Syntactic-Semantic Analysis of Modern Chinese with Left-Associative Grammar

Inaugural Dissertation Faculty of Social Sciences and Theology The Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

presented by Qiuxiang Feng

from China

D29 Date of the oral test: 03.Feb.2012 Dean: University Professor Dr. Heidrun Stein-Kecks Primary reviewer: University Professor Dr. Roland Hausser Second reviewer: University Professor Dr. Michael Lackner

2 Preface

It is a long-term pursuit of people to interact with computers by natural languages. This is why natural language processing is significant in computer science and artificial intelligence. Before enabling a computer, or a robot, to give proper responses, we have to first make it understand what we say. Here comes the task of parsing.

For a long time, parsing refers only to syntactic analysis, which shows the grammatical relation of sentence elements. Some formal grammars, such as the Phrase Structure Grammar, the Categorial Grammar, the Dependency Grammar, etc. are applied for syntactic parsing.

However, syntax and semantics represent the duality of a language. Their relation resembles that of form and content. When these grammars are applied in Chinese parsing, the disadvantage of merely syntactic parsing becomes more outstanding.

Chinese is a parataxical language in which the semantic relation between sentence elements speaks loud. Additional semantic information of words is necessary for high-quality syntactic analysis. If the semantic relation between words is presented in the parsing result simultaneously with the syntactic relation, it will improve language production, which is important to machine translation, artiﬁcial intelligence, etc. In addition, if the whole analysis process models the mechanism of a human agent’s language understanding, it will be more theoretically solid and empirically valuable.

Under these circumstances, the Left-Associative Grammar (LAG) is proposed. LAG is supported by the language theory of Surface compositional Linear Internal Matching (SLIM). SLIM is agent- oriented, aiming to explain the understanding and purposeful production of signs in terms of completely explicit, mechanical (logically electronic) procedures. Its technical implementation is called Database Semantics (DBS). LAG and the data structure of a word bank are the two bases of DBS, As the particular algorithm of DBS, LAG follows the time-linear order of language input, allows parallel derivation and is therefore computationally eﬃcient.

Guided by this procedural language theory of SLIM/DBS, LAG is applied to modern Chinese parsing in this research. The most basic and frequent patterns of phrases and sentences in Chinese are automatically analyzed on both the syntactic and the semantic levels. A detailed discussion is presented in the three parts of this dissertation, namely, NOUN, ADJECTIVE and VERB, which are the basic universal parts of speech in all languages. Analysis from the perspective of linguistics is also integrated in order to provide a solid foundation for the automatic parsing.

SLIM/DBS proves complete, consistent and instructive in Chinese parsing. LAG proves unique, eﬃcient and competitive in the syntactic-semantic analysis of a natural language, i.e. Chinese.

The main content of this dissertation is as follows:

Part I is composed of ﬁve chapters. After an overview of Chinese nouns, the following chapters focus respectively on numerals, quantiﬁers, pronouns and some particular grammatical phenomena related to nouns.

Part II introduces various verbs in Chinese: common verbs, modal verbs, directional verbs,

3 causative verbs and three-valence verbs. The general application of these verbs are analyzed in LAG.

PART III presents the analysis of adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctives.

During the whole research, the diﬀerence between Chinese and English is slightly emphasized.

In PART IV comes the discussion and conclusion.

Acknowledgement

I thank Prof. Dr. Hausser for his kind supervision over the whole research. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Lackner, the second reviewer of this dissertation, for his comments and in- structions. My thanks also go to my colleagues at the University of Erlangen: Johannes Handl, Besim Kabashi, Thomas Proisl and Dr. Carsten Weber. They have helped me so much since I came to Germany for research. In the past four months, I had a chance to work together with four nice students in the Chinese task group. I enjoyed very much the time with them. I thank them for their wonderful ideas and support. They are Weiwei Zheng, Hsiaoyun Huang, Sina Graf and Laura Zischler. Many other students at the CLUE have also helped me in different ways. I am grateful to them, too. Prof. Xiwu Han (Heilongjiang University, China) and Dr. Xiao Sun (Dalian University of Technology, China) have been really nice to answer my questions related to Chinese parsing. I appreciated it very much. At last, I give my heartfelt gratitude to my husband. Without his encouragement, I wouldn’t have started this research. Without his help in writing the parser in Perl and formating in LYX, I wouldn’t have finished the dissertation on time. He is also the first reader of this dissertation. Thanks for his listening and understanding. Thanks for all his time, patience and love.

Erlangen, September 2011 Qiuxiang Feng

4 Contents

1 Introduction 7 1.1 Motivation ...... 7 1.2 Chinese Syntax ...... 14 1.3 Chinese Morphology ...... 15 1.4 LAG-Chinese Lexicon ...... 16 1.5 Corpus and Technology ...... 19

I NOUN Application and Analysis 21

2 Analysis of Nouns 25 2.1 Inﬂectional Change ...... 25 2.2 Derivational Change ...... 28

3 Analysis of Numerals and Quantiﬁers 39 3.1 Combination of N-Q ...... 39 3.2 Quantiﬁers in Repetition ...... 55

4 Analysis of Pronouns 63 4.1 Personal Pronouns ...... 63 4.2 Demonstrative Pronouns ...... 69

5 Analysis of Nouns Modiﬁed by Adverbial Adjectives 81 5.1 A Syntactic View ...... 82 5.2 A Semantic View ...... 98

6 Analysis of Nouns in Subject or Object Positions 101 6.1 Temporal Nouns ...... 106 6.2 Location Nouns ...... 112

II VERB Application and Analysis 127

7 Analysis of Common Verbs 131 7.1 Verbs in Repetition ...... 134 7.2 Verbs in Phrases and Sentences ...... 137

5 CONTENTS CONTENTS

8 Analysis of Modal Verbs 149 8.1 Modiﬁed by Adverbs ...... 150 8.2 Modal Verbs in Combination ...... 152

9 Analysis of Directional Verbs 159 9.1 Verb + Directional Verb ...... 160 9.2 Adjective + Directional Verb ...... 163

10 Analysis of Causative and Three-valence Verbs 165 10.1 Causative Verbs ...... 165 10.2 Three-valence Verbs ...... 168

III ADJECTIVE Application and Analysis 177

11 Analysis of Adjectives 181 11.1 Overview ...... 181 11.2 Adjectives as Predicators ...... 185 11.3 Adjectives in Repetition ...... 195

12 Analysis of Adverbs 201 12.1 Overview ...... 201 12.2 Adverbs as Complement ...... 207 12.3 Adverbs in Coordination ...... 211

13 Analysis of Prepositions 213 13.1 Overview ...... 213 13.2 Ba and Bei Constructions ...... 220 13.3 Analysis of Conjunctives ...... 233

IV Conclusion and Prospects 243

14 Discussion and Conclusion 245

15 Future Prospects 249

16 Summary 251

V Appendix 255

Bibliography 264

6 Chapter 1

Introduction

Natural language processing (NLP) is concerned with the interactions between computers and natural languages. It is a part of computer science and artiﬁcial intelligence. NLP is generally composed of language understanding and language production. Language understanding is mainly represented by parsing. A key approach to the existing automatic syntactic parsing is rule-based.

1.1 Motivation

No matter how free the sentence structure is, the fundamental rules are relatively stable. The rule-based approach starts from the most fundamental features of sentences, such as morphology and syntax, and generalizes syntactic rules in a macro view. These formalized rules are deﬁned in mathematics and adjusted for computer operations, therefore called “grammars for computational linguistics”.

These grammars include Transformational Grammar (TG), Government & Binding (GB), Mini- malist Program (MP), Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG), Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG), Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG), Functional Grammar (FUG), Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), Tree Adjoining Grammar (TAG), Categorial Grammar (CG), De- pendency Grammar (DG), Link Grammar (LG), and so on. All these grammars aim to explain how large language units are composed of small language units. They can be divided into two groups: one is phrase-based, e.g. TG, GB, MP, PSG, GPSG, HPSG, FUG, LFG and TAG; the other is word-based, e.g. CG, DG, LG , etc.

The traditional rule-based approach is also applied in Chinese syntactic parsing. A lot of research has been done in this ﬁeld (Zhao et al. [1992]; Zhou et al. [1999]; Zhou [1999]; Yang [2000]; Yuan et al. [2001]; Wang et al. [2003]; Liu and Zhao [2009]; Hu et al. [2010]). Generally, the rule-based Chinese syntactic parsers share the following features:

• to rely on rules to deﬁne the collocation relations between sentence elements;

7 1.1. MOTIVATION CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

• to generate a syntactic tree or other equivalent forms of the input string;

• to exclude incorrect structures through disambiguation mechanism;

• to be equipped with a rule base and an electronic dictionary.

1.1.1 Phrase Structure Grammar

Among all the grammars that have been introduced to Chinese parsing, the Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG) is the most classic. PSG (Chomsky [1957]; Chomsky [1965]) is further explained as regular, context-free, context-sensitive and recursively enumerable language with diﬀerent level of restrictions. The context-free is widely applied in natural language processing (Wang et al.[2003]; Feng [2000]). Transformational rules are applied in PSG, which aims to deﬁne the basic grammatical relations in the deep structure of the sentence. The derivation order of PSG is schematized as follows:

PSG

.&.&

top-down expanding

The time-linear structure of language is emphasized by de Saussure (Saussure [1974]). The term “time-linear” means to be linear like time and in the direction of time (Hausser [1992]; Hausser [2001]). Obviously, the top-down expanding derivation of PSG is not based on time-linearity.

PSG has been introduced to and developed in the processing of Chinese. The existing PSG- based automatic methods for Chinese parsing mainly include the top-down parsing, the bottom-up parsing, the Tomita algorithm, the left-corner parsing and the CKY algorithm, etc.

The top-down parsing (predicative parsing)(Fang and Cheng [1994]) follows the derivation order of the classic PSG , while the bottom-up parsing (Yang et al. [2001]) is a shift-reduce algorithm. Fundamentally, the shift-reduce algorithm is a left-right algorithm (Aho et al. [1986]). It has a high efficiency in computation, but a low capability of ambiguity reduction. In order to reduce space and time complexity, the Tomita algorithm (Tomita [1985]) adopts the technology of graph-structure stack and packed-shared forest. It is known as a generated left-right algorithm. The left-corner algorithm (Feng [2005]) is a combination of the top-down and the bottom-up parsing. Because of the depth-first search, frequent backtracking is unavoidable and efficiency is not guaranteed.

Generally, backtracking is adopted in all the above four methods. If the input sentence is a well-formed expression of the language described by the grammar, the systematic backtracking guarantees the acceptation of the sentence. But, if the input sentence does not belong to the language, the backtracking will not stop until there is no more option. Systematic backtracking guarantees the accuracy of the algorithm, but it also causes redundant repetition and calculation (Feng [2000]).

8 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. MOTIVATION

The CKY algorithm (Cocke and Schwartz [1970]; Kasami [1965]; Younger [1967]) is basically a bottom-up parsing, adopting the strategy of breadth-first search and parallel algorithm. The redundancy caused by backtracking is avoided. But, due to the combination with the breadth-first search strategy, it is difficult to reduce ambiguity before the end of the analysis.

Generally, PSG grammar focuses only on the syntactic structure (Montague [1970a]). Its generation capacity is too high (Zhao et al., Gazdar) while the analysis capacity is relatively low (Liu [1997]).

1.1.2 Categorial Grammar

The Categorial Grammar (CG)(Ajdukiewicz [1935]; Bar-Hillel [1964]; Lambek [1958]; Montague [1970b]; Zou [1995]) is a typical representative of the word-based grammars (Feng [2001]). Its derivation order is as follows:

%-%-

bottom-up

The basic idea of CG is to build up correspondence between language elements with certain kinds of categories. The composition of language structure corresponds to the calculus between categories. But it is often difficult to find the correspondence between words and categories. Some structure information that is not carried by words is also difficult to be explained in the scheme of CG (Zhai et al. [1991]). Hausser [2001] pointed out four disadvantages of CG, including too much dependence on trial and error, high degree of lexical ambiguity, computationally inefficient and no time-linear derivation. In addition, the focus of CG has been only on syntactic structure since its application to natural language processing by Bar-Hillel [1960]. The particularity of Chinese language, such as the inconsistency between word classes and syntactic roles and the emphasis of semantic relations (Zhu [1982]), increases the complexity of syntactic analysis. Any simply category-based parsing, like CG, will not have satisfactory result (Zhao and Bai [2005]). Then, Montague (1970) adds semantics to CG. Montague declares that a syntactic theory is not interesting if it is independent of semantics (Montague [1970a]). But, the Montague grammar has gone so far from syntactic analysis that some linguists prefer to call it “Montague Semantics” (Dowty et al. [1981]).

1.1.3 Dependency Grammar

The Dependency Grammar (DG) (Tesnière [1959]; Gaifman [1965]; Lai and Huang [1994]) is another important grammar in Chinese parsing. Liu [1997] takes it as one of the two prototypes of all the existing grammar systems, the other one being the Transformational Generative Grammar. In DG, a verb is the center of a sentence. It controls other elements, but is never controlled by other elements. Noun phrases are called “actants” of the verb; Adverb phrases are called “circonstants”. The number of “actants” is the “valence” of the verb. It describes the direct relation between words as “control-subordinate”. The head-driven principle applies in DG though it is not declared. This beneﬁts profound analysis, but the resulting dependency tree does not

9 1.1. MOTIVATION CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION reﬂect the time-linear order of words and focuses mainly on syntactic function and relation Liu [1997].

Both Chomsky and Tesniere view syntax independent from semantics. DG is also originally a language theory of syntax. In fact, the syntactic level and the semantic level are parallel, which represents the duality of a language symbol. The relation between syntax and semantics is like form and content . The purpose of syntactic analysis is to better express and interpret the semantic meaning (Zhu [1982], Lv [1986]). The question is: Is there any grammar that is designed for simultaneous syntactic and semantic analysis? If yes, is it computationally eﬃcient for Chinese analysis?

1.1.4 Left-Associative Grammar

In Hausser [2006], Left-Associative Grammar (LAG), is successfully applied to English parsing. The syntactic analysis and the semantic analysis of the example sentences are integrated system- atically during the derivation.

LAG has also been applied to Chinese parsing: Oberhofer [1992] and Mei [2007]. Both are master theses. In Oberhofer [1992], LAG, in its early stage, is applied to the analysis of Chinese noun phrases, verb phrases, etc. In Mei [2007], both the functor-argument and the coordination structure in Chinese are introduced and some example sentences are analyzed with LAG. Though both analyses are limited to their scope, the adaptability of LAG to Chinese processing is proved positive to some degree.

LAG was invented by Roland Hausser (Hausser [1985]). It is motivated by the time-linear structure of natural language communication. LAG calculates input by combining a sentence start with a new word into a new sentence start. In case of syntactic or lexical ambiguity, the ambiguous derivation paths continue in parallel.

Hausser [2005] presented LAG as a basic alternative to PSG. He said that PSG is based on the principle of substitutions, while LAG is based on the principle of possible continuations.

