On Location and Movement in Chinese

言語研究(Gengo Kenkyu)67(1975)30～57

TENG Shou-hsin

Abstract

This paper studies the semantic and syntactic properties of a set of prepositional phrases in Mandarin which delineate the location and movement of their associated nouns. Location and movement are defined in terms of three dimensions, viz. agent's, speaker's, and addressee's. How the grammaticality of such sentences is relative to each of these dimensions is demonstrated. These prepositional phrases involve different scopes of modification, i.e. subject-or object-oriented, and the source of different scopes is explained by different underlying configurations. Finally, constraints on the syntactic movements of these phrases are discussed and a proposed derivational constraint (Tai 1973) rejected. 1. Introduction. This is a study of the syntactic and semantic properties of a set of prepositional phrases, which includes both locative prepositions (primarily), such as zai ' to be located ', cong from', and dau ' to ' , and non-locative prepositions (secondarily), such as gen from' and gei ' to ' . In previous studies of prepositions in Chinese, these two groups are not related (cf. Chao 1968), By adopting in this paper a set of semantic notions, viz., Base, Source, and Goal, it becomes possible to characterise their common properties in a systematic way. More specifically, cong and gen specify Source, while ddu and gei specify Goal. That Base (i. e. zai) lacks its nonlocative counterpart is here explained by the fact that the subject-oriented Base is a higher predicate, thus not in opposition to Source and Goal in a simplex sentence. 30 On Location and Movement in Chinese 31

2. Directionality of verb. The occurrence of the various types of locative phrases is by and large determined by the directionality of verbs, in particular action verbs.1) In this section, this directionality will be defined and illustrated in environments where locative phrases are absent. Verbs are characterisable as either directional or non-directional, depending on the movement or non-movement orientation of verb properties concerned. In the case of directional verbs, an NP which is associated with the verb in the capacity of an agent or a patient undergoes a locational displacement, from P(osition)2 at T(ime)1 to P2 at T2. Locational references may or may not be explicitly stated in the sentence in terms of, generally, prepositional phrases. Syntactically, directional verbs are those which occur freely with movement-verbs such as jin enter ' , chu ' out', shang` up ', and xia down', and/or directional-verbs, viz., lai come' and on go' in their literal sense, as illustrated below.2) ( 1 ) a. Bie ! don't walk-enter-go (Don't go in !) b. BA yizi na-chu-lai ! Disp-V chair take-out-come (Bring the chair out !) c. *Bie chang chu qu ! don't sing-out-go (Don't sing out !) More examples of verbs in each category are listed below. ( 2 ) a. Directional : pao run', tiao jump' , fang put',

1) For the definition and properties of action, process, and state verbs, refer to Chafe (1970), Teng (1972), and Lakoff (1966). 2) When directional endings occur with non-directional verbs, they are interpreted idiomatically, usually in the aspectual sense, e. g. (i ) Chang-xia-qu! sing-down-go (Keep on singing!) (ii) Chang-qi ge lai-le. sing-up song come-Perf (Started singing.) 32 TENG Shou-hsin

gua hang,' ban move,' na take/bring,' diu throw,' jian pick up,' song deliver ' , yun transport.' b. Non-directional : ji ' remember,' xiang think,' wen smell,' xiuxi ' rest,' mo ` touch,' xiu repair,' xi ' wash ,' zhu cook; ca ' erase,' kilo test.' 2.1. ' Inward' and Outward.' Directional verbs are further classifiable into, or modifiable by, ` inward ' and outward,' the former feature indicated by the directional-verb 'come' and the latter by go.' In other words, some verbs are inherently ' inward' or ' outward,' as illustrated in (3), and some are neutral as to these properties, as shown an (4). (3) a. Wo Ed ni tui xia qu, hao bu hao ? (Outward) I Disp-V you push-down-go, good Neg good (Shall I push you down ?) b. *Wo ba ni tu-xia lai, hao bu hao ? push-down-come (Shall I push you over here ?) c. WO ba ni la-xia-lai, hao bu hao ? (Inward) pull-down-come (Shall I pull you down ?) d. *Wo ba ni la-xia-qu, hao bu hao ? pull-down-go (Shall I pull you over there ? (4) a. Wo ba ni fang-xia-qu, hao bu hao ? (Neutral) put-down-go (Shall I put you down ?) b. Wo ba ni fang-xia-lai, hao bu hao ? put-down-come (Shall I put you down ?) More examples are given below. (5) a. Inward: mai buy,' xue ' learn,'qu fetch,' wen ask, yao want,' tao ask for,' ling collect,'qu marry (as of a man),' tau steal,' b. Outward: mai sell,' :jiao teach,' gei give,' gaos ' tell ,' fa give out,' shang award,' jia marry (a of a woman),' gan ' drive off,' diu ` throw,' ren, ' throw .' On Location and Movement in Chinese 33

