of this, if the focus is only on the subpart e’ of e, it still can be claimed that e’ is perfective, because e’ is included within the topic time.

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However, in contrast with progressive aspect marker –zhe, the progressive marker zai ‘at’ is incompatible with yue ‘more’.

(i) *Pingguo, ni yue zai chi, yue xiang.

We suggest that zai ‘at’ and yue ‘more’ both operate on the event structure that they modify, and compete the same adverbial position related to the event structure. So, the complementary distribution between zai ‘at’ and yue ‘more’ makes (i) ungrammatical.

9

Interestingly, if the focus verb shi ‘is’ is inserted in-between the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ and the negated predicate (i.e. mei chouyan ‘not smoke’), (9b) becomes acceptable, as (i) shows.

(i) Zhangsan yue shi mei chouyan, ni yue bu gai mai yan song ta. Zhangsan more is not smoke you more not should buy cigarette give him ‘The more cumulative the reference property of Zhangsan’s not smoking event is, the more prohibited to buy cigarette for him you are.’

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Third, the semantic interpretation of Chinese comparative correlative (10a–c) can be roughly formulated as (11a–c), in which we always have universal quantification over pairs and parts of the pair can be worlds as in (11a), individuals as in (11b), or times as in (11c) (Beck, 1997:236–237).10

(10) a. Zhangsan zhunbei-de yue hao, ke jiu jiao-de yue hao.

Zhangsan prepare-DE more good lecture then teach-DE more good ‘The better Zhangsan is prepared, the better his lecture is.’

b. Nuhaizi yue da, yue piaoliang. Girl more big more beautiful

‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she is.’

c. Tianqi yue re, shui he-de yue duo.

Weather more hot water drink-DE more more ‘The hotter it is, the more water people will drink.’

(11) a. 8w1, w2[Zhangsan is better prepared in w2than in w1]! [Zhangsan lectures

better in w2than in w1].

b. 8x, y [girl(x) & girl(y) & x is older than y] ! [x is more beautiful than y]. c. 8t1, t2[It was hotter at t2than at t1]! [People drink more water at t2than at

t1].

As (11a–c) illustrate, the first clause always enters into the restriction in a way the same as the if-clause in conditionals does, and the nuclear scope is provided by the second clause. These semantic characteristics lead us to suggest that the Chinese comparative correlative involves an (implicit) adverb of quantification and universal quantification seems to be default. The following two facts further work in concert to suggest that Chinese comparative correlatives involve unselective binding: (A) Since universal quantification in Chinese comparative corre-latives can be overwritten by an overt adverb of quantification, it is plausible for us to suggest that the quantificational force of Chinese comparative correlatives comes from an adverb of quantification which takes the first clause as its first argument and the second clause as its second argument, and (B) the number of variables quantified may be different. These facts are exemplified by (12a–c)–(13a–b), respectively.

The same also obtains in cases containing the aspect marker –le, as shown by (ii). (ii) Fanren yue *(shi) he-le jiu, yue rongyi naoshi.

Criminal more is drink-ASP wine more possible make-trouble

‘The more cumulative the reference property of the criminals’ drinking event is, the more likely for them to make trouble it is.’

Since the focus verb shi ‘is’ has a function of adjusting one’s attention or the camera lens to make something or some event into a clear image. An image is a picture formed in a mind, or a picture formed of an object in front of a mirror or lens such as a picture formed on the film inside a camera or one’s reflection in a mirror. Hence, an image can be considered a state. Seen in this light, we suggest that the focus verb shi ‘is’ functions to turn the negated predicate in (i) (i.e. mei chouyan ‘not smoke’) into a state; therefore, (i) becomes acceptable. As the same reasoning, the grammaticality of (ii) gets explained.

10The first clause of (10b) in fact is ambiguous between one in which different girls are compared along the age-scale

and the other in which different spatio-temporal ‘regions’ of the same girl are compared with each other along the age-scale. Please see footnote (19) for further discussion (Kratzer, 1986).

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(12) a. Nuhaizi tongchang yue da, yue piaoliang. Girl always more old more beautiful

‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she usually is.’ b. Nuhaizi daoduo yue da, yue piaoliang.

Girl mostly more old more beautiful

‘In most cases, the older a girl is, the more beautiful she is.’ c. Nuhaizi youshihou yue da, yue piaoliang.

Girl sometimes more old more beautiful

‘Sometimes, the older a girl is, the more beautiful she is.’

(13) a. Nuhaizi yue gao, yue piaoliang, (jiu) yue rongyi bei xuanshang. Girl more tall more beautiful then more easy BEI select ‘If a girl is taller and more beautiful, then it is easier for her to be selected.’

b. 8x, y [girl(x) & girl(y) & x is taller than y & x is more beautiful than y] ! [x is easier to be selected than y is].

Based on these facts, it is not unreasonable for us to say that Chinese comparative correlatives involve an (implicit) adverb of quantification and unselective binding. Such a semantic property of the Chinese comparative correlative immediately drives us to the following questions. (A) How do we map the syntactic tree structure of Chinese comparative correlatives, especially cases like (4a), to its corresponding quantificational tripartite structure? (B) What is the semantics of the correlative degree adverb yue ‘more’? (C) How can we identify the nature of the variables (i.e. individuals, worlds, or times) compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ (see (10a–c))?

Fourth, based on the ill-formedness of examples like (14),Hsiao and Tsao (2002:820–822)

suggest that the Chinese comparative correlative is subject to the anti-c-command constraint: A correlative adverb yue ‘more’ cannot c-command another one that follows it in the linear order.

(14) *Zhangsan yue xihuan [NP[Syue gui de] dongxi].