Take “a, b, c ...” as word forms and “+” as the concatenation operator. The increasing structure adopted by LAG is as follows:

(a + b)

((a + b) + c)

(((a + b) + c) + d)

... =⇒

The conceptual derivation order of LAG is bottom-up left-associative:

10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. MOTIVATION

LAG

bottom-up left-associative

The LAG grammar for context-free akbk is as follows:

LAG is supported by a lexicon ( LX ), a set of start states ( ST s ), a set of rules ( r1 , r2 ) and a set of ﬁnish states ( STF ). A LAG rule is composed of a ss (sentence start) pattern ( X ), a nw (next word) pattern ( a ), a set of operations and a rule package ( {r1, r2} ). The rule is activated when the deﬁned patterns are matched. After the successful execution of the rule operations, the derivation result is copied into output, which becomes ss for next step. The rule(s) in the rule package indicates how the sentence may continue. When there is no more input or the patterns in the rules are not matched, the syntactic-semantic analysis stops.

According to Hausser [2001], LAG is one of the two bases of the language theory of Surface compositional Linear Internal Matching (SLIM) , the other one being the data structure of a word bank. This theory of language is diﬀerent from Structuralism, Behaviorism, Nativism, Model Theory, or Speech Act Theory. SLIM is agent-oriented, instead of sign-oriented. The aim of this language theory is to explain the understanding and purposeful production of signs in terms of completely explicit, mechanical (i.e. logically electronic) procedures. SLIM takes surface com- positionality as its elementary methodological principle, time-linearity as its empirical principle and the internal matching of language and context information as its ontological and functional principle. Its technical implementation is called Database Semantics (DBS), which is the ﬁrst and the only rule system to reconstruct natural language interpretation and production as turn-taking (Hausser [2005]).

Turn-taking means changing from the speaker mode to the hearer mode, or vise versa. In real communication, a human agent in the hearer mode (1) receives information from another agent or the context, (2) analyzes it in his cognition, (3) thinks about reaction, and then (4) gives a response by words or action. The input in DBS resembles (1). (It requires the computer/robot has an external interface.) The following LAG analysis, which is based on matching between the content of the context and the cognition, models (2). The LAG grammar on this stage is called LA-hear. A second variation of LAG that navigates inside the storage for proper content is called LA-think. It reﬂects the process of (3). LA-speak is the third variation of LAG. It carries the task of language production, similar to the human agent’s response in (4). Speaking of Chinese parsing, the ﬁrst variation of LAG, i.e. LA-hear, mainly applies.

11 1.1. MOTIVATION CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

LAG can’t be separated from the network database of a word bank in SLIM or DBS. Hausser compares LAG with a locomotive and the word bank with the railroad that the locomotive navigates through. In a word bank are stored the ﬂat feature structures of content, called “proplets”. “Proplet” is short for “proposition droplet”. A proplet is a set of non-recursive attribute-value pairs. Syntactic and semantic information of each word or sentence element is stored as values of certain attributes.

The parsing result from PSG, DG, etc. are usually represented by a tree construction. In Hausser’s new book, Computational Linguistics and Talking Robots: Processing Content in Database Seman- tics, DBS graphs are brought forward as one of the new developments of his language theory. This graphical representation makes the diﬀerence between LAG and other grammars more explicit. In Hausser [2011a], the example of “The little girl slept” is given for a comparison between PSG, DG and DBS:

One of the differences in the above constructions lies in that the definite article “the” is not shown in the DBS graph. It is because that DBS analyzes content while other grammars analyze language. Functions words are generally absorbed during the syntactic-semantic derivation in DBS, though they are again precipitated when required for language production. Another difference is that the modifier-modified relation is not specified in the PSG or the DG graph. But in DBS, “|” is designated for the modifier-modified relation. “/”represents the subject-verb relation, “\”the object-verb relation, and “一”the conjunct-conjunct relation (coordination).

The above DBS graph is called a semantic relations graph (SRG). If the nodes are replaced by letters, which represent the parts of speech of each word, then it becomes a part of speech signature, or signature for short. The signature of the above example is as follows:

The SRG and the signature can be automatically generated from the LAG derivation result. These two structures provide two simultaneous views (in the conceptual sense) on a given content.

12 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. MOTIVATION

There are another two additional structures to complement the SRG and the signature, called the numbered arcs graph (NAG), and the surface realization. These two are mainly for natural language production from content. The NAG shows the time-linear activation order of the SRG, i.e. an NAG is more of less an SRG with numbered arcs. The surface realization shows the use of the traversal order for language production (Hausser, 2011:137).

The agent-oriented approach of DBS is the ﬁrst, and so far the only, reconstruction of the cycle of natural language communication (Hausser, 2011:32). Its core algorithm LAG, LA-hear in particular, has many advantages that include, but are not limited to the following:

• integrated in a well-deﬁned language theory

• supported by a data structure of a word bank

• time-linear

• low lexical ambiguity

• ﬂat (non-recursive) structure

• syntactic analysis

• semantic analysis

• parallel algorithm

1.1.5 Proposal

LAG is promising to solve most of the problems that have been found with other grammars. This research in Chinese analysis follows the guidance of SLIM, aiming to ﬁnd a more eﬃcient way of automatic Chinese parsing by implementing LAG.

Because the statistics-based approach can provide useful data to improve systematic robustness and adaptability (Wang et al. [2003], Dai et al. [2011], Yu and Zhou [2010]), it can be integrated into this rule-based research.

For the beneﬁt of later application and test in machine translation, it is better to have English counterparts as values of a certain attribute for the lexicon entries.

The complete LAG-Chinese research involves the following parts:

1. to build up an electronic LAG-Chinese lexicon, providing syntactic and semantic information of each independent entry, as well as English translations

2. to extract statistical data from a well-developed corpus and generalize sentence patterns accordingly

3. to compose LAG rules for syntactic-semantic analysis

4. to apply LAG rules to syntactic-semantic parsing

5. to evaluate and improve

13 1.2. CHINESE SYNTAX CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.2 Chinese Syntax

Before starting the implementation of LAG, it is necessary to have a general view of Chinese syntax.

Compared with European languages, Chinese is more parataxis than hypotaxis. The so-called hypotaxis refers to the realization of the connection of the words or phrases, with the help of language forms, including vocabulary and forms. Parataxis refers to the realization of the connection with the help of the logical meaning of the words or phrases, instead of the language form. Cohesion in form is more important in hypotaxis, while parataxis focuses on the significance of continuous coherence. Chinese lacks formal inflection and derivation. The combination of language units is more based on their semantic relations. In other words, language elements may have complex semantic relations without any formal structural marker. For example: all the following four sentences have the same structure of N+V+N. 1. 我 (wo, I) 去 (qu, go) 上海 (shanghai, Shanghai) 。 2. 今天 (jintian, today) 去 (qu, go) 上海 (shanghai, Shanghai) 。 3. 前面 (qianmian, front) 建 (jian, build) 房子 (fangzi, house) 。 4. 李明 (liming, Ming Li) 建 (jian, build) 房子 (fangzi, house) 。 Superficially, all of them have the same syntactic structure. But semantically, they differ from each other significantly. The translation of the above sentences is as follows:

1. I go to Shanghai.

2. ( ) go to Shanghai today. (logic subject missing)

3. A house is built in front. (passive)

4. Ming Li builds up a house.

Mr Li Wang, a well-known linguist in China said that, in respect with sentence structures, Euro- pean languages are rule-based while Chinese is agent-based (Wang [1984]). Compared with other natural languages, Chinese syntax has two particularities:

• A word from the same category can play various syntactic roles without any morphological change.

• The composition of a Chinese sentence is consistent with that of a phrase.

In English, the correspondence between word classes and syntactic roles is relatively simple and stable. In Chinese, it is rather complex. For instance, a noun is mainly used as a subject, an object or an attributive in Chinese. But, under certain circumstances, it can also be a predicator. As for an adjective, its main role is to be an attributive. However, it is often observed that an adjective is used as a predicator, an adverbial or a complement. The key role of a verb is to be a predicator, but it is also seen as an attributive. It is also not rare to see a verb or an adjective as

14 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.3. CHINESE MORPHOLOGY a subject or an object. Therefore, it is not possible to designate a syntactic role for a word from a certain class. In fact, semantic constraints between words or phrases in a Chinese sentence are more important than grammatical constraints.

A phrase plays an important role in Chinese grammar. The particularity of a Chinese phrase lies in that its morphological form does not change with the syntactic role it plays. A phrase is composed of words. It may be presented in various patterns. Sentence patterns in Chinese have the same options. In other words, a Chinese phrase, provided with a proper punctuation mark, can become a sentence. In an English sentence, a ﬁnite verb is required and there is only one ﬁnite verb in a sentence. A Chinese phrase may equal an English phrase, and a simple sentence/clause as well.

1.3 Chinese Morphology

LAG is well-developed for morphological analysis of many languages. To ensure a better per- formance of Chinese parsing, morphological work seems also necessary. But one of the most outstanding features of modern Chinese is that Chinese words don’t have morphological changes. Nouns have no change in respect with case, gender or number. Verbs also have no change regarding person or tense.

This difference from European languages has resulted in a long-lasting argument that Chinese has no grammar or parts of speech. Historian Will Durant is a representative supporter of this opinion, as shown in “Our Oriental Heritage”, the first volume of The Story of Civilization. Some native linguists also argue that the term “morpheme”does not apply to Chinese. Chen [1992] takes it as an imported theory with no real power of explanation in Chinese linguistics: it is imagined, subjective and contradictory. However, Yang [2003] defines a Chinese morpheme as a minimum meaningful unit. Fan and Zhang [2000] state that a single Chinese character is a morpheme if it has a definite meaning. Zhang [1997] declares that Chinese is a unique word system. The uniqueness first lies in that each Chinese character represents a meaningful syllable with a tone, i.e. each character has three aspects: graphical form, syllable and meaning. A meaningful syllable with a tone is a morpheme. Ma [1999] makes it even clearer: a morpheme is a minimum meaningful sign, which is also called a character. According to Zhu [1980], the term “morpheme” has two interpretations: one is the meaningful component within a word, such as a word root, a prefix or a suffix; the other is the minimum meaningful linguistic unit. A systematic grammar may have five units, namely sentences, clauses, phrases, words and morphemes.

In Chinese, a morpheme may be a word root or a suffix based on its meaning and function. A morpheme that can be used as a word independently is called a free morpheme, such as “美 (mei, pretty), 听 (ting, listen), 走 (zou, walk), 他 (ta, he), 光 (guang, light)”. A morpheme that cannot be used as a word independently is called a bound morpheme. Generally, a bound morpheme has a fixed position when it combines with another morpheme to form a word. For example: “第 (di, Number)” in “第一 (diyi, first)”, and “家 (jia, expert)” in “科学家 (kexuejia, scientist).

15 1.4. LAG-CHINESE LEXICON CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Chinese affixes are different from English bound morphemes. First, the number of affixes in Chinese is limited. According to Lv [1986], there are only 5 prefixes and 7 suffixes in Chinese. Slightly different from Lv, Guo [1983] has a list of 4 prefixes and 11 suffixes. Though Ren [1981] enlarges the list to 14 prefixes and 43 suffixes, the number is still far smaller than that of English affixes. Zheng [1981] has collected 138 English prefixes and 210 suffixes. Secondly, not all Chinese affixes are used for derivational or inflectional changes. Some are only used to give monosyllable nouns another syllable, making them sound more balanced.

Under these circumstances, only two prefixes, “第 (di, Number)” and 初 (chu, DayNumber), and seven suffixes, “性 (xing, property)”, “学 (xue, discipline)”, “观 (guan, view)”, “率 (lv, rate)”, “家 (jia, expert)”, “长 (zhang, chief)” and “们 (men, MEN)” are listed in our LAG-Chinese lexicon. One reason is that they are the most frequently used. The other reason is that they bring inflectional or derivational changes to the root words. It is necessary to point out that all these affixes are stored as function words in the lexicon, i.e. they will be analyzed on the syntactic level.

All in all, due to the limitation of morphological variations, the part of Chinese morphological work is completely integrated with the syntactical analysis.

1.4 LAG-Chinese Lexicon

1.4.1 Word Selection

The selection of words to be added to the lexicon depends on its objective. The LAG-Chinese lexicon is designed for SLIM application to automatic modern mandarin Chinese analysis. It is used for computers instead of human users. Accordingly the design depends on the processing model and algorithms applied during the analysis. The principles for word selection are therefore diﬀerent from those for any other kind of lexicon.

• First, every word in the lexicon has to be a standard modern Chinese word. According to Modern Chinese Word Segmentation Specification for Information Processing, a word is the minimum linguistic unit which can be used independently. A phrase refers to a group of two or more words which function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A word segmentation unit for Chinese information processing may be a word or a phrase as above defined with definite semantic and syntactic meaning.

• Secondly, a word in the lexicon has to be usable. The lexicon mainly collects modern Chinese words, such as “巨大 (juda, huge)，渴望 (kewang, desire)，年纪 (nianji, age)，生活 (shenghuo, life)” etc. Historical terms or ancient Chinese words, such as “宰夫 (zaifu, cook)，袞 (yun, imperial robe)，庭实 (tingshi, court)，於 (yu, in-at-on)，且夫 (qiefu, moreover)”， are not included. Various dialect words which do not belong to Mandarin Chinese, i.e. Putunghua, such as “火匣儿 (huoxiaer, matchbox)，啥子 (shazi, what)”, are also excluded. Moreover, the lexicon is used mainly for written texts analysis, so those words that frequently appear in spoken Chinese but seldom in written form will not be found in the LAG-Chinese lexicon.

16 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.4. LAG-CHINESE LEXICON

• Thirdly, any word in the lexicon should be frequently used, stable in its form and meaning.

• Fourthly, punctuation marks are included and described in the lexicon.

We take nouns as an example to explain our principles for word collection. Nouns in the lexicon include simple nouns and compound nouns. A simple noun may have one or more syllables.

Monosyllable nouns include 书 (shu, book), 手 (shou, hand), 车 (che, car), etc. Two-syllable nouns include 玻璃 (boli, glass)，葡萄 (putao, grapes)，沙发 (shafa, sofa)，逻辑 (luoji, logic), etc.

Compound nouns are further divided into compound nouns with and without aﬃxes. Those with aﬃxes are derived in the syntactic-semantic analysis, such as “厂长 (changzhang, factory chief)”, “科学家 (kexuejia, scientist)”, etc. Compound nouns composed of two bound morphemes, e.g. “状况 (zhuangkuang, situation)” and “措施 (cuoshi, measure)”, or two free morphemes, e.g. “大小 (daxiao, size)” and “火车 (huoche, train)”, are collected as individual entries in the lexicon.

Proper nouns are generally compound words in their complete form. For instance, a country name, city name, or a personal name. Temporal nouns include the twelve months in a year, the seven days in a week, names of dynasties, festivals, seasons, or a certain period of time. These nouns are mostly compound nouns, e.g. “白天 (baitian, day)” and “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)”. These compound words are also collected as individual entries.

Pronouns, numerals and quantifiers are classified as sub-groups of the NOUN category. The number of pronouns is limited, but that of numerals and quantifiers is not strictly restricted. But the lexicon only lists the most frequently used and those usable for the LAG-Chinese analysis.

In Chinese, there are quite a few patterns of repetition, including “AA (e.g. 听听)”, “AABB (e.g. 听听看看)”, “A yi A (e.g. 听一听)”, “A le A (e.g. 听了听)”, etc. It is impossible to present them all in the lexicon. It is not necessary, either. For instance, “AA”, “A yi A” and “A le A” don’t create new words. They have the same part of speech with their basic forms. Therefore, depending on their frequency, stability, syntactic or semantic diﬀerence from the basic forms, some of these patterns are collected as individual lexicon items, but others have only their basic forms listed, leaving the rest to syntactic analysis.