Most of the inward verbs given above can be associated with the preposition en from,' and most of the outward verbs with the preposition gel ' to ' (see 10 and 11 below). The features inward ' and outward ' are not here proposed as semantic primitives, but are mere informal labels, since they can be further analysed into the various configurations involving Source and Goal (see Section 3). 2.2. Three dimensions of directionality. The movement inward ' and outward ' must be understood in three dimensions- those of the agent, the speaker, and the addressee, and the grammaticality in the selection of 'come' and 'go' is to be defined in each dimension. 2.2.1. Dimension of the agent. This dimension defines the intrinsic directionality of verbs. With the position of the agent as the norm, locational displacement away from the agent is ' outward' and that towards , i. e. terminating at, the agent is inward.' Thus, the characterisation given in (5) is made solely' within this dimension, and the incompatibility between ` push ' and ` come ' as well as between ' pull ' and ' go,' as intended in (3), is defined in this dimension. Note that the speaker in (3) is intentionally made identical to the agent, so that the sentences can only be interpreted uni-dimensionally, that is, the dimension of the agent coincides with that of the speaker. 2.2.2. Dimension of the speaker. In this dimension, locational displacement is defined with the position of the speaker as the norm, rather than that of the agent. It is not difficult to conceive the fact that a speech act is speaker-oriented, and consequently, we observe that the dimension of the speaker over-rides that of the agent. Compare the ungrammatical sentences in (3) with the following, ( 6 ) a. Ni ba dongxi tui-xia-lai, hao bu hao ? you Disp-V thing push-down-come, good Neg good 34 TENG Shou-hsiu

(Could you push the thing down ?) b. Ni ba dongxi hao bu hao ? pull-down-go (Could you pull the thing down ?) Here the incompatibility between ' push' and ' come' and between ' pull ' and ' go ,' as observed in (3), is invalidated, and the selection of ' come' and ' go' is determined within the dimension of the speaker. 2. 2.3. Dimension of the addressee. The role of the addressee in a speech act is not as prominent as that of the speaker, but in some instances locational displacement is defined from the point of view of the addressee. A commonplace case is observed in a telephone exchange such as the following, ( 7 ) a. Ni mashang guo-/lai, hao bu hao ? (speaker's dimension) you immediately over-come, good Neg good (Could you come over right away ?) b. HAO, wo mäshang guo-Lai. (addressee's dimension) good, I immediately over-come (All right, I'll come over right now.) Here, ' come' is selected in each case from different dimensions, as indicated. In some instances, the selection of ' come ' or 'go' can be made freely within the dimension of the speaker or within that of the addressee, in referring to one and the same event, e. g. ( 8 ) Wo VA qiu ti-guo-qu/lai gei ni, hao bu hao ? I Disp-V ball kick-over-go/come to you, good Neg good (Shall I kick the ball over to you ?) Directional expressions in Chinese involve three references, viz., activity (i. e. directional verbs), movement (e. g. enter, up, and down), and direction (i. e. come and go). While the specification of the direction-verb is subject to the three dimensions discussed above, the movement-verb is always characterised in the agent's dimension. For instance, suppose the agent and the On Location and Movement in Chinese 35 speaker are in two separate but adjoining rooms ; when the agent comes out of his room into the speaker's room, the speaker can only report zou-chu-lai ' walk-out-come ' (coming out) and not u-jin-lai ' walk-enter-come' (entering). The specification zo of cha rather than jin here is determined by the agent's dimension. 3. Source, Goal, and Base. It will be defined in this paper that an NP which undergoes a locational displacement is termed a ' theme ' (Gruber 1967), its originating position in a movement Source, its terminating point in a movement Goal, and the position of an NP in a non-movement Base. These notions arei ndicated in the examples below. ( 9 ) a. Shu zai dishang. book (theme) loc-V floor (Base) (The book is on the floor.) b. Ta you Zhongwen shu. he (Base) has Chinese book (theme) (He has a Chinese book.) (10) a. au diao-dau di-shang. book (theme) drop-to floor (Goal) (The book dropped on the floor.) b. Ta mai-le Zhongwen shu. he (Goal) buy-Perf Chinese book (theme) (He bought a Chinese book.) c. Ta ba shu mai-gei wo le. he Disp-V book (theme) sell-to me (Goal) Perf (He sold the book to me.) (11) a. Shia cong zhuo-shang diao-xia-lai. book (theme) from desk-on (Source) drop-down-come (The book dropped from the desk.) b. Ta ba. Zhongwen shu mai-le. he (Source) Disp-V Chinese book (theme) sell-Perf (He sold the Chinese book.) 36 TENG Sho-hsin