Zhangsan more like more expensive DE thing

Fifth, asCulicover and Jackendoff (1999:554–556)point out, English comparative correlatives appear to have an internal structure involving a long-distance dependence between the com-parative phrases at the front and a gap within the CP, and the gaps in the two clauses (i.e. CPs) indeed show the typical constraints (i.e. island constraints) on long-distance dependence, as example (15a–c), taken fromCulicover and Jackendoff (1999:555), illustrate.

(15) a. [The more counterexamples]iMary say that Bill has helped Fred to discover ti,

the less I believe her. (long-distance dependence)

b. *[The more food]iMary knows a man that eats ti, the poorer she gets. (CNPC)

c. *[The fatter]ihe goes to a doctor when he gets ti, the more he eats. (CED)

However, Chinese examples like (16a–c) not only allow long-distance dependence but are also granted immunity from island constraints if the adverb yue ‘more’ is assumed to covertly move to the initial position of the clause.

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(16) a. Ni-de shouru yue gao, [renmen hen ziran-de jiu hui renwei [ni-de shui Your income more high people very naturally then will think your tax hui yue gao]].

will more high

‘The more income you get, the more tax people will rightly think that you will pay.’

b. [CP[IP[NP[CPYue ai piaoliang de] nuhaizi] [VP chi-de yue shao]]]. (CNPC)

More love beautiful DE girl eat-DE more less

‘The more a girl cares about her beautifulness, the less she eats.’ c. Ren yue jianjue, [[zai yue jiankun de shihou], [yue neng kefu

People more constant at more difficult DE moment more can overcome kunnan]]. (CED)

difficulty

‘If people are more constant, they are more likely to overcome difficulties when they are under more difficult situations.’

This typological difference between Chinese and English in building comparative correlatives hence becomes a question that any theory on Chinese comparative correlatives cannot evade. Thus far, we have listed the major syntactic and semantic characteristics of Chinese comparative correlatives. No analysis on Chinese comparative correlatives is plausible unless the following questions are well handled. (A) How do we map the syntactic tree structure of Chinese comparative correlatives into its corresponding quantificational tripartite structure? (B) What is the semantics of the correlative degree adverb yue ‘more’? (C) Why does the predicate of Chinese comparative correlatives display the unboundedness effect? (D) Why are Chinese comparative correlatives, for example (14), subject to the anti-c-command constraint? (E) How can we identify the nature of the variables (i.e. individuals, worlds, or times) compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’? (F) How does Chinese differ from English in building comparative correlatives?11

Before proposing our analysis for Chinese comparative correlatives, we shall briefly introduce as preliminaryBeck’s (1997) semantic analysis on English/German comparative correlatives, especially the semantics of the German comparative correlative morpheme je ‘the’, and then some remarks will be provided.

3. Preliminary:Beck (1997) and some remarks

Beck (1997:234)followsvon Fintel (1994)in analyzing German comparative correlatives like (17a) as conditional constructions; that is, (17a) has a syntactic structure as in (17b), in which the je-clause ‘the-clause’ (when the sentence starts with it) is in the same position as a left-dislocated element, presumably adjoined to CP.

(17) a. Je schneller Hans rennt, umso schneller wird er mude. The faster Hans runs, the faster gets he tired ‘Hans will get tired faster, the faster he runs.’

b. [CP[CP[DegPje [Deg’schneller]] [C’Hans rennt]] [CP[DegPumso [Deg’schneller]]

[C’wird er mude]]]

11SinceHsiao and Tsao (2002)as well asMcCawley (1988)do not provide any analysis for the characteristics of

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In other words, the subordinate clause and the main clause are sentential projections, presumably CPs, and semantically each of them contains a comparative. Their specifier positions (i.e. [Spec, CP]) contain the je-phrase ‘the-phrase’ and the umso/desto-phrase ‘the-phrase’, respectively.12 Beck (1997:234) further suggests that the same presumably holds for English the-phrases (Thiersch, 1982).

As Beck (1997:236–237) further argues, the semantic interpretations of (18a–c) can be roughly formulated as (19a–c), in which we always have universal quantification over pairs and parts of the pair can be worlds as in (19a), individuals as in (19b), or times as in (19c). (18) a. Je besser Otto vorbereitet ist, desto besser wird sein Referat werden.

The better Otto prepared is the better will his talk become ‘The better Otto is prepared, the better his talk will be.’

b. Je schleimiger ein Anwalt asussieht, desto ergolgreicher ist er. The slimy-er an attorney look the successful-er is he ‘The slimier an attorney looks, the more successful he is.’ c. Uli war umso muder, je heiber es war.

Uli was the tired-er the hotter it was ‘The hotter it was, the more tired Uli was.’

(19) a. 8w1, w2[Otto is better prepared in w2than in w1]! [Otto’s talk is better in

w2than in w1].

b. 8x, y [attorney(x) & attorney(y) & x looks slimier than y] ! [x is more successful than y].

c. 8t1, t2[It was hotter at t2than at t1]! [Uli was more tired at t2than at t1].

(19a–c) imply that the global structure of these interpretations is that of a conditional. The subordinate clause always enters into the restriction, similarly to the if-clause in conditionals, while the nuclear scope is provided by the matrix clause. More interestingly, in comparative correlatives as well as in other conditional sentences, universal quantification seems to be a default because universal quantification can be overwritten by an overt adverb of quantification (Beck, 1997:238).

(20) a. Meistens ist ein Kletterer umso besser, je starker erist. Mostly is a climber the better the stronger he is ‘The stronger a climber is, the better he usually is.’

b. Otto ist ein Mathebuch umso langweiliger, je dicker es ist. Often is a math book the boring-er the fatter it is ‘A math book is frequently the more boring, the fatter it is.’ c. Meistens war Otto umso muder, je heiber es war.