1.4.2 Proplet

Every language distinguishes noun, verb and adjective, which corresponds to object, relation and property in philosophy, and argument, functor and modiﬁer in logics. This is viewed as another universal of natural languages (Hausser [2001]). Accordingly, in Hausser’s application of SLIM (Hausser [2006]), noun, verb and adjective are the only three parts of speech.

The parts of speech in a traditional Chinese dictionary include numeral, quantiﬁer, pronoun, noun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunctive, verb and so on. In the LAG-Chinese lexicon, the number of core attributes is only three, consisting of “adj (short for adjective)”, “noun” and “verb”.

A word in the LAG-Chinese lexicon is stored in the form of a proplet. Most of the words in the lexicon have their English counterparts as values of their core attributes. This is originally out

17 1.4. LAG-CHINESE LEXICON CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION of the hope for future generation of English translations. In the meantime, it helps non-Chinese readers to follow the derivation process. In case it is impossible to ﬁnd a proper English word as the translated core value, the capitalized pinyin is adopted as the place holder. The graphic form of Chinese words are stored as values of the “sur” attribute. The pronunciation, i.e. pinyin, is presented as the value of the “pyn” attribute. When designated in explanation, both “pyn” value and the core value will be given in the bracket after the Chinese word surface. In this case, the “pyn” value is shown in italic, e.g. “美 (mei, pretty)”

One of the grammatical attributes, “cat (short for category)”, has various values (see appendix), depending on the specific syntactic function of the words. Other attributes include “sem”, “fnc”, “arg”, “mdr”, “mdd”, “nc”, “pc”, “wrn” and “prn”. “sem” stores the semantic information. “fnc” is short for “functor”, “arg” for argument, “mdr” for “modifier”, “mdd” for “modified”, “nc” for “next conjunct” and “pc” for “previous conjunct”. “wrn” and “prn” are bookkeeping attributes, which show the number of the word and the proposition respectively. (In order to save space, “wrn” and “prn” are not presented in any proplet in this LAG-Chinese analysis.)

Not every word has all the above attributes. For example: a noun in the lexicon has the attribute of “fnc”, but not “arg”. Not all the attributes have values in the lexicon, either. “sur”, “pyn” and the core attributes of “adj”, “noun” and “verb” have innate values for every word in the lexicon and most words have their “sem” values as well. But all the other attributes only get their values during derivation. Actually, the attributes “nc” and “pc” are also generated during the derivation of sentences with coordination relations. The proplets with new values or any change in the innate features are stored in the database, called a word bank, as word tokens (in comparison to word types in the lexicon).

A proplet in this research is diﬀerent from the feature structures used in the existing electronic Chinese lexicons. Currently, the well-designed electronic Chinese dictionaries include the Chinese Concept Dictionary (Yu and Yu [2002]), Hownet (http://www.keenage.com), the Synonyms Dic- tionary (http://www.ir-lab.org), the Grammatical Knowledge-base of Contemporary Chinese (Yu et al. [2001]) and the Semantic Knowledge-base of Modern Chinese (Wang et al. [2006]), etc. The last two are co-products of Peking University and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Take the Seman- tic Knowledge-base of Modern Chinese for example. The Chinese word “找 (zhao, look-for)” is stored as follows:

词语词类同形释义语义类主体客体与事 WORD 备注

找 v A 寻找对待人具体事物 look for ~ 材料

找 v B 退还对待人 “钱” 人 give change ~ 钱

If translated into English, it is:

word pos variation explanation semantic class agent patient beneﬁted WORD note

找 v A look for treatment human speciﬁc object look for ~material

找 v B return treatment human money human give change ~money

But in the LAG-Chinese lexicon, the two readings are stored as two diﬀerent proplets:

18 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.5. CORPUS AND TECHNOLOGY

   sur : 找 sur : 找  pyn : zhao  pyn : zhao      verb : look − for  verb : return   0 0  0 0 0   cat : s p tv  cat : s i d tv      sem :  sem : +man&money   arg :  arg :      mdr :  mdr :  wrn : wrn : prn : prn :

In the first proplet, the “cat” value, i.e. “s’ p’ tv”, means that it is a two-valence verb. The “cat” value in the second proplet means that it is a three-valence verb. The English translations are stored as the core values. The information of semantic combination is defined in the “sem” attribute. Such a flat feature structure is designed particularly for computation efficiency. Ac- cording to Hausser [2011b], the format of non-recursive proplets satisfies the requirements for easy computation of the semantic relations between word forms. It also supports the computational straightforward matching procedure needed for rule application and interaction between the language and the context level. After the syntactic-semantic analysis with LAG, the derivation result is also stored in the form of proplets. The proplets coding the semantic relations are stored in an order-free manner, so that it can be easily stored in or retrieved from the database when needed.

1.5 Corpus and Technology

This LAG-Chinese research is mainly dependent on the self-made corpus of 10,000 sentences. However, the inspiration of data collection, word segmentation, POS (part of speech) and semantic tagging beneﬁts a lot from the Chinese-English Parallel Corpus of CCL, Peking University; the Chinese-English Bilingual Corpus, HIT; the Penn Chinese Treebank and the Lancaster Corpus of Mandarin Chinese, etc. To ensure completeness of analysis and to avoid unnecessary interruption, any sentence in the LAG-Chinese corpus meets the following requirements:

• composed of only modern Chinese words;

• complete in structure;

• has a clear semantic meaning;

• has a representative pattern.

The parser for this research is written in Perl. It integrates a lex (lexicon) file, a rul (rule) file, an att (attribute) file and a var (variable) file. The basic principles of these files are similar to those for the Java implementation of SLIM theory (Weber et al. [2010], Handl [2010], Handl et al. [2009]). But, the function of some rule operations are expanded. Immediate test of any change in any file becomes possible. Applicable output of the derivation result is also available. In addition, adaption is particularly made for this Chinese analysis, such as row height, Chinese font recognition, etc.

19 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Part I

NOUN Application and Analysis

NOUN, as one of the three parts of speech in SLIM, covers the traditional noun, pronoun, numeral and quantiﬁer. To distinguish it from the noun in the sub-class, the upper case is adopted for the name of this SLIM part of speech, and the lower case for the traditional noun.

This part consists of ﬁve chapters. Chapter 2 provides a general view of Chinese nouns. The inﬂectional and derivational changes are explained with examples.

Chapter 3 is about numerals and quantifiers. Numerals are divided into cardinals and ordinals. Ordinals are derived from the cardinals and analyzed on the syntactic level. The combination of a numeral with a quantifier plays various roles in a sentence. The repetition of quantifiers, as a particular case in Chinese, is also introduced in this chapter.

In chapter 4, Chinese personal pronouns are compared with English counterparts on the morphological level. Then a detailed explanation is provided with respect to the application of personal pronouns in Chinese. There are no “articles”, i.e. “a”, “an” and “the”, in Chinese. But some demonstrative pronouns are used as determiners. They are enlisted in the lexicon in both readings. The diﬀerent application of demonstrative pronouns and determiners is exempliﬁed in 4.2 and 4.3.

Chapter 5 introduces a special grammatical phenomenon, i.e. adverbial adjectives modifying nouns. From the perspectives of grammar and semantics, this pattern has shown its solidity in practical Chinese.

Since semantic relation is much more emphasized in Chinese, similar structures may have diﬀerent interpretations. For instance, nouns may not be the logic subjects though they are in the subject position. Moreover, the nominal construction in the object position may also not be the logic object. This is discussed in Chapter 6.

23 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 2

Analysis of Nouns

A noun refers to a person, an animal, a place, a thing or an abstract idea. It is an open lexical category. Nouns can be classiﬁed into proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are further divided into personal names (marked with “nm” as its “cat” value in the lexicon), e.g. “李明 (liming, Ming Li)”, and other names (marked with “nd”), e.g. “中国 (zhongguo, China)”. Common nouns can be divided into temporal nouns (“nt”), e.g. “今天 (jintian, today)”; nouns for location and direction (“nl”), e.g. “东 (dong, east)”; nouns referring to animals (“na”), e.g. “青蛙 (qingwa, frog)”; nouns referring to a certain kind of people (“nr”), e.g. “学生 (xuesheng, student)”; and other common nouns (“cn”), e.g. “茶 (cha, tea)”. Words in the group of “cn” are marked as “object” in the “sem” slot if they refer to objects and “abstract” if they refer to abstract ideas.

2.1 Inﬂectional Change

Compared with English or any other European language, Chinese lacks inﬂectional changes. The nouns in Chinese have the same form no matter whether they are used with their singular or plural meaning. In other words, the singular form of Chinese nouns is the same with their plural form. For example: “人 (ren, person)” in “一人”and “二人” has the same graphic form, but their meanings are “one person” and “two persons” respectively.

However, a bound morpheme “们 (men, MEN)”, which appears only immediately after nouns, sometimes helps to designate the plural meaning. For example:

1. 学生们全走了。(The students have all left.)

surface: 学生们全走了

pinyin: xuesheng men quan zou le English: student - all go -

2. 学生全走了。(The students have all left.)

25 2.1. INFLECTIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

surface: 学生全走了

pinyin: xuesheng quan zou le English: student all go -

1 and 2 are both grammatical sentences with the same semantic meaning. The corresponding word to “学生 (xuesheng)” in English is “student”. With the plural marker “们 (men, MEN)”, it is clear that the subject in 1 should be “students” if we translate the sentence into English. In 2, the plural marker “们 (men, MEN)” is missing, making it uncertain whether the subject is a single person or a group of persons. But, we still translate the subject “学生 (xuesheng)” into “students”. That is because of the following word is “全 (quan)”. “全 (quan)” means “all” and requires the plural meaning of the subject. But this kind of information is not always available. When there is no such informative words in the sentence, ambiguity is unavoidable. For example:

3. 青蛙们唱歌。(Frogs sing.)

surface: 青蛙们唱歌

pinyin: qingwa men changge English: frog - sing

4. 青蛙唱歌。(Frogs sing./A frog sings.)

surface: 青蛙唱歌

pinyin: qingwa changge English: frog sing

In 3, the plural meaning is rather clear because of the plural marker “们 (men, MEN)”. But in 4, “青蛙 (qingwa, frog)” is the subject. The morpheme “们 (men, MEN)” is not there. The noun is followed by the verb “唱歌 (changge, sing)”, which is actually the predicator of the sentence. Without further information from the context, it is impossible to ﬁgure out the number of the subject in this sentence. There might be only one frog, but it is not less possible that there are two or more frogs. So, “frogs” and “a frog” are equally acceptable as the translation of “青蛙 (qingwa, frog)” in 4.

“们 (men, MEN)” is treated as a function word in our analysis and named “the plural marker”. Thus, the inflection in Chinese is seen on the phrasal level, instead of the word level, no matter in its graphic form or semantic analysis. All function words, including the plural marker, are classified into the large group of ADJECTIVE. Therefore the core attribute of “们 (men, MEN)” is “adj”. Since the counterpart in English is unavailable, the value of “adj” is “MEN”, the capitalized pinyin. The grammatical attribute “cat” has the value of “pmr”. The value “pl” of the “sem” attribute is short for “plural”. “们 (men, MEN)” never appears independently as a sentence element. It has to be pointed out that most of the Chinese nouns modified by “们 (men, MEN)” are related to living creatures.

26 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.1. INFLECTIONAL CHANGE

The combination of a noun with “们 (men, MEN)” follows the rule of W+MR. The precondition is that the sentence start (ss) proplet and the next word (nw) proplet match the patterns deﬁned in the rule of W+MR.

Rule: W+MR {} clause 1

ss-pattern: [noun:_, cat:(N), fnc:_, sem:_] nw-pattern: [adj:_, cat:(pmr), sem:(pl)] operation: ecopy(nw.sem ss.sem)

According to the above rule, the syntactic-semantic analysis of “学生们” is as follows:

_ _ _ _ d sur : 学生 sur : 们 1 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : xuesheng pyn: men noun: student adj : MEN cat : nr cat : pmr sem : o_____ sem: pl _ _ 1 fnc : _mdr : _

Both the ss proplet and the nw proplet match the patterns deﬁned in the above rule. The operation is executed and the “sem” value from the nw proplet is copied into the corresponding slot of the ss proplet. At the same time, the original “sem” value in the ss proplet is removed, if there is any.

The derivation result of “学生们”:

_ _ sur : 学生 pyn : xuesheng noun: student cat : nr sem : pl fnc : _mdr : _ The combination of “青蛙们” is similar. The derivation result of “青蛙们” is:

_ _ sur : 青蛙 pyn : qingwa noun: frog cat : na sem : pl fnc : _mdr : _ The new proplet in the output has the same “sur”, “pyn” and “cat” values as the type proplet “青蛙 (qingwa, frog)” from the lexicon , but the “sem” value, here is “pl”, indicates the plural meaning. The new proplet resulting from the analysis is then stored in the word bank in a free order as a proplet token.

27 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

2.2 Derivational Change

Chinese words have no derivational changes, but there are some morphemes in Chinese with the eﬀect of derivation. These morphemes change the meaning of the root words and sometimes also their grammatical categories. similar to inﬂection, the derivation in Chinese is also seen on the phrasal level.

These derivational morphemes do not belong to a large family. Based on statistics, only six such morphemes are collected and marked, namely, “观 (guan)”, “学 (xue)”, “率 (lv)”, “性 (xing)”, “家 (jia)”, and “长 (zhang)”. Depending on the semantic meaning of the new created words, “观 (guan)”, “学 (xue)”, “率 (lv)”, and “性 (xing)” are classiﬁed as markers for abstract nouns, while “家 (jia)” and “长 (zhang)” are markers for titles. These derivational morphemes are treated as function words, like the plural marker. They are absorbed by the root proplets, instead of being copied into output.

Generally speaking, no matter what part of speech the root word has, the new word with the noun marker “观 (guan)”, “学 (xue)”, “率 (lv)”, or “性 (xing)” is an abstract common noun. A new word with the marker “家 (jia)” or “长 (zhang)” is a noun referring to a title of a person. In the following part, all of them are discussed one after another. The basic meaning of these six noun markers is roughly generated as the value of their “adj” attribute. Some of them can follow words from all the three main parts of speech, i.e. noun, adjective and verb, but others may not be so productive. The rule of W+MR applies in any case.

2.2.1 观 (guan, view)

The abstract noun marker “观 (guan, view)” is stored in the lexicon in the form of the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 观 pyn: guan adj : view cat : nmr _sem: abstract_

As a noun marker (indicated with “nmr” in the “cat” slot), “观 (guan, view)” has the “sem” value of “abstract”, meaning the new noun will be an abstract noun.

• Noun + 观

“观 (guan, view)” may follow a noun root to form a new word. When the ss pattern and the nw pattern are both matched, a clause of the rule of W+MR applies. Take “世界观” as an example. “世界 (shijie)” means “world” and “世界观” means “world view”.

28 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “世界 (shijie, world)” + “观 (guan, view)” is as follows:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 世界o o/ o/ o/ sur : 观 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : shijieo o/ o/ o/ pyn: guan 3 sappend(SS.noun ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) d ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 e 4 noun: worldo o/ o/ o/ 3o/ o/ adj : view 3 cat : cn cat : nmr sem : o_____sem: abstract_ 4 fnc : _mdr : _

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 世界观 pyn : shijieguan noun: world|view cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _

During the derivation, the two “sur” values are combined as the new value in the ss proplet. It is the same with the “pyn” values. The “adj” value of the noun marker proplet, i.e. “view” is copied to the “noun” slot in the ss proplet. The “sem” value of the nw proplet, i.e. “abstract”, is also copied to the corresponding slot in the ss proplet. Till now all the operations are successfully executed and the output is produced as a proplet of an abstract noun with the core value of “world|view”.