c. Ta gen wo mai-le yi-ben shu. he from me (Source) buy-Perf one-Clf book (theme) (He bought a book from me.) In locative environments, zai, dau, and cong uniquely mark Base, Goal, and Source respectively, and in non-locative environments, gei marks Goal and gen Source. While Base may modify both directional and non-directional verbs, Source and Goal can only qualify directional verbs, e. g., (12) a. Xiaohar zai chuang-shang tiao. (Base+directional) children Loc-V bed-on jump (Children are jumping on the bed.) b. Tamen zai he-biar xi. (Base+non-directional) they Loc-V river-side wash (They are washing by the river.) c. Xiaohar tiao-dau chuing-shang. (Goal+directional) jump-to (The children jumped on to the bed.) d. Xiaohar cong chuang-shang tiao-xia-lai. (Source+ directional) from bed-on jump-down-come (The children jumped down from the bed.) e. *T5 c6ng dl-shang zhu fan. (Source+non-directional) he from floor cook food (He is cooking from the floor.) By incorporating the notions Source and Goal in the grammar, it is possible to re-analyse ' inward ' and ' outward' in the following fashion. Note that in (10.b) and (11.b), reproduced below, (10.b) Ta mai-le Zhongwen shu. (He bought a Chinese book.) (11. b) Ta ba Zhongwen shu mai-le. (He sold the Chinese book.) although ' he' is Goal in (10.b) but Source in (11. b), they both share the property of ' agent.' Thus, ' inward ' verbs are precisely those verbs whose agent is identical to its Goal while On Location and Movement in Chinese 37

' outward ' verbs are those whose agent is identical to its Source. In fact, since an act of purchasing as regards a party necessarily entails an act of selling as regards another, we may rightly postulate ' buy ' and ' sell ' as two surface realisations of one and the same verb at a deeper level, say ' verb of transaction'. The assignment of the feature ' agent ' to either party determines, in this case, ' buy ' or ' sell.' Note that they differ in Chinese only tonally. In many similar cases, different assignments of ' agent' are inconsequential. Thus, zu means either ' let' or ' rent,' fie either ' lend ' or ' borrow,' and na either ' take ' or ' bring.' 3.1. Conclusive and non-conclusive Goal. Source and Goal are asymmetrically characterised, in that while Source necessarily mark the originating point of the theme, Goal may or may not mark the actual point of termination, so that in (14) a. Niko cong shu-shang fei-xia-lai. (Source) bird from tree-on fly-down-come (The bird flew down from the tree.) b. Niao xiang shu-shang fei-guo-qu. (Goal) towards tree-on fly-over-go (The bird flew towards the tree.) c. Niao fei-dau sha-shang. fly-to tree-on (The bird flew to the tree.) the bird must have been on the tree prior to (a) or after (c) the act of flying, but in (b) the tree only indicates the intended rather than the actual point of termination. Thus (a)and (c) but not (b) can be continued (albeit tautologically) by a sentence containing a Base, (15) a. Ben-lai zai shu-shang. originally Loc-V tree-on (Originally, it was on the tree.) b. *Suoyi xianzai zai shu-shang. so now (Therefore, it is on the tree now.) 38 TENG Shou-hsin

c. Suoyi xianzai zai shu-shang. (Therefore, it is on the tree now.) Moreover, failure to obtain the intended goal can be specified following a sentence with the non-conclusive Goal. (16) a. Laoha xiang xiaohar zhua-guo-qu. tiger towards child lash-over-go (The tiger lashed out at the child.) b. Keshi mei zhua-dau ta. but Neg lash-to him (But it did not get him.) Cases such as (a) are ' activity ' sentences, whereas those such as (b) are ' result ' sentences, whose meaning relationship cor- responps exactly to that between the following pair of sentences. (17) a. Wo zhao-guo/le nei-ben shu. (activity) I look-Exp/Perf that-Clf book (I looked for that book.) b. Wo zhao-dao/zhao nei-ben shu. (result) look-to / reach (I found that book.) Source, on the other hand, may occur in both ' activity' and result' sentences, co-occurring with both types of Goal, e. g.' (18) a. Niao ding di-shang wang da shu-shang fei-gu6-qu. bird from ground-on towards big tree-on fly-over-go (The bird flew towards the big tree from the ground.) b. Niao cong dl-shang fei-dau da sha-shang. fly-to big tree-on (The bird flew to the big tree from the ground.) Conclusive Goal should not be rigidly understood as confined to actual accomplishment prior to the time of utterance. It can also be projected, as evidenced in the sentences below. (19) a. Qing ni zou-dau men-qian. please you walk-to door-front (Please walk to the front of the door.) b. Ba yizi ni-dau 1ou-shang !3) On Location and Movement in Chinese 39