Mostly was Otto the tired-er the hotter it was ‘The hotter it was, the more tired Otto usually was.’

So,Beck (1997:239)suggests that the quantificational force comes from an (implicit) adverb of quantification, which takes the subordinate clause as its first argument, and the matrix clause as

12Although Beck (1997) claims that in English/German comparative conditionals the comparative conditional

morpheme, for example the German je ‘the’, is pied-piped along with the comparative morpheme –er at LF, she does not touch the issue about overt movement in English/German comparative conditionals.

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its second argument. Since the comparison in the subordinate clause of (18a) (repeated as (21a)), for instance, is between Otto’s preparedness in two different worlds, the meaning of (21a), under

Beck’s (1997)analysis, is given in (21b).13 (21) a. Je besser Otto vorbereitet ist, . . ..

‘The better Otto is prepared, . . ..’

b. 9d [d > 0 & the max d1[well(d2, lx [preparedw2(x)])(Otto)] = d + the max

d1[well((d1, lx [preparedw1(x)])(Otto)]]

Given this, Beck (1997:248)suggests that the comparative conditional morpheme je ‘the’ in (21a) denotes a relation between a pair of possible worlds, the comparative morpheme –er and a relation between worlds and degrees, as shown by (22).14

(22) [[je’]](w1, w2)([[-er’]])(D<s, <d, t>>) iff9d [d > 0 & [[-er’]](D(w1))(d)(D(w2))]

Namely, the je-relation ‘the-relation’ holds just in case there is a difference degree d such that the relation denoted by the comparative conditional morpheme holds between the relational argument applied to the first world in the pair, the difference degree d and the relational argument applied to the second world. So, the transparent LF of (21a) is like (23).

(23) [CP[DegPje + -er]i[C’Otto ist tigut vorbereitet]]

‘je’(w1, w2)(-er’)(lwld [well(d, lx [preparedw(x)])(Otto)]’

Assuming this, Beck (1997:249) gives (18a) a complete LF like (24a) with the semantic interpretation as in (24b) (Wold, 1991).

(24) a. [CP[CP[DegPje’(w1, w2) + -er’]i[C’Otto ist tigut vorbereitet]] [CP[DegPje’(w1,

w2) + -er’]i[C’Otto’s Referat wird tigut werden]]]

‘8(lw1, w2[je’(w1, w2)(-er’)(lwld [well(d, lx [preparedw(x)])(Otto)]))(lw1,

w2[je’(w1, w2)(-er’)(lwld [goodw(d, Otto’s_talk)])])’

b. [[8(lw1, w2) [je’(w1, w2)(-er’)(lwld [well(d, lx [preparedw(x)])(Otto)])])

(lw1, w2[je’(w1, w2)(-er’)(lwld [goodw(d, Otto’s_talk)])])]]

iff

8w1, w2[9d [d > 0 & the max d2[well(d2, lx[preparedw2(x)])(Otto)] = d + the

max d1[well(d1, lx [preparedw1(x)])(Otto)]]]) 9d’ [d’ > 0 & [[the max d2

[goodw2(d2, Otto’s_talk)] = d’ + the max d1[goodw1(d1, Otto’s_talk)]]]

Although Beck (1997) carries the study of comparative correlatives one step further, the overall picture of syntax and semantics of comparative correlatives, especially that of Chinese comparative correlatives, is much more complex. First, according to Beck’s (1997) analysis, the syntactic tree structure of English/German comparative correlatives is split into a tripartite

13Beck (1997:242–243)has as preliminary a maximal degree approach, similar tovon Stechow (1984)andHeim

(1985), to the semantics of comparatives. For example, the meaning of (i) is represented as in (ii). (i) John is three centimeters taller than Bill (is tall).

(ii) The max d2[tall(d2, John)] = 3 cm + the max d1[tall(d1, Bill)].

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representation, and the antecedent clause enters into the restrictive domain while the consequent clause the nuclear domain; namely, English/German comparative correlatives always consist of an antecedent and a consequent clause, as (25) shows.

(25) The harder he worked, the hungrier he got.

However, the same does not always hold in Chinese comparative correlatives, as (26a–b) illustrate.

(26) a. [S [NP[SYue tian de] pingguo] [AP(jiu) yue haochi]].

More sweet DE apple then more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, the more delicious it is.’ b. [NP [SYue hao de] shu] [S (jiu) yue duo ren kan].

More good DE book then more more people read ‘The better a book is, the more people will read it.’

Namely, the Chinese comparative correlatives can be a sentence with a complex NP (i.e. an NP modified by a relative clause) subject, or a topic-comment construction in which the topic NP is modified by a relative clause.

Second, like its English counterpart, the Chinese yue . . . yue ‘more . . . more’ comparative correlative involves quantification over a pair of variables, and parts of the pair can be individuals, worlds, or times. However,Beck (1997)fails to provide a mechanism through which we can predict when the parts of the pair are individuals, worlds, or times.

In the following, for the sake of readers’ friendliness, we shall briefly introduce as preliminary our analysis first, and following this are the details of the proposal.

4. Analysis

In a nutshell, my proposal is as follows: The Chinese comparative correlative contains an (implicit) adverb of quantification and involves a quantificational tripartite (i.e. the restrictive domain-nuclear scope) structure. The mapping between its syntactic tree structure and the corresponding quantificational tripartite structure is subject to a revised version of Tsai’s

(2001) Extended Mapping Hypothesis. The correlative adverb yue ‘more’ semantically

functions to regulate a relationship between a pair of degree/quantity variables and a comparison relation (Doetjes, 1997). Since the adverb yue ‘more’ implies a comparison, occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’ induces a pair of degree/quantity variables which are ‘directly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’. The relationship between these two variables is subject to the condition: For every x1, there must exist an x2; the degree value of x2 on the scale denoted by the

predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be larger than that of x1on the same scale,

and vice versa. Semantically, a relation denoted by the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ must be identified either as the restrictive domain or the nuclear scope of a quantificational tripartite structure; therefore, a ‘restrictive-domain-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’) must co-occur with a ‘nuclear-scope-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’), and vice versa. The two degree/quantity variables ‘directly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be associated with

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two ‘corresponding’ variables (syntactically or semantically) predicated by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’, respectively. These two ‘corresponding’ variables can be considered the variables that are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’. The type of predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ provides further information to help identify the nature of the two ‘indirect’ variables (i.e. individuals, times or worlds).