• Verb + 观

It is also seen that “观 (guan, view)” follows a verb to form a new noun. Take “发展观” as an example. “发展 (fazhan)” means “to develop” while “发展观” means “view of development”.

The combination of “发展 (fazhan, develop)” with “观 (guan, view)”:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 发展o o/ o/ o/ sur : 观 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : fazhano o/ o/ o/ pyn: guan 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.verb ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d verb: develop 5 adj : view 5 cancel(SS.verb) d O ÑA 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) O e ÑA d cat : s’O iv 6 catÑA : nmr 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) d O ÑA 8 nattr(fnc SS) sem : Oo_____ÑA _sem: abstract_ d O ÑA 9 cancel(SS.arg) e7 arg : 9 O ÑA O ÑA O ÑA _mdr: O ÑA _ Ñ 4 e e 4e 3 4 8

29 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

The derivation result is as follows:

_ _ sur : 发展观 pyn : fazhanguan noun: develop|view cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _ The derivation of a verb plus a noun marker is more complicated. During the derivation, the nw proplet is absorbed into the ss proplet. Besides the combination of the “sur”, “pyn” and “sem” values, the core attribute in the ss proplet, here the proplet of “发展 (fazhan, develop)”, is changed from “verb” to “noun”. The value is changed accordingly. The “cat” value of “发展 (fazhan, develop)” is “s’ iv” before the combination, meaning it is an intransitive verb that needs a subject. After the combination, it is replaced by “cn”, meaning a common noun. The “arg” attribute in the ss proplet is canceled and a “fnc” attribute is created. Then all the operations are successfully executed, resulting in the new proplet of “发展观”.

2.2.2 学 (xue, discipline)

The noun marker “学 (xue, discipline)” is stored in the lexicon as the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 学 pyn: xue adj : discipline cat : nmr _sem: abstract _ It also has “nmr” as its “cat” value and “abstract” as its “sem” value.

• Noun + 学

“学 (xue, discipline)” is usually preceded by a noun to form a name of a discipline. For example: “政治学 (politics)”, “心理学 (psychology)”, “生理学 (biology)”, etc. Therefore, its core value is set as “discipline”. Take “经济学” as an example. “经济 (jingji)” means “economy” and “经济学” means “economics”.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “经济 (jingji, economy)” + “学 (xue, discipline)” is as follows:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 经济o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 学 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : jingjio o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn: xue 3 sappend(SS.noun ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) d ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 e 4 noun: economyo o/ o/ o/ o/ 3o/ o/ adj : discipline 3 cat : cn cat : nmr sem : o______sem: abstract _ 4 fnc : _mdr : _

30 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 经济学 pyn : jingjixue noun: economy|discipline cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _

The derivation process is similar to that of a noun plus “观 (guan, view)”. The “sur” and “pyn” values are combined. The “adj” value in the nw proplet is copied and appended to the “noun” value in the ss proplet. The “sem” value of the noun marker is copied to the “sem” slot in the ss proplet. Then after all the rule operations are successfully executed, a new proplet of “经济学” is achieved.

2.2.3 率 (lv, rate)

The abstract noun marker “率 (lv, rate)” is stored in the lexicon as the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 率 pyn: lv adj : rate cat : nmr _sem: abstract_

“率 (lv, rate)” is often seen after a verb or an adjective.

• Verb + 率

Take “生产率” as an example. “生产 (shengchan)” means “to produce” and “生产率” means “productivity”.

The combination of “生产 (shengchan, produce)” with “率 (lv, rate)”:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 生产o o/ o/ o/ sur : 率 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : shengchano o/ o/ o/ pyn: lv 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.verb ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d verb: produce 5 adj : rate 5 cancel(SS.verb) d O ÑA 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) O e ÑA d cat : s’ p’ tv 6 cat : nmr 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) O ÑA d O ÑA 8 nattr(fnc SS) sem : Oo_____ÑA _sem: abstract_ d O ÑA 9 cancel(SS.arg) eO 7 ÑA arg : 9 O ÑA O ÑA _mdr: O ÑA _ Ñ 4 e e 4e 3 4 8

31 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 生产率 pyn : shengchanlv noun: produce|rate cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _ “生产 (shengchan, produce)” is a transitive verb. During the derivation, the “sur” and “pyn” values are combined as the new values in the ss proplet. The “verb” attribute in the ss proplet is canceled and a new attribute of “noun” is created. The value of the new “noun” attribute is the combination of the original “verb” value in the ss proplet and the “adj” value of the nw proplet. The “cat” and “sem” value in the ss proplet is replaced by the “cat” and “sem” value from the nw proplet. The “arg” attribute in the ss proplet is canceled and a new “fnc” attribute is created. Then after the successful execution of all the operations, the new proplet of “生产率” is achieved.

• Adjective + 率

When the noun marker “率 (lv, rate)” combines with an adjective, the derivation process is also complicated, similar to combining with a verb. Take “准确率” as an example. “准确 (zhunque)” means “accurate” and “准确率” means accuracy.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “准确 (zhunque, accurate)” + “率 (lv, rate)” is as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 准确o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 率 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : zhunqueo o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn: lv 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d adj : accurate 5 adj : rate 5 cancel(SS.adj) O ÑA d O e ÑA 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) cat : adj 6 cat : nmr d O ÑA 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) O ÑA sem : Oo_____ÑA _sem: abstract_ O ÑA O 7 ÑA mdr : O ÑA O ÑA _mdd: O ÑA _ Ñ 4 e e4 3 4

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 准确率 pyn : zhunquelv noun: accurate|rate cat : cn sem : abstract mdr : _mdd : _ The core attribute “adj” in the ss proplet is canceled and a new attribute, “noun”, is created. The value of this new attribute is the combination of the original two “adj” values. The values of “sur” and “pyn” are also combined together as the new values in the ss proplet. The new “cat” value is

32 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE designated as “cn”. The attribute “sem” gets the value of “abstract” from the nw proplet. Then, the successful application of the rule results in the proplet of “准确率”.

2.2.4 性 (xing, property)

The abstract noun marker “性 (xing, property)” is stored in the lexicon as the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 性 pyn: xing adj : property cat : nmr _sem: abstract_ This noun marker is more productive. It is able to combine with words from all the three main parts of speech, i.e. noun, adjective and verb. The resulting abstract noun refers to the property the root has or describes.

• Noun + 性

A noun, usually an abstract noun, followed by “性 (xing, property)”, becomes another noun with the meaning of “the property of ...”. For example, “逻辑 (luoji)” means “logic”, and “逻辑性” means the property of logic.

The combination of “逻辑 (luoji, logic)” with “性 (xing, property)” goes as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 逻辑o o/ o/ o/ sur : 性 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : luojio o/ o/ o/ pyn: xing 3 sappend(SS.noun ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) d ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 e 4 noun: logico o/ o/ o/ 3 o/ o/ adj : property 3 cat : cn cat : nmr sem : abstracto_____ sem: abstract_ 4 fnc : _mdr : _

Here is the derivation result:

_ _ sur : 逻辑性 pyn : luojixing noun: logic|property cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _ Compared with the combination of a verb or an adjective with a noun marker, a noun plus a noun marker is much simpler. The “sur”, “pyn”, “noun”, “cat” and “sem” values of the ss proplet are changed, but no attribute is canceled or created. The successful application of the rule results in the new proplet of “逻辑性”.

• Adjective + 性

33 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

An adjective is used to describe the property of something. When an adjective is followed by “性 (xing, property)”, an abstract noun is formed to refer to the property. For example, “稳定 (wending)” means stable, and “稳定性” means “stability”.

Here is the derivation process:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 稳定o o/ o/ o/ sur : 性 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : wendingo o/ o/ o/ pyn: xing 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d adj : stable 5 adj : property 5 cancel(SS.adj) O ÒB d O e ÒB 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) cat : adj 6 cat : nmr d O ÒB 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) O ÒB sem : Oo____ÒB_sem: abstract_ O ÒB O 7 ÒB mdr : O ÒB O ÒB _mdd: O ÒB _ Ò 4 e e4 3 4

The derivation result is as follows:

_ _ sur : 稳定性 pyn : wendingxing noun: stable|property cat : cn sem : abstract mdr : _mdd : _

Again, the core attribute is canceled and the new attribute of “noun” is created. The result of the rule application is the new proplet of “稳定性”.

• Verb + 性

A verb combined with “性 (xing, property)” forms an abstract noun referring to the property that the verb describes. We have “倾向性” as an example. “倾向 (qingxiang)” means “to tend” and “倾向性” means “tendentiousness”.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “倾向 (qingxiang, tend)” + “性 (xing, property)” is as follows:

_ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 倾向o o/ o/ o/ sur : 性 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : qingxiango o/ o/ o/ pyn: xing 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.verb ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d verb: tend 5 adj : property 5 cancel(SS.verb) O ÒB d e 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) cat : s’O p’ tv 6 catÒB : nmr d O ÒB 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) d O ÒB 8 nattr(fnc SS) sem : Oo_____ÒB _sem: abstract_ d O ÒB 9 cancel(SS.arg) eO 7 ÒB arg : 9 O ÒB O ÒB _mdr: O ÒB _ Ò 4 e e 4e 3 4 8

34 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE

The analysis results in one proplet:

_ _ sur : 倾向性 pyn : qingxiangxing noun: tend|property cat : cn sem : abstract fnc : _mdr : _ The derivation process is similar to that of “生产率”. The attribute “verb” is removed from the ss proplet and the new attribute of “noun” is added. The value of this new attribute is the combination of the original “verb” value and “adj” value. The nw proplet is absorbed. The result is the new proplet of “倾向性”.

2.2.5 家 (jia, expert)

The noun marker “家 (jia, expert)” is stored in the lexicon as the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 家 pyn: jia adj : expert cat : nmr _sem: individual_ “家 (jia, expert)” is seen in combination with a noun or a verb. The new word refers to a certain kind of person, and therefore gets the new “cat” value of “nr”.

• Noun + 家

For example, “政治 (zhengzhi)” means “politics” and “政治家” means “politician”.

The combination of “政治 (zhengzhi, politics)” with “家 (jia, expert)” goes as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 政治o o/ o/ o/ sur : 家 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : zhengzhio o/ o/ o/ pyn: jia 3 sappend(SS.noun ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) d ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 e 4 noun: politicso o/ o/ o/ o/ 3 o/ adj : expert 3 cat : cn cat : nmr sem : o______sem: individual_ 4 fnc : _mdr : _

The analysis results in one proplet:

_ _ sur : 政治家 pyn : zhengzhijia noun: politics|expert cat : cn sem : individual fnc : _mdr : _

35 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE CHAPTER 2. NOUNS

The derivation process is similar to the combination of a noun and any one of the above noun markers, but in the current case, the new word gets the “cat” value of “nr” instead of “cn”. The “sem” value in the “家 (jia, expert)” proplet is copied into the “sem” slot in the ss proplet. The result of the successful rule application is the proplet of “政治家”.

• Verb + 家

We take “演说家” as an example. “演说 (yanshuo)” means “to speak” and “演说家” means “the person who is good at delivering speech”. The analysis process is as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 演说o o/ o/ o/ sur : 家 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : yanshuoo o/ o/ o/ pyn: jia 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.verb ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) 2 e d verb: speak 5 adj : expert 5 cancel(SS.verb) d O ÑA 6 ecopy(cn SS.cat) O e ÑA d cat : s’O iv 6 catÑA : nmr 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) d O ÑA 8 nattr(fnc SS) sem : Oo_____ÑAsem: individual_ d O ÑA 9 cancel(SS.arg) 7e arg : 9O ÑA O ÑA O ÑA _mdr: O ÑA _ Ñ 4 e e 4e 3 4 8

The result is a single proplet:

_ _ sur : 演说家 pyn : yanshuojia noun: speak|expert cat : cn sem : individual fnc : _mdr : _ Again, the core attribute of “verb” in the ss proplet replaced by “noun”. The “arg” attribute is canceled and a new “fnc” attribute is created. The “sem” value from the nw proplet is copied into the ss proplet. The new “cat” value is “nr”. The derivation result is a noun proplet, i.e. “演说家”.

2.2.6 长 (zhang, chief)

The noun marker “长 (zhang, chief)” is stored in the lexicon as the following proplet:

_ _ sur : 长 pyn: zhang adj : chief cat : nmr _sem: individual_ As a noun marker (indicated with “nmr” in the “cat” slot), “长 (zhang, chief)” has the “sem” value of “abstract”, meaning the new noun will be an abstract noun.

Generally speaking, the noun marker “长 (zhang, chief)” combines with a noun, which refers to a unit, such as “厂 (chang, factory)”, “局 (ju, bureau)”, “组 (zu, group)”, etc. The new word with the marker “长 (zhang, chief)” refers to the chief or leader of the unit, and thus gets also the new “cat” value of “nr”.

36 CHAPTER 2. NOUNS 2.2. DERIVATIONAL CHANGE

• Noun + 长

Here is an example: “厂 (chang)” means “factory” and “厂长 (changzhang)” means “factory chief”.

The rule operations are as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 厂o o/ o/ o/ sur : 长 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : chango o/ o/ o/ pyn: zhang 3 sappend(SS.noun ”|” nw.adj SS.noun) d ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 e 4 noun: factoryo o/ o/ o/ o/ 3 o/ adj : chief 3 cat : cn cat : nmr sem : objecto_____ sem: individual _ _ 4 fnc : _mdr : _

After the rule application, a new proplet is derived:

_ _ sur : 厂长 pyn : changzhang noun: factory|chief cat : cn sem : individual fnc : _mdr : _ During the derivation, the “sur”, “pyn” and “noun” value in the ss proplet is replaced by the combination of the related values from the two proplets. The “cat” value is replaced by “nr”. The derivation result is a noun proplet, i.e. “厂长”.

37 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 3

Analysis of Numerals and Quantiﬁers

Numerals are further divided into cardinals and ordinals. A cardinal tells “how many.” It is also known as a “counting number”, because it shows quantity. An ordinal tells the order of things in a set, such as ﬁrst, second, third, etc. An ordinal does not show quantity. It only shows rank or position. This is true in Chinese, but the formal relation between cardinals and ordinals is diﬀerent from that in English. Chinese cardinals are stored in the lexicon as individual entries. But ordinals are derived from cardinals by combining with certain morphemes. Therefore, ordinals are derived during the syntactic-semantic analysis instead of stored in the lexicon.

In English, numerals usually modify nouns directly. But in Chinese, they are frequently followed by quantifiers to form numeral-quantifier phrases first. These numeral-quantifier phrases are then used as subjects, objects or modifiers, such as attributives, complements or adverbials.