Disp-V chair take-to story-on (Take the chair upstairs!) The distinction between actual and projected termination rests systematically with that between activity and result sentences, and as such, it does not have to be specified in the grammar. 4. Subject and object orientation. Source, Goal, and Base may have either a subject or object as the scope of their reference, as detailed below. (20) a. Ta zai jiaoshi-li xie zi. (Base: subject) he Loc-V classroom-in write word (He is writing in the classroom.) b. Ta cong heu-tou da-le wo yi-xia. (Source : subject) he from back hit-Perf me one-while (He hit me from the back.) c. Ta wang nei-ge ren shen-shang ti-le yi-jiao.4) (Goal : subject) he towards that-Clf man body-on kick-Perf one-foot (He kicked at that man's body.) (21) a. TA zai qiang-shang ding-le yi-ge dingzi. (Base: object) he Loc-V wall-on nail-Perf one-Clf nail (He nailed a nail on the wall.) b. Ta cong na-cha qian lai. (Source: object) he from pocket-in take-out money come (He took out some money from his pocket.) c. Ta xiang shu-shang she-le yi-zhi jian. (Goal : object) he towards tree-on shoot-Perf arrow (He shot an arrow at the tree.)

3) Note that the perfective aspect can also be projected. (i ) BA fan chi-le! Disp-V rice eat-Perf (Finish the rice!) 4) My analysis of this sentence is only tentative. ' Foot' here is a cognate instrument (see Teng 1972, Chap. 6.4) and consequentlynot a theme as defined in this paper. Should it turn out to be a proper theme, the Goal would have to be analysed as object-oriented. 40 TENG Shou-hsin

In other words, the theme in (20) is the (surface) subjcet, whereas it is the (surface) object in (21). In some instances, the theme is indeterminable, e. g. (22) Xiaohar xihuan zai di-shang xie zi. children like Loc-V floor-on write word (Children like to write on the floor/to do writing on the floor.) Here, when the Base is subject-oriented, the writing can be done on paper or in a notebook, but when it is object-oriented, it has to be done on the floor. Syntactically, Base and Goal may occur either pre-verbally5), as seen in (20) and (21), or post-verbally as in (23) a. Ta ding dingzi ding-zai qiang-shang. he nail nail nail-Loc-V wall-on (He nailed a nail on the wall.) b. Ta ba yizi na-dau 1ou-shang. he Disp-V chair take-to floor-on (He took the chair upstairs.) In two-theme sentences, while pre-verbal locative pharses, in particular Base references, are interpreted as subject- or object- oriented, post-verbal phrases are unambiguously object-oriented. In the latter case, the disposal (i. e. Bd) construction is more often than not employed. Thus, (24. a) is ambiguous in scope and (b) is uniquely object-oriented. (24) a. Ta zai chuang-shang tie-le liang-zhang xiangpian. he Loc-V bed-on paste-Perf two-Clf photographs (He pasted two photographs on/in his bed.) b. Ta ba nei-zhang xiangpian tie-zai chuang-shang. he Disp-V that-Clf photograph paste-Loc-V bed-on

5) Historically, Source may also occur post-verbally, as in ( i ) Lai-zi ge guo. come-from individual nation (Came from various nations.) although only pre-verbally in modern Chinese. On Location and Movement in Chinese 41

(He pasted that photograph on his bed.) Moreover, while Base phrases preceding or following al (but before the main verb) may be either subject- or object-oriented, Source phrases must be object-oriented if following the disposal verb. This is illustrated in (25). (25) a. Ta zai pengyou jia ba qiin shu-guang le. (Subject- oriented)" he Loc-V friend house Disp-V money lose-bare Perf (He lost all his money in his friend's house.) b. Ta ba qian zai pengyou jia shu-guang le. (Subject) (He lost all his money in his friend's house.) c. Ta cong yizi-shang ba wo yi Ia. (Subject only) he from chair-on Disp-V me one pull (He pulled me from the chair.) d. Ta ba wo cong yizi-shang yi la. (Object only) (He pulled me (down) from the chair.) e. Ta cong qiang-shang ba hua na-xia-lai. (Object only) he from wall-on Disp-V picture take-down-come (He took the picture down from the wall.) Put differently, pre- and post-Ba Base may both be ambiguous, while only pre-Ba Source may be ambiguous. On the other hand, Goal in two-theme sentences is always object-oriented. Moreover, conclusive Goal can only occur after