4.1. The syntax-semantics mapping process

As we have pointed out, the Chinese comparative correlative, containing an (implicit) adverb of quantification, involves a quantificational tripartite structure. Since there is no overt grammatical marker to introduce either the restrictive domain or the nuclear scope in Chinese comparative correlatives, we suggest that, in the simplest case of Chinese comparative correlatives, the first clause is mapped into the restrictive domain and the second one into the nuclear scope of the quantificational tripartite structure. Hence, example (1a), repeated as (27a), has a quantificational tripartite structure like (27b) (Kamp, 1981; Heim, 1982).

(27) a. [CP[CPPingguo yue tian], [CPPro (jiu) yue haochi]].

Apple more sweet then more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, the more delicious it is.’

b. 8x, y [apple(x) & apple (y) & x is sweeter than y] ! [x is more delicious than y].

However, one important question we have to answer at this point is how to identify the quantificational tripartite structure for Chinese comparative correlatives like (26a–b), repeated as (28a–b).

(28) a. [S[NP[SYue tian de] pingguo]] [AP (jiu) yue haochi]].

More sweet DE apple then more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, then the more delicious it is.’

b. [Topic/NP[SYue hao de] shu], [Comment/Syue duo ren kan].

More good DE book more more people read

‘The better a book is, the more people read it.’

We suggest that the syntactic tree structure of cases like (28a–b) can be mapped into its corresponding quantificational tripartite structure by assuming a revised version of Tsai’s (2001:132) Extended Mapping Hypothesis (Kamp, 1981; Heim, 1982; Diesing, 1992).15

15

Tsai (2001:132)formulates the Extended Mapping Hypothesis as follows (Diesing, 1992:10): (i) Extended Mapping Hypothesis

a. Mapping applies cyclically, and vacuous quantification is checked derivationally. b. Material from a syntactic predicate is mapped into the nuclear scope of a mapping cycle.

c. Material from XP immediately dominating the subject chain of a syntactic predicate (excluding that predicate) is mapped outside the nuclear scope of a mapping cycle. A subject chain is an A-chain with its tail in a subject position.

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(29) Revised Extended Mapping Hypothesis16

a. The first clause (i.e. CP) immediately dominated by the top CP is mapped into the restriction while the second the nuclear scope; otherwise,

i. Material from a syntactic predicate is mapped into the nuclear scope in a Chinese comparative correlative, and

ii. material from XP immediately dominating the subject chain of a syntactic predicate (excluding that predicate) is mapped outside the nuclear scope in a Chinese comparative correlative. A subject chain is an A-chain with its tail in a subject position.

b. Given the correlative nature of the adverb yue ‘more’, at least one occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’ must be found in the restriction and the nuclear scope of the quantificational tripartite structure to ensure that a comparison is made in either domain.

In (28a), the material from AP (i.e. yue haochi ‘more delicious’) is mapped into the nuclear scope and material from IP (excluding AP) into the restrictive domain (i.e. yue tian de pingguo ‘more sweet DE apple’). In a topic-comment construction like (28b), the whole IP counts as a complex predicate with the null operator (semantically a lambda operator) as its open place. Thus, the quantificational tripartite structures of (28a–b) are as in (30a–b), respectively.

(30) a. 8x, y [apple(x) & apple(y) & x is sweeter than y] ! [x is more delicious than y]. b. 8x, y [book(x) & book(y) & x is better than y] ! [the number of people who

read x is more than that of those who read y].

As (30a) indicates, Chinese comparative correlatives seem to involve a relation between a pair of variables, a comparison relation and a relation between variables and degrees. This is imme-diately reminiscent of Beck’s (1997) proposal on the semantics of the German comparative conditional morpheme je ‘the’.

4.2. The semantics of the correlative adverb yue

According toBeck (1997:248), the German comparative conditional morpheme je ‘the’ has a denotation like (31).

(31) [[je’]](x1, x2)([[-er’]])(D<s, <d, t>>) iff9d [d > 0 & [[-er’]](D(x1))(d)(D(x2))]

16

The semantic relationship between the restrictive domain and the nuclear scope of a quantificational tripartite structure is not necessary to be a causal one. For instance, in example (i) it is not necessary for ‘x is a person’ to cause x to drink. (i) Everyone drinks.

‘8x [x is a person] ! [x drinks].’

Besides, Condition (29b), as we shall suggest, can be derived from the semantics of the correlative adverb yue ‘more’. For sentences like (ii), which consists of more than two clauses, there are more than one way of mapping between the syntactic tree structure and the quantificational tripartite structure.

(ii) Tianqi yue re, han liu-de yue duo, shui he-de yue duo. Weather more hot sweat perspire-DE more more water drink-DE more more

a. ‘If it gets hotter, people perspire more and drink more.’

b. ‘If it gets hotter and people perspire more, then people drink more.’

The mapping indeed depends on the semantic interpretation, meaning that which part(s) is (or are) considered the restriction. However, at least one clause must be mapped into the restriction and at least one the nuclear scope; otherwise, the sentence will be ungrammatical.