3.1 Combination of N-Q

3.1.1 Combination of Cardinal-Quantiﬁer

The combination of a cardinal with a quantiﬁer follows the rule of NUM+QUAN. For example, “一 (yi, one)” + “名 (ming, MING)” . They are stored in the lexicon as follows:

_ _ _ _ sur : 一 sur : 名 pyn : yi pyn : ming noun: one noun: MING cat : cdn cat : nquan sem : _sem : +man_ fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

39 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

The analysis goes as follows: _ _ _ _ d o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 名 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : ming 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: one noun: MING e cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : o_____sem : +man_ 4 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

The drivation result is:

_ _ sur : 一名 pyn : yi|ming noun: one cat : cdn-q sem : +man fnc : mdr : _mdd : _ Most Chinese quantifiers have no counterparts in English. Therefore, the value of the core attribute “noun” for most quantifiers is the capitalized pinyin. The “sem” value indicates the combination capability of the quantifier. “+man” means the quantifier is usually used as a unit of people.

When a numeral is combined with a quantiﬁer, the rule of NUM+QUAN is activated. During the derivation, the “sur” and “pyn” values are combined as the new value in the ss proplet. The “noun” value in the ss proplet stays intact. The “cat” value is changed from “cdn” to “cdn-q”, meaning it is a cardinal-quantiﬁer phrase. The “sem” value from the nw proplet is copied into the ss proplet. After all the operations, the nw proplet is absorbed into the ss proplet. The result is a “cdn-q” proplet, i.e. “一名”.

(1) Cdn-q as Attributive

One of the most basic application of a cardinal-quantiﬁer phrase is attributive. For example: “一名战士 (one soldier).

They are stored in the lexicon as follows:

______sur : 一 sur : 名 sur : 战士 pyn : yi pyn : ming pyn : zhanshi noun: one noun: MING noun: soldier cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : nr sem : _sem : +man_ sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis of the phrase is concerned with 2 steps. In step 1, the combination of “一 (yi, one)” and “名 (ming, MING)” follows the rule of NUM+QUAN. The derivation process

40 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q is as discussed above. The resulting proplet of “一名 (yiming, one)” becomes the ss proplet for next step. The combination of “一名 (yiming, one)” and “战士 (zhanshi, soldier)” activates the rule of NQ+NOUN, as in the following step 2: _ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 一名o____ sur : 战士 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : yi|mingo____ pyn : zhanshi 3 ecopy(SS.noun SS.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) 2 d noun: one o____ noun: soldier 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d 4 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) cat : cdn-qo____ cat : nr 5 sem : +man o____ sem : 6 fnc : fnc : 3 mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

The main idea of the rule of NQ+NOUN is the absorption of the ss proplet. During the derivation, the value of the core attribute “noun” in the ss proplet is replaced by the “noun” value from the nw proplet. The original “noun” value in the ss proplet is copied as the “mdr” value. Both the “cat” value and the “sem” value are replaced by those from the nw proplet. The successful rule application results in a single proplet, i.e. “战士 (zhanshi, soldier)”.

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 战士 pyn : zhanshi noun: soldier cat : nr sem : fnc : mdr : one _mdd : _ (2) Cdn-q as Complement

The combination of a cardinal with an adnominal quantiﬁer can be used in a complement construction. But, it does not appear independently. An additional noun is often required in the construction. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 1. 他们来了三个月。(They have been here for three months.)

surface: 他们来了三个月 pinyin: ta men lai le san ge yue English: he - come - three - month

The syntactic-semantic analysis is composed of 7 times of combination. Step 0 always refers to the input of the ﬁrst word of a sentence. Since no combination happens in this step, it is given the number “0”. (To save space, this step is omitted throughout this dissertation.)

The derivation in step 1-3 are discussed in the part of “Inﬂection of Nouns” and “Verb as Predi- cator” respectively. To save space, they are skipped here. The resulting two proplets are copied

41 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS into output as the sentence start for next step.

______4. sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 三 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : san noun: he verb: come noun: three cat : pro cat : vq cat : cdn sem : pl agent sem : spt perf sem : fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

In the current step, the cardinal “三 (san, three)” is read in and simply copied into output according to the rule of V+COMP.

______d 5. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : o 三o/ o/ sur : 个 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn :o sano/ o/ 2o/ o/ pyn : ge 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: he verb: come noun: three noun: GE e cat : pro cat : vq cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : pl agent sem : spt perf sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

The rule of NUM+QUAN is applied and the quantiﬁer proplet is absorbed into the cardinal proplet.

______d 6. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : o____三个 sur : 月 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn :o____ san|ge pyn : yue 3 ecopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 2 d noun: he verb: come7 noun:o____ three noun: month 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) 7 qq d 7 4 qq 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) cat : pro cat : vq 7 cat :o____ cdn-qqq cat : nt d 7 qq 7 acopy(nw.noun SS.mdr) 7 5 qq d 7 q q e 8 acopy(SS.verb SS.2.mdd) sem : pl agent sem : spt perf7 semqq :o____ +N 9 sem : d 7 qq 9 acopy(complement SS.2.sem) q7q 6 qq 7 fnc : come arg : he qq fnc77 : fnc : qx 7 3 mdr : mdr: 7 mdr7 : mdr : _ _ _ _ 7 8 _mdd : _ _mdd : _

In step 6, “月 (yue, month)” is read in, activating a variation of the rule of NQ+NOUN. In this sentence, “三个” modifies “月 (yue, month)”, and the noun phrase “三个月” modifies the predicate verb “来 (lai, come)”. In this step, the “noun” value in the cardinal proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot and then the “sur”, “pyn”, “noun”, “cat” and “sem” values are all replaced by those from the nw proplet of “月 (yue, month)”. This method of conditional absorption guarantees content representation and maintenance of key values for later data retrieval. The “noun” value of “月 (yue, month)” is copied to the “mdr” slot in the verb proplet. Accordingly, the “verb” value in the verb proplet is copied to the “mdd” slot in the noun proplet, thus establishing the modifying and modified relation. The additional value “complement” is at the end copied to the “sem” slot in the noun proplet. The derivation result of the whole sentence is composed of three proplets, namely “他 (ta, he)”, “来 (lai, come)”, and “月 (yue, month)”.

42 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

The derivation result is as follows:

______sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 月 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : yue noun: he verb: come noun: month cat : pro cat : vq mark cat : nt sem : pl agent sem : spt perf sem : complement fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: month_ mdr : three _mdd : come _ The semantic relation graph (SRG) and the part of speech signature (signature) of this example sentence are as follows (in the corresponding order of a and b): a) come b) V he month N N In a), the root node “come” is the core value of the verb predicator proplet. The two nodes “he” and “month” on a lower level are core values from the two noun proplets in the derivation result. The functor-argument relation is indicated by “/”. The modiﬁer-modiﬁed relation is indicated by “|”. In b), the core values are replaced by letters that represent the parts of speech of each proplet.

Quantifiers like “个 (ge, GE)” are marked as “nquan” in their “cat” attribute. This is because they are used as adnominal modifiers. There is a second group of quantifiers in the lexicon, e.g. “次 (ci)”, “回 (hui)”, “趟 (tang)”, “遭 (zao)” and “场 (chang)”, etc., which are marked as “vquan”. Usually, this second group of quantifiers combine with numerals to modify verbs, indicating times or momentum. A modifier formed by such a combination usually appears after the modified verb as a complement. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 2. 他来了两次。(He has come twice.)

surface: 他来了两次 pinyin: ta lai le liang chi English: he come - two -

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 了 sur : 两 sur : 次 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn: le pyn : liang pyn : ci cat : mark

noun: he verb: come adj : LE noun: two noun: time_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ vq cat : asp cat : cdn cat : vquan

sem : s3 sem : spt_ sem: perf_ sem : _sem : +V _ fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

43 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

Step 0-2 are skipped. The resulting two proplets are copied into output as the sentence start for next step.

______3. sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 两 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : liang noun: he verb: come noun: two cat : pro cat : vq cat : cdn sem : s3 agent sem : spt perf sem : fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

In this step, the input of the cardinal “两 (liang, two)” starts the rule of V+COMP. The nw proplet is copied into output.

______d 4. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.2.sur nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 两o o/ o/ o/ sur : 次 d 2 sappend(SS.2.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : liango o/ o/ o/ 2o/ o/ pyn : ci 3 sappend(SS.2.noun ”|” nw.noun SS.2.noun) d 4 ecopy(cdn-q SS.2.cat) 2 e d noun: he verb: come7 noun: twoo o/ o/ o/3 o/ o/ noun: time 5 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) 7 Ñ d 7 Ñ 3 e 6 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.mdr) cat : pro cat : vq 7 catÑ : cdn 4 cat : vquan d 7 Ñ 7 acopy(SS.verb SS.2.mdd) 7 ÑÑ d 7 Ñ e 8 acopy(complement SS.2.sem) sem : s3 agent sem : spt perfÑ7 sem : o____8 _sem : +V _ Ñ 77 Ñ 7 5 fnc : come arg : he ÑÑ fnc7 : ÐÑ 77 mdr : mdr: 6 mdr7 : _ _ _ _ 7 7 _mdd : _

In this step, the rule of NUM+QUAN is activated. The cardinal proplet is combined together with the nw proplet “次 (ci, time)” through the sappend operations. All the “sur”, “pyn”, “noun”, “cat” and “sem” values in the cardinal proplet are renewed. The “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the verb proplet. The “verb” value from the verb proplet is copied to the “mdd” slot of the renewed cardinal proplet. Thus is represented the modifying and modified relation between the verb and the quantifier. Since the phrase “两次” modifies the verb as a complement, an additional value “complement” is copied to the “sem” slot.

______d 5. sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 两次 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : liang|ci cat : mark ffff fffff fffff noun: he verb: come noun:fff two|timeff sem: v’ decl sfffff _ _ cat : pro cat : vq 1 cat : cdn-q sem : s3 agent sem : spt perf sem : +V complement fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: two|time_ mdr : _mdd : come _

When the full stop is read in, the syntactic-semantic analysis comes to the end. The derivation result is composed of three proplets, namely “他 (ta, he)”, “来 (lai, come)” and “两次 (liangci, two|time)”.

44 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 两次 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : liang|ci noun: he verb: come noun: two|time cat : pro cat : vq mark cat : cdn-q sem : s3 agent sem : spt perf sem : +V complement fnc : come arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: two|time_ mdr : _mdd : come _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) come b) V he two|time N N (3) Cdn-q as Adverbial

An adverbial in Chinese usually precedes the modiﬁed verb. An adverbial formed by a cardinal- quantiﬁer combination in Chinese is another construction that is never seen in English. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 3. 他一口吞了巧克力。(He swallowed the chocolate at once.)

surface: 他一口吞了巧克力 pinyin: ta yi kou tun le qiaokeli English: he one - swallow - chocolate

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 一 sur : 口 sur : 吞 sur : 了 sur : 巧克力 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : yi pyn : kou pyn : tun pyn: le pyn : qiaokeli cat : mark noun: he noun: one noun: time verb: swallow adj : LE noun: chocolate_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : cdn cat : vquan cat : s’ p’ tv cat : asp cat : cn sem : s3 sem : _sem : +V_ sem : _sem: perf_ sem : object fnc : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ mdr : _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 一 pyn : ta pyn : yi noun: he noun: one cat : pro cat : cdn sem : s3 sem : fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ mdr : _mdd : _

45 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

In step 1, the ss proplet is “他 (ta, he)”, and the nw proplet is “一 (yi, one)”. The nw proplet is simply copied into output.

______d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.2.sur nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 他 sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 口 d 2 sappend(SS.2.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : kou 3 sappend(SS.2.noun ”|” nw.noun SS.2.noun) d 4 ecopy(cdn-q SS.2.cat) 2 e d noun: he noun:o oneo/ o/ o/3 o/ noun: time 5 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) 3 e cat : pro cat : cdn 4 cat : vquan sem : s3 sem : o____ sem : +V _ _ 5 fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ mdr : _mdd : _

In step 2, the input of the quantifier “口 (kou, time)” activates the rule of NUM+QUAN. Because it is impossible to find an exact counterpart for each quantifier, most of the v-quantifiers in the lexicon have the universal value of “time”. After all the rule operations, the quantifier proplet is absorbed into the cardinal proplet.

______d 3. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 他 sur : 一口o_____ sur : 吞 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ta pyn : yi|kouo_____ pyn : tun 3 ecopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) d 4 cancel(SS.2.noun) 2 e d noun: he noun: one|time 4 verb: swallow 5 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) 5 k d kkk Ø 6 cancel(SS.2.fnc) 5 ekkk d cat : pro cat : cdn-qo_____ kkk10 catØ : s’ p’ tv 7 ecopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) 5 kk k d kk 9 Ø 8 acopy(agent SS.sem) e5 kkk d sem : s3 8 ksemk : +Vo_____ Øsem : 9 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) ukk 5 '&%$ !"# d '&%$ !"# 11 Ø 10 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) 12 5 e fnc : fnc : 6 arg : d Ø 11 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) 5 3 d Ø 12 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) _mdr : _ mdr5 : Ø _mdr: _ 5 Ø _mdd : 5 7 _ ÓØ 5

In step 3, the verb “吞 (tun, swallow)” is read in and a variation of the rule of S+V is applied. Besides representing the functor-argument relation between the subject pronoun and the verb, the rule operations also fulﬁll the task of adverbial absorption. The “noun” value of the “cdn- q” proplet is coped as the “mdr” value. Then all the “sur”, “pyn”, “cat” and “sem” values are replaced by those from the verb proplet. The core attribute of “noun” is canceled. Then the new core attribute of “verb” is created and provided with the value from the nw proplet. The “verb” value in the nw proplet is copied to the “fnc” slot of the noun proplet “他 (ta, he)”. The “fnc” attribute in the original “cdn-q” proplet is canceled and an “arg” attribute is created. The “noun” value from the proplet “他 (ta, he)” is then copied to the new “arg” slot. When all the operations are completed, the derivation goes to next step.

With the input of the full stop, the analysis comes to the end. The derivation result is composed of three proplets, namely “他 (ta, he)”, “吞 (tun, swallow)” and “巧克力 (qiaokeli, chocolate)”.

46 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 吞 sur : 巧克力 pyn : ta pyn : tun pyn : qiaokeli noun: he verb: swallow noun: chocolate cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : perf sem : object patient fnc : swallow arg : he chocolate fnc : swallow

_mdr : _ mdr : one|time_ mdr : _ _mdd: _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

3.1.2 Derivation of Ordinals

Combined with certain morphemes, cardinals in Chinese are changed into ordinals. This is similar to English in that Chinese ordinals are also derived from cardinals. But the difference is that Chinese ordinals are compound words instead of simple words. For example: the English word “first” is “第一 (diyi)” in Chinese, and “second” is “第二 (dier)”. Chinese ordinals are composed of at least two characters, the first being a marker and the second a cardinal. There are only two alternations for the preceding morpheme: “第 (di, Number)” and “初 (chu, DayNumber)”. “第 (di, Number)” and “初 (chu, DayNumber)” are stored in the lexicon as follows:

_ _ _ _ sur : 第 sur : 初 pyn: di pyn: chu adj : Number adj : DayNumber cat : omr cat : tmr _sem: odn _ _sem: odn _

They share the same “sem” value, i.e. “odn (ordinal)”, but their “cat” values are different. “omr” means “ordinal marker”, while “tmr” means “temporal noun marker”. The morpheme “初 (chu, DayNumber)” is only used for counting the first ten days of a Chinese lunar month. In other words, there are only ten ordinals starting with this morpheme, each one referring to a specific day. These ordinals with “初 (chu, DayNumber)” are never followed by quantifiers. In fact, they function as temporal nouns. Therefore, “初 (chu, DayNumber)” is called a temporal noun marker and its combination with a cardinal creates a temporal noun with the “cat” value of “nt”.