6) Object-oriented Base may occur after the disposal verb when VP is made further complex by a partitive expression, e. g. ( i ) Ta zai shujia-shang ba xin fang-le san-ben. he Loc-V bookshelf-on Disp-V new book put-Perf three-Clf (He put three of the new books on the bookshelf.) ( ii) Ta ha xin shu zai shujia-shang fang-le san-ben. (iii) *Ta ba xin shu zai shujia-shang fang-le. VP complexity is directly related to informational load. Base-preposing is allowed only when the focus of information is other than the verb itself (thus informationally simple). 42 TENG Shou-hsin the main verb, and non-conclusive Goal only after the disposal verb. (26) a. Ta ba yizi ban-dau lou-shang. (Object) he Disp-V chair move-to floor-on (He moved the chair upstairs.) b. *Ta ba yizi dau lou-shang ban. c. Ta ba wo wang qian yi tui. (Object) he Disp-V me towards front one push (He pushed me forward.) d. *Ta wang qian ba wo yi tui. (Different meaning) The peculiar property of Goal in being always object-oriented in two-theme sentences can be viewed as the intrinsic nature of Goal, and subsequently the fact that Goal in one-theme sentences is always subject-oriented can be accounted for in terms of ' double- role ' which the subject plays (see Halliday 1967 and Teng 1972). In other words, the subject is at the same time the initiator of an event and the theme disposed of in the event. Such events typically involve activities specified in ' walk," run,'' jump," fly,' and ' squeeze in.' These verbs are then, following our analysis hree, deep transitive verbs. The Goal associated with these verbs, as in, (27) a. Mao wang zhuo-shang yi tiao. cat towards desk-on one jump (The cat jumped up at the desk.) b. Si-ge ran dou ji-dau chezi-li. four-Clf man all squeeze-to car-in (All for men squeezed into the car.) refers to the object which is identical to the subject. To extend this analysis slightly, verbs such as ' look' and ' listen' can quite feasibly be postulated as transitive verbs with unique visual (e. g. yan-guang ' gaze') and aural perception as their theme (see Gruber 1967). As convincingly demonstrated On Location and Movement in Chinese 43

by Gruber, look' (' listen' as well in Chinese) structurally pat- terns identically to other motion verbs. Compare these sentences. (28) a. Ta wang dong zou ; zou-dau yi-ge xiao qiao. he towards east walk ; walk-to one-Clf small bridge (He was walking eastward ; and arrived at a small bridge.) b. Ta wang dong kan ; kan-dau/jian yi-ge xiao qiao. look ; look-to/reach (He looked eastward, and saw a small bridge.) c. Ta wang li-mian ting ; ting-dau/jian ku sheng. he towards inside listen ; listen-to/reach cry noise (Cf. He listened through the wall, and heard a crying noise.) 5. Subject-oriented Base as a higher predicate. Subject- oriented Base corresponds to what is suggested in Fillmore (1968, p. 26) as ' outer locative' (i. e. locative outside VP) and object-oriented Base to inner locative.' It may be appropriate to assume that Fillmore's analysis of outer locative' is translat- able into the higher predicate analysis of locative adverbs suggested

Fig. 1 44 TENG Shou-hsin in Lakoff (1970, p. 167). Following Lakoff's analysis, the underlying structure of, for example, (19. a) will be as given in Fig. 1. Viewed in this way, the sentence is to be interpreted as: the event of his writing took place in the house. The theme, then, is not the agent alone but rather an abstract event, i. e. the whole embedded sentence. The higher predicate analysis can systematically account for the following facts. Firstly, it correctly predicts the position of negation.Since negation is attracted in the surface by verbs, i. e. lowered to the left of VP (see Teng 1973), it occurs preceding the Base verb zai if the matrix S is negated, or else it occurs preceding the (surface) main verb if the embedded S is negated. Compare the sentences below. (29) a. Ta bu zai Meiguo zuo-shi. he Neg Loc-V USA work (He is not working in the USA.) b. Ta zai Meiguo bu zuo-shi. (He is in the USA, but not working.) Here, (a) asserts his working but negates his being in the USA, whereas (b) asserts his being in the USA but negates his working. The underlying structure of (a) is given in Fig. 2 and that of (b) given in Fig. 3. To analyse Base sentences as simplex sentences would fail to explain the various positions of negation. Secondly, the higher predicate analysis correctly predicts that subject-oriented Base in Chinese always occurs before the main VP, as do all other higher predicates such as hui ' will,' keyi ' may,' 'On ' difficult' (Teng 1972, chap. 5.2.3), and cluing often' (Teng 1973). ' The fact that subject-oriented Base may occur either before or after the disposal verb (see 25) is a strongindication eith at the disposal construction cannot be an embedding structure with On Location and Movement in Chinese 45