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Namely, [[je’]] has three arguments: a pair of variables, the comparative morpheme –er, and the function D<s,<d, t>>. However, neither definite article (e.g. the English the) nor overt

compara-tive morpheme exists in Chinese. Hence, it is impossible for us to say the Chinese comparacompara-tive correlative morpheme yue ‘more’ has a denotation the same as whatBeck (1997)suggests for the German je ‘the’.

Based on the semantic interpretation of examples like (28a) (i.e. (30a)), we suggest that semantically the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ functions to regulate a relationship between a pair of degree/quantity variables and a comparison relation. More precisely, since the adverb yue ‘more’ implies a comparison, occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’ induces a pair of degree/ quantity variables. These two variables are further compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’. Moreover, the relationship between these two variables must be subject to the condition: For every x1, there must exist an x2; the

degree value of x2on the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must

be larger than that of x1on the same scale, and vice versa. To derive the correlative nature of the

adverb yue ‘more’, we suggest that a relation denoted by the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ must be identified either as the restrictive domain or the nuclear scope of a quantificational tripartite structure. Hence, a ‘restrictive-domain-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’) must co-occur with a ‘nuclear-scope-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’), and vice versa (see example (ii) of footnote (16)). The two degree/quantity variables ‘directly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ are further associated with two ‘corresponding’ variables (syntactically or semantically) predicated by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’, respectively. These two ‘corresponding’ variables thereby can be considered the variables that are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other along the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’. Furthermore, the type of predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ provides information to help identify the nature of the two ‘indirect’ variables (i.e. individuals, times or worlds).

One point that we cannot ignore at this point is the question of how the type of predicate modified by the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ provides information to help identify the nature of the ‘indirect’ variables. According toDoetjes (1997:115), there are two different scalar argument positions: the scalar q-position (quantity) and the g-position (grade). The q-position is associated to the r-position (reference) in the grid of an NP to reflect the reference properties of the noun, or to the e-position (event) in the grid of a VP to express the reference properties of the event (e.g. They ran a lot does not imply that there were many people who ran, but that there was a lot of running taking place). The g-position is found in scalar adjectives, and u-bound by elements such as so, as and how (von Stechow, 1984; Higginbotham, 1985; Heim, 1985;Zwarts, 1992; Kennedy and McNally, 2005). AsDoetjes (1997)further suggests, VPs modified by a degree quantifier may contain either a scalar q-position or a g-position. Stage-level VPs contain a q-position and in some cases also a g-position, while individual-level VPs only contain a g-position. For ease of exposition, in the following we shall use the degree argument and the quantity argument to represent the g-position and the q-position, respectively.

On the one hand, if what the adverb yue ‘more’ modifies is a gradable individual-level predicate, for example the adjective tian ‘sweet’ or the stative verb xihuan ‘like’, what the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ interacts with is the degree argument of the gradable individual-level predicate. Since occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’, as we have argued, induces a comparison between two variables, two degree arguments related to the gradable individual-level predicate will be induced. Given that an individual-level predicate does not change

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spatio-temporally, these two degree variables cannot be understood as two different degree values related to a singular subject NP that denotes an entity. Instead, they can only be considered two degree arguments, each belonging to a different entity predicated by the individual-level predicate, as illustrated by the contrast between (32a–b) and (32c).

(32) a. Zhe-zhong pingguo yue tian, yue haochi. This-kind apple more sweet more delicious

‘The sweeter this kind of apples is, the more delicious it is.’ b. Pingguo yue tian, yue haochi.

Apple more sweet more delicious

‘8x, y [apple(x) & apple (y) & x is sweeter than y] ! [x is more delicious than y].’ c. *Zhe-ke pingguo yue tian, yue haochi.

This-CL apple more sweet more delicious

To put it another way, what are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other in cases involving a gradable individual-level predicate, for example (32a–b), are two different entities, namely individuals (i.e. apples).

On the other hand, whenever the predicate modified by the correlative adverb yue ‘more’ is a stage-level predicate, what interacts with the adverb yue ‘more’ is the quantity argument of the verb. For example, in (33) it is the quantity argument of the stage-level predicate pao ‘run’ that interacts with the adverb yue ‘more’.

(33) Zhangsan yue pao, yue kuai. Zhangsan more run more fast

‘The more cumulative the reference property of Zhangsan’s running event is, the faster he is.’

Since occurrence of the adverb yue ‘more’ implies a comparison, two quantity arguments will be induced in (33). In addition, the property of a stage-level predicate might change along the spatio-temporal axis; therefore, these two different quantity arguments might each belong to a different temporal region or sausage of the same entity because an individual can be viewed as spatio-temporal regions or sausages, composed of stages or time-slices (Carlson, 1977; Hinrichs, 1985). So, in (33) what are ‘directly’ compared with each other are two different quantity arguments (or variables), each associated with a different spatio-temporal region of the subject NP Zhangsan.

Although almost all speakers tend to have a preference for the reading in which two spatio-temporal regions of the same entity are compared with each other along some scale in cases involving a stage-level predicate, another reading in which two different degree/quantity variables, each belonging to a different entity, are compared is still acceptable to them. For instance, the (b) reading is intuitively acceptable for (34) under the following scenario17:

17

Even though for most speakers the reading in which two different entities are compared along some scale is preferred in cases involving the relative clause modification, the reading in which two different spatio-temporal regions of the same entity are compared along the same scale is still acceptable for them if an appropriate scenario is provided. Sentence (i) provides an example.

(i) [NP[CPYue mang de] ren] yue rongyi wang-dong-wang-xi.

More busy DE people more easy forget-east-forget-west a. ‘If a person is busier, then it is easier for him/her to be forgetful.’ b. ‘The busier a person gets, the easier for him to get forgetful it is.’