(1) 第 + Cardinal

First, let’s have a look at the combination of “第 (di, Number)” with a cardinal. Take “第三” as

47 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS an example. The combination is analyzed as follows:

_ _ _ _ d o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 第o o/ o/ o/ sur : 三 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1e d pyn: di o 2 o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : san 3 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.noun SS.adj) d 4 ecopy(SS.sem SS.cat) 2 e d adj : Numbero o/ o/ o/ o/ 3 o/ noun: three 5 cancel(SS.sem.1) 3 cat : omrO cat : cdn 4 e _sem: odn 5 _ sem : fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

The success of rule operations result in a new proplet:

_ _ sur : 第三 pyn: di|san

adj : Number|three cat : odn _sem: _

As an ordinal marker, “第 (di, Number)” is stored with the core attribute of “adj”. The new proplet resulting from the derivation keeps the core attribute of “adj”, since it is more often used as a modiﬁer. The combination of an ordinal marker with a cardinal follows the rule of MR+ROOT. The operations are as written in the square and indicated by the arrows. The “sur”, and “pyn” values from the nw proplet are appended to those in the ss proplet. The “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied to the “adj” slot in the “omr” proplet. The “cat” value is changed from “omr” to “odn”, which means “ordinal”. The derivation result is an ordinal proplet, i.e. “第三”.

• Ordinal + noun

Ordinals starting with “第 (di, Number)” have some features of adjectives. They modify nouns directly. For example: “第三课 (Lesson three)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 第 sur : 三 sur : 课 pyn: di pyn : san pyn : ke adj : Number noun: three noun: lession cat : omr cat : cdn cat : cn _sem: odn_ sem : sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

In step 1, the combination of “第 (di, Number)” and “三 (san, three)” follows the rule of MR+ROOT.

48 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

The result is copied into output as the ss proplet for step 2. _ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 第三 o______sur : 课 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn: di|sano______pyn : ke 3 ecopy(SS.adj SS.mdr) d 4 cancel(SS.adj) 2 e d adj : Number|three 4 noun: lession 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) d r 6 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) r d cat : odn o______r cat : cn 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) r d 6 r 8 nattr(fnc SS) _sem: o______ r _ sem : 3yr 7e 8 5 fnc : _mdr : _ In step 2, the rule of ADJ+N is activated by the input of “课 (ke, lesson)”. The “adj” value in the ss proplet is copied as the “mdr” value. Both the “sur” value and the “pyn” value are replaced by those from the nw proplet. The core attribute “adj” is canceled. The attribute of “noun” is created and provided with the value from the nw proplet. The “cat” and “sem” values are also replaced by those of the nw proplet. The successful application of the rule results in a noun single proplet:

_ _ sur : 课 pyn : ke noun: lession cat : cn sem : fnc :

_mdr : Number|three_ • Ordinal + quantiﬁer + noun

The combination of “第 (di, Number)” with a cardinal may also be followed by a quantiﬁer, and then the new combination functions as an adnominal modiﬁer. For example: “第三个星期天 (the third Sunday)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 第 sur : 三 sur : 个 sur : 星期天 pyn: di pyn : san pyn : ge pyn : xingqingtian adj : Number noun: three noun: GE noun: Sunday cat : omr cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : nt

_sem: odn_ sem : _sem : +N_ sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : mdr : _mdd : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

Step 1 is skipped here. The derivation result is copied into output as a single proplet of “第三”. _ _ _ _ d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 第三o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 个 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn: di|sano o/ 2o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : ge 3 ecopy(odn-q SS.cat) 2 adj : Number|three noun: GE e cat : odn 3 cat : nquan

_sem: _ _sem : +N _

49 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

In step 2, the combination of the ordinal proplet with the quantiﬁer “个 (ge, GE)” follows the rule of NUM ＋ QUAN. The nw proplet is absorbed into the ss proplet. The “cat” value is changed from “odn” to “odn-q”.

_ _ _ _ d 3. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 第三个o_____ sur : 星期天 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn: di|san|geo_____ pyn : xingqingtian 3 ecopy(SS.adj SS.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) 2 d adj : Number|three noun: Sunday 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d q 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) q d cat : odn-qo_____ catq : nt 7 nattr(fnc SS) q 5 q _sem: o_____ q _ sem : 3 xq 6e 7 4 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

When the noun proplet “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is read in, the rule of “NQ ＋ NOUN” is activated. The “adj” value in the ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot. Then the core attribute “adj” is canceled. A new attribute, “noun”, is created and provided with the “noun” value from the nw proplet. The result is a single noun proplet, namely “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)”.

Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 星期天 pyn : xingqingtian noun: Sunday adj : Number|three cat : nt sem : fnc :

_mdr : Number|three_

This new proplet diﬀers from the one in the lexicon in the “mdr” value.

(2) 初 + Cardinal

As an ordinal marker, “初 (chu, DayNumber)” is also stored in the lexicon with the core attribute of “adj”. The combination of “初 (chu, DayNumber)” with a cardinal creates a noun proplet. Take “初三” as an example. When the rule concerned is activated, the operations are as follows:

_ _ _ _ d o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 初 o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 三 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1e d pyn: chu 2o o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : san 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.noun SS.noun) 2 e d adj : DayNumber 5 noun: three 5 cancel(SS.adj) z: d O z: 6 ecopy(nt SS.cat) O e z: d cat : tmr O 6 z: cat : cdn 7 nattr(fnc SS) O z: z: d sem: odn O z: sem : 8 nattr(mdr SS) _ z: _ d nattr(mdd SS) 4z 9 e e e e4 e 3 4 7 8 9 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

50 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 初三 pyn : chu|san

noun: DayNumber|three cat : nt sem : odn fnc : mdr : _mdd : _ The rule of MR+ROOT applies. The core attribute of the new proplet is “noun” instead of “adj”. The new “cat” value, i.e. “nt”, is also diﬀerent from those in the ss proplet and the nw proplet. Actually the resulting proplet is a temporal noun proplet.

3.1.3 Ordinal as Attributive

The temporal noun composed of the marker “初 (chu, DayNumber)” and a cardinal is used as subject, object, attributive, adverbial, etc. When used as an attributive, it is never followed by a quantifier. It either modifies a noun immediately or is first followed by the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)”. For example: “初三的夜晚 (the night of the third day)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 初 sur : 三 sur : 的 sur : 夜晚 pyn: chu pyn : san pyn: de pyn : yewan adj : DayNumber noun: three adj : DE noun: night cat : tmr cat : cdn cat : smr cat : nt _sem: odn _ sem : _sem: _ sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : mdr : _mdd : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 初 o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 三 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1e d pyn: chu 2o o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : san 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.noun SS.noun) 2 e d adj : DayNumber 5 noun: three 5 cancel(SS.adj) z: d O z: 6 ecopy(nt SS.cat) O e z: d cat : tmr O 6 z: cat : cdn 7 nattr(fnc SS) O z: z: d sem: odn O z: sem : 8 nattr(mdr SS) _ z: _ d nattr(mdd SS) 4z 9 e e e e4 e 3 4 7 8 9 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _ _ _ _ _ d 2. sur : 初三 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : chu|san pyn: de

noun: DayNumber|three adj : DE cat : nt cat : smr sem : odn _sem: _ fnc : mdr : e _mdd : 1 _

51 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

_ _ _ _ d 3. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdd) sur : 初三 sur : 夜晚 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) pyn : chu|san pyn : yewan

noun: DayNumber|three noun: night FF ~ FF cat : nt FF cat~ : nt FF ~ sem : odn ~FF sem : FF ~ F fnc : fncF 2 : ~ F# mdr : ~ mdr : ~ 1 _mdd : # _ _mdd : _

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 初三 sur : 夜晚 pyn : chu|san pyn : yewan

noun: DayNumber|three noun: night cat : nt cat : nt sem : odn sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : mdr : DayNumber|three

_mdd : night _ _mdd : _

In step 1, the application of the rule of MR+ROOT results in the proplet of “初三”, which becomes the ss proplet for next step. In step 2, the input of the particle “的 (de, DE)” activates a variation of the rule of W+MR. An additional attribute “mdd” is created in the ss proplet, and given the temporary value of “#”. The particle proplet is absorbed instead of being copied into output. When “夜晚 (yewan, night)” is read in, the rule of AN+N is activated in step 3. The “noun” value in the ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet. Accordingly, the “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the ss proplet. Then the nw proplet is copied into output, as one of the resulting two noun proplets.

3.1.4 Ordinal as Adverbial

When used as an adverbial, the ordinal composed of “初 (chu, DayNumber)” and a cardinal starts a sentence or appears between the subject and the main verb. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 4. 我初三来。(I will come on the third day.)

surface: 我初三来 pinyin: wo chu san lai English: I - three come

In this sentence, the temporal noun comes after the subject but before the predicate verb.

52 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q

The syntactic-semantic analysis is composed of 4 times of combination: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 我 sur : 初 pyn : wo pyn: chu noun: I adj : DayNumber cat : pro cat : tmr

sem : s1_ sem: odn _ fnc : _mdr : ______d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 我 sur : 初 o o/ o/ o/ o/ sur : 三 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1e d pyn : wo pyn: chu 2o o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : san 3 nattr(noun SS) d 4 sappend(SS.adj ”|” nw.noun SS.noun) 2 e d noun: I adj : DayNumber 5 noun: three 5 cancel(SS.adj) z: d O z: 6 ecopy(nt SS.cat) O e z: d cat : pro cat : tmr 6 z: cat : cdn 7 nattr(fnc SS) O z: d O z: 8 nattr(mdr SS) sem : s1 sem: odn O z: sem : d _ z: _ 9 nattr(mdd SS) 4z e e e e4 e fnc : 3 4 7 8 9 fnc : _mdr : _ mdr : _mdd : ______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 初三 sur : 来 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : wo pyn : chu|san pyn : lai 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) d noun: I noun: DayNumber|three verb: come 5 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.mdd) UU D i d UUU D iii Ð 6 acopy(adverbial SS.2.sem) UUUU DDiiii e d U i Ð 2 7 acopy(agent SS.sem) cat : pro cat : ntUUUUiiii DD cat : s’ vq iiiUUU D Ð e iiii e UUUU D 7 i 6 U D sem : s1 semii : odn UÐUD sem1 : spt tiiii UUDU* Ð DD fnc : 3 fnc : argD : Ð D"4 Ð _mdr : _ mdr : _mdr: _ Ð 5 _mdd : ______d 4. sur : 我 sur : 初三 sur : 来 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : wo pyn : chu|san pyn : lai cat : mark mmm mmm noun: I noun: DayNumber|three verb: come mmm sem: v’ decl vmmm _ _ cat : pro cat : nt cat : vq 1 sem : s1 agent sem : odn adverbial sem : spt fnc : come fnc : arg : I

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr: DayNumber|three_ _mdd : come _

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 初三 sur : 来 pyn : wo pyn : chu|san pyn : lai noun: I noun: DayNumber|three verb: come cat : pro cat : nt cat : vq mark sem : s1 agent sem : odn adverbial sem : spt fnc : come fnc : arg : I

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr: DayNumber|three_ _mdd : come _ At the very beginning, the ﬁrst word of the sentence, i.e. a pronoun, is read in.

53 3.1. COMBINATION OF N-Q CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

In step 1, the temporal noun marker is read in and copied into output, because the syntactic- semantic relation is not clear yet.

In step 2, the rule of MR+ROOT is applied when the cardinal “三 (san, three)” is read in.

In step 3, the input of the verb activates a variation of the rule of S+V. The “noun” value in the second ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet. Then the “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the second ss proplet. An additional value “adverbial” is copied into the “sem” slot in the second ss proplet. The “verb” value from the nw proplet is also copied into the “fnc” slot in the first ss proplet and the “noun” value from the first ss proplet is copied to the “arg” slot in the nw proplet. Thus, both the functor-argument relation and the modifier-modified relation are represented. When the full stop is read in, the rule of S+IP is activated and the analysis comes to the end. The derivation result is composed of three proplets.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) come b) V I DayNumber|three N N

If the temporal noun comes before the subject, the semantic meaning of the sentence does not change at all. Though the derivation process has to be changed accordingly, the result are the same three proplets.

Example 5. 初三我来。(I will come on the third day.)

surface: 初三我来 pinyin: chu san wo lai English: - three I come

Derivation result:

______sur : 初三 sur : 我 sur : 来 pyn : chu|san pyn : wo pyn : lai

noun: DayNumber|three noun: I verb: come cat : nt cat : pro cat : vq mark sem : odn adverbial sem : s1 agent sem : spt fnc : fnc : come arg : I

mdr : _mdr : _ _mdr: DayNumber|three_ _mdd : come _ The SRG and the signature presentation also resembles that of the above example: a) come b) V I DayNumber|three N N

54 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION

3.2 Quantiﬁers in Repetition

Quantifiers are used as units of people, things or actions. They are roughly classified into two groups. One is used to describe the number of the modified nouns, and therefore called “adnominal quantifiers” (marked as “nquan” in the lexicon). The other is used to modify movement or action, and therefore called “adverbial quantifiers” (marked as “vquan” in the lexicon). Some linguists argue that there is a third group, which is called “time quantifiers”, including “小时 (xiaoshi, hour)”, “星期 (xingqi, week)”, “年 (nian, year)” and so on. But basically, these words refer to a certain period of time. At the same time, multi-category does not help reducing ambiguity. Therefore, these words are collected as temporal nouns only.

Quantifiers usually don’t appear independently as sentence elements. They are preceded by numerals and determiners. Then the combination as a whole functions as a sentence element. The combination of numerals and quantifiers is discussed in 2.1 and 2.2. The combination of numerals with determiners is discussed in 3.3. In this section, we focus on the repetition of quantifiers.

Almost all monosyllable quantifiers can be repeated immediately after its first appearance, but once only, forming the pattern of “QQ (quantifier-quantifier)”. If preceded by a cardinal, it means “one by one” or “numerous”, depending on the part of speech of the modified. It is necessary to point out that, in this case, the cardinal is always “一 (yi, one)”, forming the pattern of “一 QQ”. If there isn’t any cardinal in front, its meaning is equivalent to “every one” in English.

3.2.1 “QQ”

Take the quantiﬁer “件 (jian, piece)” as an example. The repetition activates the rule of “X+X”. The operations are as follows: _ _ _ _ d o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 件o o/ o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : jiano o/ o/ 2o/ o/ o/ pyn : jian 3 sappend(every ”|” one SS.noun) d 4 ecopy(nquan-p SS.cat) 2 e d noun: piece 3 noun: piece 5 cancel(SS.sem.1) e cat : nquan 4 cat : nquan e _sem : +N 5 _ _sem : +N _

Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 件件 pyn : jian|jian

noun: every|one cat : nquan-p _sem : _ When a quantifier is repeated, the rule of X+X is activated. Both the “sur” and “cat” values are combined. A new value “every|one” is provided for the “noun” slot. The “sem” value is canceled. The “cat” value is changed from “nquan” to “nquan-p”, which means “adnominal quantifier phrase”. If the quantifier has the “cat” value of “vquan”, then the new “cat” value is “vquan-p”.

In the corpus, the “QQ” pattern is only seen as a subject or an object.