Fig. 2

Fig. 3 the disposal verb as the higher verb, as postulated in Hashimoto (1971). Her analysis would not be able to allow a Base predicate to be lowered past the next highest verb to precede the complement verb, while at the same time disallowing other higher predicates to undergo the same process. On the other hand, when disposal sentences are analysed as simplex sentences, (25. a) 46 TENG Shou-hsin and (b) are derivable through different orderings of predicate- lowering and disposal-preposing transformations. However, the higher predicate analysis is not without some difficulties. In the first place, what convention of interpretation do we have to adopt such that the theme, e. g. in Fig. 2, can be correctly assigned to the agent and not to the entire abstract event ? In the second place, notice that the sentence (30) TA zai Niuyue kai-le yi-jia fanguan. he Loc-V New York open-Perf one-Clf restaurant (He opened a restaurant in New York.) may or may not necessarily imply that he is/was in New York. This statement can be true of a person presently residing in New York as well as of a person who has never been to the USA. Whatever convention is adopted to interprete such sentences as in Fig. 2 in order to resolve our first difficulty, it is necessarily made invalid by our second case. It may be possible, nonetheless, that sentence (30) is ambiguous between subject- and object- oriented Base, the former will assert that he is/was in New York, while the latter makes no such an assertion (cf. 21. a), thus posing no problem for the higher predicate analysis. 6. Properties of object-oriented Base. In two-theme, i. e. transitive, sentences, post-verbal Base is always object-oriented, e. g. (31) a. Ta ba shu fang-zai zhu5-shang. he Disp-V book put-Loc-V desk-on (He put the book on the desk.) b. Qian, ni zul-hAo na-zai shou-li. money, you best take-Loc-V hand-in (You'd better hold the money in your hand.) c. Meiguo ren gai fangzi xihuan gai-zai shän-shang. American people build house like build-Loc-V moun- tain-on (American people like to build houses on On Location and Movement in Chinese 47

mountains.) Generally, these Base phrases may also occur pre-verbally (with some minor changes), i. e. (32) a. TA zai zhuo-shang fang-le yi-ben shu. b. Qian, ni zul-hao zai shou-li na-zhe. take-Prog c. Meguo ren xihuan zai shan-shang gai fangzi. It is postulated here that the post-verbal is the regular position of object-oriented Base, while a Base-preposing transformation operates to move it leftward across the verb. This can be seen in the fact that, for many verbs, their accompanying Base can only remain post-verbal, e. g. (33) a. Ba xiezi chuan-zai jiao-shang ! Disp-V shoes wear-Loc-V foot-on (Put the shoes on your feet !) b. *Ba xiezi zai jiao-shang chuan-zhe ! It is theoretically more plausible to optionally prepose some instances of Base when pertinent conditions are met than to obliga- torily postpose Base in other instances. The Base-preposing rule is identical in nature to the (non- locative) Goal-preposing rule. In Teng (1972), I have established circumstantial and transitivity prepositional phrases. Benefactive gei is circumstantial whereas Goal gei is transitivity, and while Benefactive, like subject-oriented Base, oan only ccur pre-verbally, Goal, like object-oriented Base, may occur either pre- or post- verbally, e. g. (34) a. Wo gei ta chuan yifu. (Benefactive) I for him put-on clothes (I put on the clothes for him.) b. *Wo chuan yifu gei ta. c. Wo gei ta xie-le yi-feng xin. (Goal) write-Perf one-Clf letter (I wrote him a letter.) d. Wo xie-le yi-feng xin gei ta. 48 TENG Shou-hsin

Moreover, the regular position of Goal, like object-oriented Base, is post-verbal, since some instances of Goal can not be pre-posed. Compare (33) with the sentences below. (35) a. Ta ba the mai-gei pengyou. he Disp-V car sell-to friend (He sold his car to a friend.) b. *Ta ba the gel pengyou mai-le. sell-Perf Thus, Base-preposing and Goal-preposing rules are instances of a more general transformation, say (transitivity) preposition- preposing. In view of the fact that the basic position of object-oriented Base is post-verbal and the fact that there is only one occurrence position of negation in such sentences, e. g. (36) a. Qian, ni zui hao bu zai shou-li na-zhe. money, you best good Neg Loc-V hand-in take-Prog (You'd better not hold the money in your hand.) b. *Qian, ni zui hao zai shou-li bu na-zhe. c. *Qian, ni zul hao na bu zai shou-li. we might be led to postulate that object-oriented Base is a con-