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(34) Ren yue mang, jiu yue rongyi wang-dong-wang-xi. People more busy then more easy forget-east-forget-west

a. ‘The busier a person gets, the easier it is for him to get forgetful.’

b. ‘If person x is busier than person y, then it is easier for x to be forgetful than it is for y.’

Suppose Zhangsan is the chair of Department of Linguistics while Lisi is Dean of Academic Affairs at the same university. Everyday, Lisi is much busier than Zhangsan, and Lisi, as busy as a bee, is always a person more forgetful than Zhangsan. So, what are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other in the (b) reading are two different individuals. We suggest the ambiguity shown by examples like (34) might result from the possibility of having a stage-level predicate like mang ‘busy’ used as an individual-level predicate under an appropriate context.

For examples like (10c), repeated as (35a), what the adverb yue ‘more’ modifies is a stage-level scalar adjective, namely re ‘hot.

(35) a. Tianqi yue re, shui he-de yue duo.

Weather more hot water drink-DE more more ‘The hotter it is, the more water people will drink.’

b. 8t1, t2[It was hotter at t2than at t1]! [People drink more water at t2than at t1].

Here, two degree variables are induced, and each belongs to a different spatio-temporal region of ‘the weather’ because of the stage-level status of the adjective re ‘hot’. These two spatio-temporal regions somewhat can be understood as two different time variables pragmatically. Thus, (35a) has a rough semantic representation as in (35b), in which what are ‘indirectly’ compared with each other are two different time variables bound by the unselective operator.

Assuming such an analysis, the semantic interpretation of the first clause of (36), in which the gradable adjective hao ‘good’ occurs as the V-de complement and the subject NP denotes a single entity (i.e. Zhangsan), can be derived as follows (Huang, 1988).

(36) Zhangsan zhunbei-de yue hao, ke jiu jiao-de yue hao. Zhangsan prepare-DE more good lecture then teach-DE more good ‘The better Zhangsan is prepared, the better his lecture is.’

In the first clause of (36), the adverb yue ‘more’ interacts with the gradable adjective hao ‘good’; therefore, two different degree arguments are induced because of the comparison relation implied by the adverb yue ‘more’. However, the subject NP Zhangsan denotes a singular definite entity rather than two different entities. So, we would expect (36) to be ungrammatical, contrary to fact. The crucial factor that rescues (36) from being ungrammatical is the stage-level status of the main predicate zhunbei-de ‘prepared-DE’ of the first clause. Since the ‘property’ of a stage-level predicate can change spatio-temporally, it is possible for us to get two different spatio-temporal regions of the individual Zhangsan (i.e. two ‘duplicates’ of Zhangsan in two different possible worlds) in (36). And each different possible world is associated with a different degree argument. So, the comparison in the first clause of (36) becomes possible, and the semantic interpretation of (36) can be roughly represented as in (37).

Originally, Zhangsan was the chair of Department of Linguistics, and was appointed as Dean of Academic Affairs recently. So, Zhangsan becomes much busier than he was, and now he is as busy as a bee everyday. Given this, Zhangsan becomes more forgetful than before after he was appointed as Dean of Academic Affairs.

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(37) 8w1, w2[Zhangsan is better prepared in w2than in w1]! [Zhangsan lectures better

in w2than in w1].

One of the central assumptions of our proposal (i.e. for every x1, there must exist an x2; the

degree value of x2on the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be

larger than that of x1on the same scale, and vice versa) immediately excludes the possibility of

having the adverb yue ‘more’ modify a predicate that denotes a bounded event. Take (38a) as example:

(38) a. *Ni yue chi-wan, duzi yue bao. (accomplishment) You more eat-finish stomach more full

b. Ni yue chi, duzi jiu hui yue bao. (activity) You more eat stomach then will more full

‘The longer you keep eating, the fuller you will feel.’

The accomplishment (i.e. bounded-event-denoting) predicate chi-wan ‘eat-finish’ implies a ‘bounded’ quantity of the event denoted by chi-wan ‘eat-finish’. Existence of such a ‘bounded’ quantity immediately violates the constraint: For every x1, there must exist an x2; the degree

value of x2on the scale denoted by the predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ must be

larger than that of x1on the same scale, and vice versa, because there does not exist another

quantity ‘larger’ than it. Therefore, (38a) is ungrammatical. So, the unboundedness effect becomes a natural consequence of our analysis (see (7a–f) repeated as (39a–f)).18

(39) a. Nuhaizi yue da, (jiu) yue piaoliang. (state) Girl more big then more beautiful

‘The older a girl is, the more beautiful she will be.’

b. Ni yue zui (ta), ta yue pao. (activity)

You more chase he/she, he/she more run

‘The more cumulative the reference property of your chasing-him event is, the more cumulative the reference property of his running event is.’

c. Men yue qiao, yue xiang. (semelfactive) Door more knock more loud

‘The more cumulative the reference property of your knocking-at-the-door event is, the louder it will be.’

d. Shibing yue si, yue duo. (achievement) Soldier more die more more

‘The more cumulative the reference property of the soldier’s dying event is, the larger the amount of dead soldiers is.’

e. Yue jian-guo da shimian de ren, yue qianxu.

More see-ASP impressive scene DE person more modest

‘The more cumulative the reference property of one’s seeing the impressive scene is, the more modest one is.’

f. *Ni yue chi-wan, duzi yue bao. (accomplishment)

You more eat-finish stomach more full

18One alternative to explain the ungrammaticality of (38a) is to have the successive-stage of the accomplishment

chi-wan ‘eat-finish’ (i.e. chi ‘eat’) as presupposition, and the natural final point (i.e. wan ‘finish’) as focus. Given focus on the final point, the temporal schema of accomplishments can be considered a single point rather than a ‘scale’. Hence, accomplishments are incompatible with the correlative adverb yue ‘more’.