55 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

• “QQ” as subject

Example 6. 件件漂亮。(Every one is pretty.)

surface: 件件漂亮 pinyin: jian jian piaoliang English: piece piece pretty

Step 1 of the syntactic-semantic analysis results in the proplet “件件” (as discussed above). It is copied into output and becomes the sentence start for step 2. _ _ _ _ d 2. 1 nattr(arg nw) sur : 件件 sur : 漂亮 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : jian|jian pyn : piaoliang 3 ecopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(theme SS.sem) d noun: every|one adj : pretty 5 acopy(av nw.sem) << u < u cat : nquan-p< u cat : adj <

In step 2, the rule of S+AV is activated by the input of “漂亮 (piaoliang, pretty)”. “件件” is the subject and also the argument of the adjective predicator. Therefore, an additional attribute “arg” is created in the adjective proplet and an “fnc” attribute is created in the ss proplet. The “adj” value from the nw proplet is copied into the new created “fnc” slot. Accordingly, the “noun” value from the ss proplet is copied into the new “arg” slot. Then the full stop is read in. With the application of the rule of S+IP, the analysis comes to the end. The derivation result is composed of two proplets.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 件件 sur : 漂亮 pyn : jian|jian pyn : piaoliang

noun: every|one adj : pretty cat : nquan-p cat : adj mark sem : theme sem : av

_fnc : pretty_ arg : every|one mdr : _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) pretty b) A every|one N

• “QQ” as object

56 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION

Example 7. 他件件洗。(He washes every one.)

surface: 他件件洗 pinyin: ta jian jian xi English: he piece piece wash

Since “件 (jian, piece)” is often used as a unit of clothes, it is not difficult to get the idea that “He is washing clothes”. And, there are several pieces of clothes, because the quantifier is repeated. Superficially, this logic object “件件 (jianjian)” between the subject and the main verb is in the position of an adverbial. But in deep structure, its function is more like a pronoun. In this case, it is taken as a special case of “object-fronting”. The derivation process is as follows:

_ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 件 pyn : ta pyn : jian noun: he noun: piece cat : pro cat : nquan

sem : s3_ sem : +N _ fnc : _mdr : _

______d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : 件o o/ o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : jiano o/ o/ 2o/ o/ o/ pyn : jian 3 sappend(every ”|” one SS.noun) d 4 ecopy(nquan-p SS.cat) 2 e d noun: he noun: piece 3 noun: piece 5 cancel(SS.sem.1) e cat : pro cat : nquan 4 cat : nquan e sem : s3_ sem : +N 5 _ _sem : +N _ fnc : _mdr : _

______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 件件 sur : 洗 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : jian|jian pyn : xi 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.arg) d noun: he noun: every|one verb: wash 5 cancel(nw.cat.1) SSS II k u d SS I kkk 6 acopy(agent SS.sem) SSS IkIkk u e e d cat : pro cat :S nquan-pSS kkk I catu : s’ p’ tv 3 5 7 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.fnc) kkSkSS II d kk SS u I 8 acopy(patient SS.2.sem) e kkk e uSSS II sem : s3 6 semkk : 8 SsemS 2I : 4 ku kk_ u _ SS) I$ uz 1 fnc : 7 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In step 3, the rule of S+V is activated. The “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot in the ﬁrst ss proplet and the new created “fnc” slot in the second. Accordingly, the “noun” values in the two ss proplets are copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet. The ﬁrst and second value of the “cat” attribute in the verb proplet is thereafter canceled. The “sem” values of “agent” and “patient” are respectively copied to the two ss proplets. Then the analysis comes to the end with the input of the full stop. The derivation result is composed of three proplets.

57 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 件件 sur : 洗 pyn : ta pyn : jian|jian pyn : xi

noun: he noun: every|one verb: wash cat : pro cat : nquan-p cat : tv mark sem : s3 agent sem : patient sem :

fnc : wash_ fnc : wash_ arg : he every|one _mdr : _ _mdr: _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

3.2.2 “一 QQ”

During the syntactic-semantic analysis of “一件件”, the rule of NUM+QUAN is applied for the combination of ““一 (yi, one)” and “件 (jian, piece)” in step 1. The result is the single proplet of “一件 (yijian, one)”.

_ _ _ _ d 1. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : jian 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: one noun: piece e cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

_ _ _ _ d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 一件o o/ o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : yi|jiano o/ o/ o/ o/2 o/ pyn : jian 3 ecopy(one-one SS.noun) d 4 ecopy(cdn-qq SS.cat) 2 e d noun: one 3 noun: piece 5 cancel(SS.sem.1) e cat : cdn-q 4 cat : nquan e sem : +N 5 _sem : +N _ fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

In step 2, the rule of X+X is activated. The combination of “一件 (yijian, one)”and “件 (jian, piece)” diﬀers from that of “件 (jian, piece)” and “件 (jian, piece)”. The “noun” slot is ﬁlled with the value “one-one” and the “cat” value is replaced by “cdn-qq”. After the operations of “X+X”,

58 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION the derivation result is as follows:

_ _ sur : 一件件 pyn : yi|jian|jian noun: one-one cat : cdn-qq sem : fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

“一 QQ” has been seen as an attributive or an adverbial.

• “一 QQ” as attributive

When used as an adnominal modiﬁer, “一 QQ” means “numerous”. For example: “一件件衣服 ( numerous clothes)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 一 sur : 件 sur : 件 sur : 衣服 pyn : yi pyn : jian pyn : jian pyn : yifu noun: one noun: piece noun: piece noun: clothes cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : nquan cat : cn sem : _sem : +N_ _ sem : +N_ sem : object fnc : fnc : mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

We skip Step 0-2 of the syntactic-semantic analysis. The result of the previous steps, i.e. the proplet “一件件” becomes the ss part in step 3.

_ _ _ _ d 3. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 一件件o_____ sur : 衣服 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn : yi|jian|jiano_____ pyn : yifu 3 ecopy(SS.noun SS.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) 2 d noun: one-oneo_____ noun: clothes 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d 4 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) cat : cdn-qqo_____ cat : cn 5 sem : o_____ sem : object 6 fnc : fnc : 3 mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

The rule of NQ+NOUN is activated by the input of “衣服 (yifu, clothes)” in step 3. The “cdn-qq” proplet is absorbed after the rule operations. The “noun” value of the “cdn-qq” is copied as the

59 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS

“mdr” value. The derivation result is a single noun proplet:

_ _ sur : 衣服 pyn : yifu noun: clothes cat : cn sem : object fnc : mdr : one-one _mdd : _ • “一 QQ” as adverbial

When “一 QQ” is used as an adverbial, its semantic meaning resembles “one after another”. It shows the manner of the action.

Example 8. 他一件件数。(He count one by one.)

surface: 他一件件数 pinyin: ta yi jian jian shu English: he one piece piece count

The syntactic-semantic analysis is as follows: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 一 pyn : ta pyn : yi noun: he noun: one cat : pro cat : cdn sem : s3 sem : fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ mdr : _mdd : ______d 2. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : jian 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: he noun: one noun: piece e cat : pro cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : s3 sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ mdr : _mdd : ______d 3. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : 一件o o/ o/ o/ sur : 件 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : yi|jiano o/ o/ o/ o/2 o/ pyn : jian 3 ecopy(one-one SS.noun) d 4 ecopy(cdn-qq SS.cat) 2 e d noun: he noun: one 3 noun: piece 5 cancel(SS.sem.1) e cat : pro cat : cdn-q 4 cat : nquan e sem : s3 sem : +N 5 _sem : +N _ fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ mdr : _mdd : _

60 CHAPTER 3. NUMERALS AND QUANTIFIERS 3.2. QUANTIFIERS IN REPETITION

______d 4. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 一件件 sur : 数 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : yi|jian|jian pyn : shu 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) d noun: he S noun: one-one@ verb: count 5 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) SSS @ kkk Õ d SS @ kk 6 acopy(nw.verb SS.2.mdd) SSS k@kk ÕÕ e cat : pro cat :S cdn-qqSSkkk @ catÕ : s’ iv 3 kkk SSS @ Õ e kkk SSS@@Õ sem : s3 4 semkk : SSÕ sem2 : ku kk Õ @S@S) ÕÕ @ fnc : 1 fnc : Õ arg@ : Õ @ 5 ÕÕ _mdr : _ mdr : Õ _mdr: _ ÒÕ 6 _mdd : _

A variation of the rule of “S+V” is activated in step 4. The “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied as the “fnc” value in the first ss proplet, and the “noun” value of the first ss proplet is accordingly copied to the “arg” slot in the nw proplet. The value of “agent” is copied to the “sem” slot in the first ss proplet. The “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied into the “mdd” slot in the cdn-qq proplet, and, in return, the “noun” value from the cdn-qq proplet is copied as the “mdr” value in the nw proplet. After the input of the full stop, the analysis comes to the end. The derivation result is composed of three proplets.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 一件件 sur : 数 pyn : ta pyn : yi|jian|jian pyn : shu noun: he noun: one-one verb: count cat : pro cat : cdn-qq cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : sem : fnc : count fnc : arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr: one-one_ _mdd : count _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) count b) V he one-one N N

61 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 4

Analysis of Pronouns

Traditionally, pronouns in Chinese are further divided into personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and interrogative pronouns. Demonstrative pronouns are often followed by quantiﬁers. In this case, we name them determiners for separation from the common application of pronouns.

4.1 Personal Pronouns

As in English, Chinese personal pronouns distinguish ﬁrst person, second person and third person. But the inﬂection and derivation of Chinese personal pronouns are much simpler.

Table 4.1: English Personal Pronouns 1st per. 1st per. 2nd per. 2nd per. 3rd per. 3rd per. singular plural singular plural singular plural

Nominative: I we you you he/she/it they Accusative: me us you you him/her/it them Noun-possessive: mine ours yours yours his/hers/its theirs Adjective-possessive: my our your your his/her/its their

Table 4.2: Chinese Personal Pronouns 1st per. 1st per. 2nd per. 2nd per. 3rd per. 3rd per. singular plural singular plural singular plural

Nominative: 我我们你你们他/她/它他们/她们/它们 Accusative: 我我们你你们他/她/它他们/她们/它们 Noun-possessive: 我的我们的你的你们的他/她/它的他们/她们/它们的 Adjective-possessive: 我 (的) 我们 (的) 你 (的) 你们 (的) 他/她/它 (的) 他们/她们/它们 (的)

Obviously, the English personal pronouns change their forms according to person, number and case. But in Chinese, they change according to person, number, but not case. Moreover, the change

63 4.1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS based on person and number is much simpler. The plural form of Chinese personal pronouns is composed of its singular form and the plural marker “们 (men, MEN)”. The nominative forms do not diﬀer from the accusative forms. The singular noun possessive pronouns consist of the singular pronouns and the particle “的 (de, DE)”. The plural noun possessive pronouns are composed of the plural pronouns and the particle “的 (de, DE)”. The singular and plural adjective possessive pronouns resemble the noun possessive pronouns, but the particle “的 (de, DE)” is often omitted.

Since “们 (men, MEN)” and “的 (de, DE)” are separable and they are also used in many other places without any change in their function, we prefer to separate them from the single pronouns. Therefore, in the LAG-Chinese lexicon, the personal pronouns only include “我 (wo, I)”, “你 (ni, you)”, “他 (ta, he)”, “她 (ta, she)” and “它 (ta, it)”. The plural and possessive changes are left to the syntactical and semantic analysis.

Personal pronouns are used as subjects, objects and attributives. Here are some examples.

4.1.1 Personal Pronoun as Subject

Example 9. 我笑。(I laugh.)

surface: 我笑 pinyin: wo xiao English: I laugh

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

With only one word as the subject and one word as the predicate, the analysis process is very simple. During the application of the rule of S+V, the “noun” value is copied to the “arg” slot in the nw proplet and the “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot in the ss proplet. The value “agent” is copied to the “sem” slot of the subject proplet. The nw proplet is copied into output.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 笑 pyn : wo pyn : xiao noun: I verb: laugh cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s1 agent sem : fnc : laugh arg : I

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

64 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) laugh b) V I N

4.1.2 Personal Pronoun as Object

Example 10. 母亲爱我。(Mother loves me.)

surface: 母亲爱我 pinyin: muqin ai wo English: mother love I

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 母亲 sur : 爱 sur : 我 sur : 。 pyn : muqin pyn : ai pyn : wo cat : mark noun: mother verb: love noun: I_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : nr cat : s’ p’ tv cat : pro sem : sem : sem : s1 fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 母亲 sur : 爱 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : muqin pyn : ai 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: motherH verb: love HH v H v e cat : nr HH vcat : s’ p’ tv 3 v HH e H sem : 4 v semHH : 2 {v # fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

______d 2. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 母亲 sur : 爱 sur : 我 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : muqin pyn : ai pyn : wo 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) noun: mother verb: love noun: I BB | BBe || cat : nr cat : p’ tv 3B |cat : pro |B|B || BB e sem : agent sem : | semB1 : s1 4 |} ! fnc : love arg : mother2 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

The rule of V+N is activated in step 2. The “noun” value of the pronoun proplet is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet, and accordingly the “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot in the pronoun proplet.

65 4.1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

Derivation result:

______sur : 母亲 sur : 爱 sur : 我 pyn : muqin pyn : ai pyn : wo noun: mother verb: love noun: I cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : pro sem : agent sem : sem : s1 patient fnc : love arg : mother I fnc : love

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

4.1.3 Personal Pronoun as Attributive

When used as attributives, personal pronouns are either followed by the particle “的 (de, DE)” or not. In other words, the particle “的 (de, DE)” in the adjective possessive pronouns are often omitted.

• pro+ 的 +N: 我的朋友 (my friend)

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 的 sur : 朋友 pyn : wo pyn: de pyn : pengyou noun: I adj : DE noun: friend cat : pro cat : smr cat : nr

sem : s1_ sem: _ sem : fnc : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 我 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : wo pyn: de noun: I adj : DE cat : pro cat : smr

sem : s1_ sem: _ fnc : _mdr : _ e 1

66 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS

_ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdd) sur : 我 sur : 朋友 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) pyn : wo pyn : pengyou

noun:< I noun: friend << Ø cat : pro<< catØ : nr << Ø sem : s1 semØ< : << Ø < fnc : fnc :< 2 Ø Ø mdr :_ mdr : _ ÓØ 1 _mdd : # _

The combination of “我 (wo, I)” with the particle “的 (de, DE)” follows a variation of the rule of W+MR. An “mdd” attribute is created in the pronoun proplet and a temporary value of “#” is copied as its value, indicating the modiﬁed is expected.

The output after this rule application becomes the sentence start for next step. When “朋友 (pengyou, friend)” is read in, the rule of AN+N is activated. After all the rule operations, the modiﬁer-modiﬁed relation is represented. The derivation result is composed of two proplets.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 朋友 pyn : wo pyn : pengyou noun: I noun: friend cat : pro cat : nr sem : s1 sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : _mdr : I _ _mdd : friend_

• pro+N: 我朋友 (my friend)

The particle “的 (de, DE)” between a personal pronoun and a noun is often omitted, without any change to the semantic relation. The syntactic-semantic analysis process is one step less than that of “我的朋友 (my friend)”, but the ﬁnal result is the same.

4.1.4 Noun Possessive Pronoun

The Chinese noun possessive pronoun is composed of the basic pronoun and the particle “的 (de, DE)”, which is the same as the adjective possessive pronoun. When such a noun possessive construction appears, a gap is left in the derivation result.

Example 11. 书是我的。(The book is mine.)

surface: 书是我的 pinyin: shu shi wo de English: book be I -

In this example, the construction “我的” equals to “mine” in English.