Fig. 4 On Location and Movement in Chinese 49 stituent of VP in the underlying structure. For example, the structure of (31. a) may be as given in Fig. 4. However, this simplex structure is indequate, for the reason that Base involves different entailments in different contexts. Here we will be concerned with two types of verbs, viz. affective and effective (see Teng 1972 for other references). Af- fective sentences, such as, (37) a. Ta ba shu fang-zai zhuo-shang. he Disp-V book put-Loc-V desk-on (He put the book on the desk.) b. Ta ba maozi dai-zai tou-shang. hat put-on-Loc-V head-on (He put the hat on his head.) specify their resultant states, i. e. (38) a. Shu zai zhuo-shang. book Loc-V desk-on (The book is on the desk.) b. Maozi zai tou-shang. hat Loc-V head-on (The hat is on his head.) On the other hand, effective sentences do not entail such specifica- tions, e. g. (39) a. Ta zai qiang-shang zuan-le dong. he Loc-V wall-on drill-Perf hole (He drilled a hole in the wall.) b. *Dang zai qiang-shang. hole Loc-V (The hole is in the wall.) c. Ta zai heiban-shang xie-le zi. he Loc-V blackboard-on write-Perf character (He wrote a character on the blackboard.) d. *Zi zai heibAn-shang. character Loc-V (The character is on the blackboard.) Instead, they entail such existential statements as, (40) a. Qiang-shang you dong. wall-on have hole (There is a hole in the wall.) 50 TENG Shou-hsin

b. Heiban-shang you zi. blaokboard-on have character (There is a character on the blackboard.) This is because affective verbs dispose of (incluuing causing locational displacement) their objects, whereas effective verbs create them. Therefore, the underlying structure of, for instance, (39. a) should not incorporate (39. b) but (40. a). To account for the difference stated above, the structure in Fig. 4 can be slightly modified to incorporate a complement sentence, and the structures of (37. a) and (39. a) are as given respectively in (41). (41) a. Ta fang shad-SI-la zai zhuo-shang. he put book+Book Loc-V desk-on b. Ta zuan dong+Qiang-shang you dong. he drill hole+Wall-on have hole In other words, one type of Base in the surface is derived from a locative sentence, while the other is derived from existential sentence (cf. Li 1972). This distinction systematically ex- plains why (37. a) and (39. a) behave differently as regards time- duration. Note that in, (42) a. Ta ba hua zai qiang-shang gua-le san tian. he Disp-V picture Loc-V wall-on hang-Perf 3 day (He hung the picture on the wall for three days.) b. Ta zai qiang-shang zuan dong zudn-le san tidn. he Loc-V wall-on drill hole drill-Perf 3 day (He was drilling a hole in the wall for three days.) 'three days' refers to the period of time since the act of hang-

ing (a), whereas it refers in (b) to the duration of the act of drilling. Let us refer to the former as state-duration and the latter action-duration. The fact that state-duration does not occur in effective sentences follows naturally from the constraint that existential sentences cannot be modified by duration. Com- On Location and Movement in Chinese 51 pare the following sentences. (43) a. Hua zai qiang-shang san tian le. picture Loc-V wall-on 3 day Perf (The picture has been on the wall for three days.) b. *Qiang- shang you thing san tian le wall-on have hole 3 day Perf (There has been a hole in the wall for three days.) c. *Zhongguo you san tian le. China have flood 3 day Perf (There has been a flood in China for three days.) After the application of the Base-preposing rule to the structures in (41), the theme in the locative complement sentence is deleted, but the theme in the existential complement sentence (b) is deleted together with the existential marker you (see Allan 1971). The occurrence of the locative verb zai in the surface structure of (41. b), namely (39. a), indicates that the Base in (41. b) is also governed by the locative verb. That is, (41. b) has to be modified as below. (44) Ta zuan dong+Zai qiang-shang you thing. Our postulation here differs from that in Li (1972) in that the locative verb and the existential marker have different functions and are not derived from a common source. 7. Predictability of Base and Goal. In Section 5, we have analysed subject-oriented Base as a higher predicate, hence outside of a simplex sentence. Consequently, object-oriented Base and Goal (non-conclusive in particular) no longer contrast or co- occur. They are entirely predictable through the directionality of verbs and are collapsable into a more general category, say Locative. A directional verb is always accompanied by Goal and a non-directional verb by Base, e. g. (45) a. Niao fei-dau shu-shang qu-le. (Directional) bird fly-to tree-on go-Perf (The bird flew to the tree.) 52 TENG Shou-hsin

c. Ta ba pengyou song-dau huoche-zhan qa-le. he Disp-V friend send-to train-station go-Perf (He took his friend to the railroad station.) c. You yi-ge ren tang-zai dl-shang. (Non-directional) have one-Clf man lie-Loc-V floor-on (There was a man lying on the floor.) d. Ta ba youpiao tie-zai xinfeng-shang. he Disp-V stamp paste-Loc-V envelope-on (He put a stamp on the envelope.) The specification of the Base and Goal verbs is given below. dau/verb =[-F directional] (46) Locative verb zai/verb=[ -directional] In most instances, verbs are uniquely specified in the lexicon as to the feature [directional]. However, it is sometimes observed that a verb may select either directional or non-directional. In such cases, both Goal and Base may occur with the verb, e.g. (47) a. Ni zuo-zai shafa-shang. you sit-Loc-V sofa-on (You sit on the sofa.) b. Ni zuo-dau shafa-shang sit-to go (You sit (over there) on the sofa.) c. Ni 136 shift na-zai shou-li. you Disp-V book take-Loc-V hand-in (You hold the book in your hand.) d. Ni ba shu na-clau fangzi-li qu. take-to house-in go (You take the book into house.) It is informative to notice here that the act of ' sitting ' is assumed in (b) but not necessarily in (a). Using ' directional' as a feature of classification, we obtain the following three classes of (transitive) verbs. (48) a. Base : ji ' remember, record,' ji ' to leave behind,' liu ' to leave,' dau ' pour,' xie ' write.' b. Goal: sang ' send,' ji ' mail,' ban ' move,' nuo ' move,' On Location and Movement in Chinese 53