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Thus, along a line similar toBeck (1997), we have the semantic interpretation of (40a) roughly represented by (40b) though we do not think the denotation of the adverb yue ‘more’ is the same as whatBeck (1997)suggests for the German je ‘the’.19

(40) a. Pingguo yue tian, yue haochi. Apple more sweet more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, the more delicious it is.’

b. 8x, y [apple(x) & apple(y) & 9d [d > 0 & the max d2[d2-sweet(x)] = d + the

max d1[d1-sweet(y)]]) 9d’ [d’ > 0 & the max d4[d4-delicious(x)] = d’ + the

max d3[d3-delicious(y)]]]

At this point, we would like to pause and consider the semantic interpretation of Chinese comparative correlatives in some more detail. In fact, the type of interpretation we suggest is rather weak because of the following reason: If there is a positive difference in how apple x and y differ from each other in sweetness, then there must be a corresponding or resulting positive difference in how they differ in deliciousness (seeThiersch, 1982; Fillmore, 1987; McCawley, 1988; Beck, 1997). So, nothing is said about the respective size of the differences, nor is the relation between them addressed. The two difference degrees should somehow be related to each other: either they might be identical, or proportional, or the second one should be functionally dependent on the first. Our analysis is weak because we do not have the notion ‘‘corresponding (or resulting)’’ clearly defined. As we have indicated in examples like (6), the differences in question can be very irregular. In addition, the author is a syntactican whose knowledge of formal semantics is not good enough to give a formal definition for ‘‘corresponding (or resulting)’’. We shall leave it for further research.

4.3. The empirical and theoretical consequence

The analysis proposed has the following empirical and theoretical consequences. To put it concretely, the question of why examples like (14), repeated as (41a), are subject to the anti-c-command constraint gets explained well. Under our analysis, example (41a) has a quantificational tripartite structure like (41b), in which the restrictive domain does not contain any occurrence of correlative adverb yue ‘more’.

(41) a. *[S[NPZhangsan] [VP yue xihuan [NP[Syue gui de] shu]]].

Zhangsan more like more expensive DE book

b. *8x, y [Zhangsan] ! [book(x) & book(y) & Zhangsan likes x more than y & x is more expensive than y].

As we have argued, the correlative nature of the adverb yue ‘more’ requires a relation denoted by the adverb yue ‘more’ to be identified either as the restrictive domain or the nuclear scope of a

19

In Chinese, some adjectives, besides their individual-level status, also have inchoative use, for example the adjective da ‘become big’ in (i), and hence function as a stage-level predicate in some cases. So, we would predict the subject NP predicated by this type of adjective might be a singular definite (or specific) NP.

(i) Zhe-ge xiaohai yue da, yue tiaopi. This-CL child more big more naught

‘The older this child gets, the more naughty he is.’

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quantificational tripartite structure; that is, a ‘restrictive-domain-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’) must co-occur with a ‘nuclear-scope-expressing’ relation denoted by one adverb yue ‘more’ (or more than one adverb yue ‘more’), and vice versa. However, as the quantificational tripartite structure (41b) indicates, no adverb yue ‘more’ is found in the restrictive domain; therefore, the correlative nature of the adverb yue ‘more’ is not satisfied. Hence, (41a) is ungrammatical.20

5. A typological perspective on comparative correlatives

According Quirk et al. (1985:999–1000, 1111), English comparative correlatives may be introduced by as, with or without so (formal), or by the fronted correlative the . . . the followed by comparative forms, as shown by (42a–b), respectively.

(42) a. As they worked harder, (so) they became hungrier. (merge) b. The harder they worked, the hungrier they became. (movement)

The fronting of the comparative element, asQuirk et al. (1985:1111)suggest, results in the kind of syntactic ordering found in relative and wh-interrogative clauses.

Followingvon Fintel (1994)andBeck (1997), we analyze the English comparative correlative like (42a) as a correlative construction with a syntactic structure in which the as-clause (or the antecedent clause) is in the same position as a left-dislocated element, as shown by (43) (Culicover and Jackendoff, 1999; den Dikken, 2005).

(43) [CP[CPAs they worker harder], [CP(so) they became hungrier]].

We further suggest that, on the one hand, in (43) as and so are merged in [Spec, CP] of the antecedent and the consequent clause, respectively, to satisfy the requirement of the [EPP] feature of C (i.e. complementizer) (Chomsky, 2001). On the other hand, in (42b), whose Lexical Array does not contain as and so, the correlative the in the antecedent clause moves to [Spec, CP] in a PF pied-piping manner by dragging along with it the comparative form harder and the correlative the in the consequent clause does so by moving together with the comparative form hungrier to fulfill the requirement of the [EPP] feature of C. The assumption that English comparative correlatives like (42b) involve PF pied-piping gets further support from the long-distance dependence between the comparative phrase at the front and the gap within the CP and the island constraints on long-distance dependence, as illustrated by (44a) and (44b), respectively (Culicover and Jackendoff, 1999:555).

(44) a. [The more counterexamples]iMary say that Bill has helped Fred to discover ti,

the less I believe her. (long-distance dependence)

b. *[The more food]iMary knows a man that eats ti, the poorer she gets. (CNPC)

c. *[The fatter]ihe goes to a doctor when he gets ti, the more he eats. (CED)

20

Alternatively, the ungrammaticality of (41a) can be explained as follows: As we have suggested, one of the most important characteristics of Chinese comparative correlatives is that a comparison must be made both in the restrictive domain and the nuclear scope of the quantificational tripartite structure. The comparison either in the restrictive or in the nuclear domain is possible only when a predicate modified by the adverb yue ‘more’ occurs inside. Since no adverb yue ‘more’ is found in the restrictive domain of (41b), the comparison in the restrictive domain cannot be made. Hence, (41a) is ungrammatical.

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Assuming this, we would expect the island effect not to appear in examples like (42a), in which the antecedent clause and the consequent clause, instead of being introduced by a fronted comparative phrase, are introduced by as and so, respectively. This expectation indeed is borne out by the grammaticality of (45a–c).21

(45) a. As Mary says that Bill has helped Fed to discover more counterexamples, (so) I believe her less.

b. As Mary knows a man that eats more food, (so) she gets poorer. c. As he goes to a doctor when he gets fatter, he eats more.

Thus, we would like to suggest that in English there are two types of comparative correlatives: One does not involve overt movement; for such type of comparative correlatives, the antecedent clause is introduced by the correlative subordinator as while the consequent clause is optionally introduced by so. The other type involves overt movement (i.e. PF pied-piping) in a way that in each clause the correlative the moves by dragging along with it a comparative form. No matter which type it is, an English comparative correlative always consists of two clauses: the ‘antecedent’ and the ‘consequent’ clause.

On the other hand, the Chinese comparative correlative syntactically is similar to the English as. . . more/-er . . . (so) . . . more/-er comparative correlative in that neither of them involves overt movement. This immediately explains why Chinese comparative correlatives as well as the English as . . . more/-er . . . (so) . . . more/-er comparative correlative do not show the island effect, as the grammaticality of (46a-c) illustrates.

(46) a. Ni-de shouru yue gao, [renmen hen ziran-de jiu hui renwei [ni-de shui Your income more high people very naturally then will think your tax hui yue gao]].

will more high

‘The more income you get, the more tax people will rightly think that you will pay.’ b. [IP[NP[CPYue ai piaoliang de] nuhaizi] [VPchi-de yue shao]]. (CNPC)

More love beautiful DE girl eat-DE more less

‘The more a girl cares about her beautifulness, the less she eats.’ c. Ren yue jianjue, [[zai yue jiankun de shihou], [yue neng kefu

People more constant at more difficult DE moment more can overcome kunnan]]. (CED)

difficulty

‘If people are more constant, they are more likely to overcome difficulties when they are under more difficult situations.’

Although the Chinese comparative correlative is the same as the English as . . . more/-er . . . (so). . . more/-er comparative correlative in not involving overt movement, they still differ from each other in the following aspects: First, the English as . . . more/-er . . . (so) . . . more/-er comparative correlative differs from the Chinese comparative correlative in that the former consists of two (or more) clauses, the antecedent and the consequent clause; however, it is not necessary for the latter to do so (see (28a–b) repeated as (47a–b)).

21The grammatical judgment of (45a-c) comes from my informants: Jennifier Bryne (from USA) and Magar Etmekdjian

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(47) a. [S[NP[SYue tian de] pingguo] [AP (jiu) yue haochi]].

More sweet DE apple then more delicious

‘The sweeter an apple is, then the more delicious it is.’

b. [Topic/NP[SYue hao de] shu], [Comment/Syue duo ren kan].

More good DE book more more people read

‘The better a book is, he more people read it.’

The Chinese comparative correlative can be a sentence with a complex NP (i.e. an NP modified by a relative clause) subject, a topic-comment construction in which the topic NP is modified by a relative clause, or a sentence consisting of two clauses.

Second, the English comparative correlative morpheme occurs as one of the following (discontinuous) allomorphs: the . . . -er form in which –er occurs as a suffix to adjectives or adverbs as in (48a–b), the more form followed by adjectives or adverbs as in (48c–d), the prenominal quantifier the more co-occurring with nominal expressions as in (48e), or the pronominal the more as in (48f).

(48) a. The older I get, the happier I am. (adjective)

b. The harder she worked, the more progress she made. (adverb) c. The more reliable it is, the more expensive it is. (adjective)

d. The more frequently you dance, the more beautifully you dance. (adverb) e. The more air there is inside the tyre, the harder it is pressed together.

(prenominal quantifier)

f. The more John smokes, the more inspiration he gets. (pronominal)

However, the Chinese comparative correlative morpheme yue ‘more’, categorically being a degree adverb without any allomorphs, can only co-occur with adjectives, adverbs or verbs.

Third, asMcCawley (1988:183)points out, a Chinese comparative correlative of comparative is often acceptable but its English counterpart is not, as the contrast between (49a) and (49b) shows.

(49) a. Ta yue bi wo qiang, wo yue gandao zihao.

He more than I strong I more feel proud ‘*The stronger he is than me, the prouder I will feel.’ b. *The stronger he is than me, the prouder I will feel.

This typological difference in fact results from the fact that the Chinese comparative correlative morpheme yue ‘more’ occurs in a position different from the position that degree adverbs compatible with comparatives like (50a–b) do, for example geng ‘more’ and the empty degree adverb deg.22,23

22

According toLu and Ma (1985), Chinese degree adverbs can be divided into two types: The strong type including degree adverbs like geng ‘more’, gengjia ‘more and more’, and yuefa ‘more and more’, and the weak type containing degree adverbs like shaowei ‘rather’, duoshao ‘ratherish’ and luewei ‘slightly’ (Zhang, 2002). This semantic distinction is exemplified by how the following comparatives differ from each other in interpretation.

(i) Zhangsan bi Lisi geng/gengjia/yuefa qiangzhuang. Zhangsan than Lisi more/more and more/more and more strong

‘Zhangsan is stronger than Lisi is, and both Zhangsan and Lisi are quite strong.’ (ii) Zhangsan bi Lisi shaowei/duoshao/luewei qiangzhuang *(yi-dianer).

Zhangsan than Lisi rather/ratherish/slightly strong a little bit

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