yun ' transport.' c. Neutral : fang ' place, put,' tie ' paste,' gua ' hang,' diu throw,' take, hold.' 8. Constraints on Base movements. We have in the preceding sections observed that although the subject-oriented Base always occurs preverbally in the surface, the object-criented Base may occur either pre-or post-verbally. It follows that we cannot merely establish a pre-verbal locative and a post-verbal locative, as postulated in Tai (1973). Furthermore, Tai claims that When- ever an adverbial (including our Base) can occur both before and after the main verb, there is always a contrast of meaning ' (p. 404). Such an analysis not only fails to account for the relatedness between the sentences in (31) and those in (32), but fails also to explain the ambiguity of (24. a). On the other hand, we have established that the object-oriented Base originates from a complement sentence, that it is generally positioned after the main verb, and finally that a preposition- preposing transformation operates to place it pre-verbally. Mero- over, the same transformation applies to other prepositional phrases such as non-locative Goal (gei). To explain the fact (as well as others) that the subject-oriented Base, which originates from a higher predicate, can only occur preverbally, as in (49) a. Ta zai kan he Loc-V room-in read book (He is reading in his room.) b. .Ta kan shu zai Tai introduces a global derivational constraint, i. e. Predicate Placement Constraint (PPC), which specifies that ' If predicate A commands complement predicate B in the underlying structure, A must precede B in the surface structure' (p. 400). This is a strong claim and is inadequate on several counts. Only two 54 TENG Shou-hsin points which relate to Base will be detailed below. First, what is involved in the placement of Base is not a derivational constraint in its current definition (see Lakoff 1971). Roughly, global derivational constraints are ' Rules which filter out certain otherwise well-formed derivations on the basis of properties of two or more distinct structures in the derivation' (Postal 1972, p. 35). In other words, if a deviant string can be defined on the basis of one single transformation, the filtering effect can be achieved by a transformational rather than a derivational constraint. There is in Chinese a predicate-lowering transformation (see Teng 1973), which lowers a higher VP to the left of a lower VP (to be extended below). This rule accounts for the placement of the pre-verbal elements in the following sentences. (50) a. Ta bu lai. he Neg come (He is not coming.) b. Ta chang lai. he often come (He comes often.) The same rule accounts for the pre-verbal position of the subject- oriented Base, which is also a higher predicate. Assuming for the time being that the facts reported in Tai (1973) are correct (see below), we can explain the ungrammaticality of (49. b) by the fact that it violates the predicate-lowering rule, without referring to its derivational history. The transformation alone guarantees the precede-relationship that holds between the Base and the main verb, and it is immaterial whether or not they are involved in a command-relationship prior to this stage. Second, the precede-relationship is defined in terms of linear sequence in the surface. Tai's claim would amount to saying that the subject-oriented Base can not be suject to any transformation which will place it after the main verb. This is incorrect. Compare the following cases, in which A follows B even though On Location and Movement in Chinese 55

A commands B in the undeilying structure7). (51) a. Tamen mingtian jiehan shi zai yige jiaotang-li. they tomorrow marry BE Loc-V one church-in (They are getting married tomorrow in a church.) b. Nimen zuotian kaihul shi zai shei jia ? you yesterday meet BE Loc-V whose house (In whose house did you have a meeting yesterday ?) Note here that the Base phrase in (51) indicates ' new ' informa- and the remainder of the sentence given ' (see Chafe 1970, 1974). The same distribution of ' new ' and given' is observed in (52) a. Tamen mingtian shi zai yige jiaotang-li jienun. b. Nimen zuotian shi zai she jia kaihul ? In fact, (51 a, b) are synonymous with and hence transformation- ally related to (52 a, b). This transformation is inapplicable when Base is not 'new' (indicated by the absence of be,' cf. 49. b). What is shown above is that the opposition ' new '/' given' determines whether a subject-oriented Base occurs pre-verbally (when ' new ' or given ') or post-verbally (only when new '). This fact clearly contradicts what is claimed by Tai's PPC.

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