67 4.1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

The syntactic-semantic analysis of the sentences is composed of 4 times of combination: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 书 sur : 是 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : shu pyn : shi 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(theme SS.sem) noun: bookG verb: be GG ww G w e cat : cn GG catww : s’ p’ vx 2 wGwG wew GG sem : object 4 semG : ww G1 w{ # fnc : 3 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: ______d 2. 1 acopy(”#” SS.2.arg) sur : 书 sur : 是 sur : 我 d 2 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) pyn : shu pyn : shi pyn : wo noun: book verb: be noun: I e cat : cn cat : p’ vx 2 cat : pro sem : object theme sem : sem : s1 e fnc : be arg : book 1 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

In this step, the pronoun “我 (wo, I)”is read in. Because the subject is a common noun, it is not possible for the two nouns to have any clear relation so far. A temporary value of “#” is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet and the second “cat” value is accordingly canceled. The nw proplet is copied into output. ______d 3. sur : 书 sur : 是 sur : 我 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : shu pyn : shi pyn : wo pyn: de noun: book verb: be noun: I adj : DE cat : cn cat : vx cat : pro cat : smr

sem : object theme sem : sem : s1_ sem: _ fnc : be arg : book # fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ e 1

When the particle “的 (de, DE)” is read in, an additional “mdd” attribute is created in the pronoun proplet and a temporary value of “#” is provided. Since next input is a full stop, the temporary value has no chance to be replaced. Derivation result:

______sur : 书 sur : 是 sur : 我 pyn : shu pyn : shi pyn : wo noun: book verb: be noun: I cat : cn cat : vx mark cat : pro sem : object theme sem : sem : s1 fnc : be arg : book # fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : # _ Semantically, the subject is also the modiﬁed. The two “#” in the verb proplet and the pronoun proplet can both be replaced by the core value from the subject proplet. To avoid repetition and confusion, the “#” is maintained in the DBS graphs.

68 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

The SRG and the signature presentation:

4.2 Demonstrative Pronouns

The basic demonstrative pronouns in Chinese include “这 (zhe, this)”, “那 (na, that)”, “这些 (zhexie, these)”,“那些 (naxie, those)”, “这样 (zheyang, so)”,“那样 (nayang, so)”, “这么 (zheme, so)”, “那么 (name, so)”, “这里 (zheli, here)” and “那里 (nali, there)”. Like other pronouns, demonstrative pronouns function as subjects, objects, predicates, attributives or adverbials.

4.2.1 这 (zhe, this)

“这 (zhe, this)” occurs 840 times in the corpus, referring to a person, an object, a place or an event.

• “这 (zhe, this)” refers to an object

Example 12. 这是车。(This is a car.)

surface: 这是车 pinyin: zhe shi che English: this be car

• “这 (zhe, this)” refers to an event

Example 13. 这使我难过。(This makes me sad.)

surface: 这使我难过 pinyin: zhe shi wo nanguo English: this make I sad

It is surprising to see “这 (zhe, this)”, 99% of the 840 times, is used as the short form of “这里 (zheli, here)”. That is to say, “这 (zhe, this)” refers most frequently to a place. In this case, it functions mainly as an adverbial or an object of the preposition “在 (zai, in-at-on)”.

Example 14. 我来这。(I come here)

69 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

surface: 我来这 pinyin: wo lai zhe English: I come this/here

In this example, “来 (lai, come)” is a directional verb, for which only a subject is required. “这 (zhe, this)” indicates the direction and functions as an adverbial.

The second combination in the sentence is as follows: ______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.mdr) sur : 我 sur : 来 sur : 这 d 2 ecopy(SS.verb nw.mdd) pyn : wo pyn : lai pyn : zhe noun: I verb: come noun: this-here 7 Ò 7 Ò cat : pro cat : vq catÒ : dpro 7 Ò ÒÒ sem : s1 agent sem : spt7Ò sem : Ò 7 ÒÒ fnc : come arg : IÒÒ fnc7 : ÑÒ 7 mdr : mdr: 1 mdr : _ _ _ _ _ 7 2 _

In this step, the rule of “V+COMP” is applied. An additional “mdd” attribute is created in the pronoun proplet. The “verb” value is then copied to the new “mdd” slot and the noun value in the pronoun proplet is copied to be the “mdr” value in the verb proplet. The nw proplet is copied into output.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 来 sur : 这 pyn : wo pyn : lai pyn : zhe noun: I verb: come noun: this-here cat : pro cat : vq mark cat : dpro sem : s1 agent sem : spt sem : fnc : come arg : I fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: this-here_ mdr : _mdd : come _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) come b) V I this-here N N

The similarity between “这 (zhe, this)” and “这里 (zheli, here)” is clearer in the following example.

Example 15. 我在这工作。(I work here.)

surface: 我在这工作 pinyin: wo zai zhe gongzuo English: I in/at/on this/here work

70 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

In this example, the pronoun “这 (zhe, this)” is the object of the preposition “在 (zai, in-at-on)”. There is no doubt that “这 (zhe, this)” refers to a place and the preposition phrase “在这” modiﬁes the verb “工作 (gongzuo, work)” by providing information of location. It may also be written as “我在这里工作。(I work here.)” From both the syntactic and the semantic view, there is no diﬀerence between the two sentences.

The derivation result of “我在这工作。”

______sur : 我 sur : 在 sur : 工作 pyn : wo pyn : zai pyn : gongzuo noun: I adj : in-at-on verb: work cat : pro cat : prep cat : iv mark sem : s1 agent sem : sem : fnc : work arg : this-here arg : I

_mdr : _ _mdd: work_ _ mdr: in-at-on_ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) work b) V I in-at-on N A

4.2.2 这里 (zheli, here)

“这里 (zheli, here)” has occurred 102 times in the corpus, used as subjects, objects, attributives or adverbials.

• “这里 (zheli, here)” as subject

Example 16. 这里是办公室。(Here is the oﬃce.)

surface: 这里是办公室 pinyin: zheli shi bangongshi English: here be oﬃce

In the above example, “这里 (zheli, here)” is the subject followed by a link verb “是 (shi, be)”.

The derivation result of “这里是办公室。”

______sur : 这里 sur : 是 sur : 办公室 pyn : zheli pyn : shi pyn : bangongshi noun: here verb: be noun: oﬃce cat : dpro cat : vx mark cat : cn sem : theme sem : sem : despriptive fnc : be arg : here oﬃce fnc : be

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

71 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

• “这里 (zheli, here)” as object

Example 17. 我喜欢这里。(I like here.)

surface: 我喜欢这里 pinyin: wo xihuan zheli English: I like here

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 喜欢 sur : 这里 pyn : wo pyn : xihuan pyn : zheli noun: I verb: like noun: here cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : dpro sem : s1 agent sem : sem : patient fnc : like arg : I here fnc : like

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

• “这里 (zheli, here)” as attributive

“这里 (zheli, here)” sometimes functions as an attributive. In this case, the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is required.

Example 18. 这里的楼房高。(The buildings here are high.)

surface: 这里的楼房高 pinyin: zheli de loufang gao English: here - building high

Derivation result:

______sur : 这里 sur : 楼房 sur : 高 pyn : zheli pyn : loufang pyn : gao noun: here noun: building adj : high cat : dpro cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : sem : object theme sem : av fnc : fnc : high arg : building

mdr : _mdr : here _ mdr : _mdd : building_ _mdd: _

72 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) high b) A building N

here N

4.2.3 这些 (zhexie, these)

“这些 (zhexie, these)” has occurred 42 times in the corpus, only used as subjects or objects.

• “这些 (zhexie, these)” as subject

Example 19. 这些可以运行。(These can run.)

surface: 这些可以运行 pinyin: zhexie keyi yunxing English: these kan run

Derivation result:

______sur : 这些 sur : 可以 sur : 运行 pyn : zhexie pyn : keyi pyn : yunxing noun: these verb: can verb: run cat : dpro cat : vz mark cat : iv sem : causer sem : sem : fnc : can arg : these run fnc : can

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

• “这些 (zhexie, these)” as object

Example 20. 我喜欢这些。(I like these.)

surface: 我喜欢这些 pinyin: wo xihuan zhexie English: I like these

73 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 喜欢 sur : 这些 pyn : wo pyn : xihuan pyn : zhexie noun: I verb: like noun: these cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : dpro sem : s1 agent sem : sem : patient fnc : like arg : I these fnc : like

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ In similar sentences with the above examples, “这些 (zhexie, these)” is applied in the same way as “these” in English.

4.2.4 这样 (zheyang, so)

“这样 (zheyang, so)” has occurred 106 times in the corpus as a subject, an object, attributive or adverbial. Syntactically, it has little diﬀerence from other pronouns when used as a subject, an object or an attributive. When used as an adverbial, “这样 (zheyang, so)” only precedes a verb or an adjective to show the manner or degree.

• “这样 (zheyang, so)” modiﬁes a verb

Example 21. 他这样工作。(He works this way.)

surface: 他这样工作 pinyin: ta zheyang gongzuo English: he so work

The syntactic-semantic analysis of the sentence is as follows:

_ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 这样 pyn : ta pyn : zheyang noun: he noun: so cat : pro cat : dpro sem : s3 sem : manner-degree fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ _ mdr : _

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 这样 sur : 工作 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : zheyang pyn : gongzuo 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) d noun: he TTTnoun: so D verb:j work 5 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) TTT DD jjjj Ð d TTT D jjj e 6 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.mdd) cat : pro cat : dproT j catÐ : s’ iv 3 TTTT jjj DD jjjjTTT D Ð e jjj TTT D 4 jj TTD sem : s3 semj : manner-degreeÐTTD sem2 : jt jjj TDT* Ð DD fnc : 1 fnc : argD : Ð D!5 Ð _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ Ð 6

74 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

In step 2, the third word “工作 (gongzuo, work)” is read in and the rule of S+V is activated. The functor-argument and modifier-modified relations are presented as values of certain attributes. The “noun” value in the first ss proplet is copied as the “arg” value in the nw proplet. The first “cat” value in the verb proplet is thereafter canceled. In return, the “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied as the “fnc” value in the first ss proplet. The value “agent” is copied into the “sem” slot in the first ss proplet. The “noun” value in the second ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet. The “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied into the “mdd” slot in the second ss proplet.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 这样 sur : 工作 pyn : ta pyn : zheyang pyn : gongzuo noun: he noun: so verb: work cat : pro cat : dpro cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : manner-degree sem : fnc : work fnc : arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr: so _ _mdd : work _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) work b) V he so N N

• “这样 (zheyang, so)” modiﬁes an adjective

Example 22. 他这样年轻。(He is so young.)

surface: 他这样年轻 pinyin: ta zheyang nianqing English: he so young

The syntactic-semantic analysis of the sentence is as follows:

_ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 这样 pyn : ta pyn : zheyang noun: he noun: so cat : pro cat : dpro sem : s3 sem : manner-degree fnc : fnc : _mdr :_ _ mdr : _

75 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

______d 2. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 这样 sur : 年轻 d 2 acopy(av nw.sem) d pyn : ta pyn : zheyang pyn : nianqing 3 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(theme SS.sem) d noun: heN noun: so J adj : young 5 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) N JJ jjj d N J jjj 6 ecopy(nw.adj SS.2.mdd) cat : pro catN : dpro jjJjJ cat : adj N jjjj JJ Njjj J e jjj JJ e 4 jj N J 2 sem : s3 semj : manner-degreeN semJ :5 jt jjj N J% N 3 N fnc : fnc : N mdr : N N _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd: 1 _ N' 6

______d 3. sur : 他 sur : 这样 sur : 年轻 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : zheyang pyn : nianqing cat : mark qq qq qq noun: he noun: so adj : youngqq _ sem: v’ decl_ xq cat : pro cat : dpro cat : adj 1 sem : s3 theme sem : manner-degree sem : av fnc : young fnc : arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : mdr : so _mdd : young _ _mdd: _

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “他这样年轻” is quite similar to that of “他这样工作。”. But, because it is an adjective that plays the role of a predicator, the “sem” value in the adjective proplet is set as “av”, which means “adjective verb”. An “arg” attribute is additionally created for the adjective. The core value from the subject proplet is copied into this new slot. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 这样 sur : 年轻 pyn : ta pyn : zheyang pyn : nianqing noun: he noun: so adj : young cat : pro cat : dpro cat : adj mark sem : s3 theme sem : manner-degree sem : av fnc : young fnc : arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : mdr : so _mdd : young _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) young b) A he so N N

“这么 (zheme, so)” has occurred 52 times in the corpus, but both its syntactic and semantic meaning resembles that of “这样 (zheyang, so)”, except that it does not appear as predicative independently. For example:

* 她就是这么。(She is so...)

她就是这样。(She is like this.)

The second one is grammatic but the ﬁrst one is not acceptable.

76 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

4.2.5 Determiners

Among all the demonstrative pronouns, “这 (zhe, this)”, “那 (na, that)” “这些 (zhexie, these)”, “那些 (naxie, those)”, “这样 (zheyang, so)”,“那样 (nayang, so)”, “这么 (zheme, so)”, “那么 (name, so)”, are also often used in front of noun phrases, resembling determiners in English or German. For example: “这 (zhe, this)” has been seen in this application 1006 times, “这些 (zhexie, these)” 404 times, “这样 (zheyang, so)”and “这么 (zheme, so)” less than 200 times. “这 (zhe, this)” also has the most variations in such an application. It can precede a noun, a quantiﬁer, a cardinal, etc. During the syntactic-semantic analysis, the determiner proplets are all absorbed by the following noun proplets. But in this LAG-Chinese parsing, the core values of the determiners are copied as “mdr” values in the noun proplets.

For example: “这男孩 (this boy)”

Lexical lookup:

_ _ _ _ sur : 这 sur : 男孩 pyn : zhe pyn : nanhai noun: this noun: boy cat : det cat : nr sem : sem : fnc : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur :o___这 sur : 男孩 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn :o___ zhe pyn : nanhai 3 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) 2 d noun:o___ this noun: boy 5 acopy(SS.noun SS.mdr) d 6 6 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) cat :o___ det cat : nr sem :o___3 sem : 4 fnc : fnc : 5 _mdr : _ _mdr : _

Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 男孩 pyn : nanhai noun: boy cat : nr sem : fnc : _mdr : this _ The result contains only one proplet, i.e. “男孩 (nanhai, boy)”. The core value of the determiner, i.e. “this” is copied into the “mdr” slot.

“这 (zhe, this)” is very productive in combining with quantifiers. It can be followed by any quantifier, e.g. “个 (ge, GE)”, “种 (zhong, ZHONG)”, “辆 (liang, LIANG)” and so on. This combination is often further used as an adnominal modifier.

77 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

For example: “这个男孩 (this boy)”. The combinations go as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 concat(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o 这o/ o/ o/ sur : 个 d 2 concat(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn :o zheo/ o/ o/ pyn : ge 3 ecopy(det-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: this noun: GE e cat : det 3 cat : nquan sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : _mdr : _ The determiner proplet first absorbs the quantifier proplet according to the rule of “DET+N”. The “sur” values and the “pyn” values are combined as new values. The “cat” value in the ss proplet is replaced by “det-q”. The “sem” value from the nw proplet is copied to the ss proplet. _ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o____这个 sur : 男孩 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn :o____ zhege pyn : nanhai 3 acopy(SS.noun SS.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) 2 d noun:o____ this noun: boy 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d 4 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) cat :o____ det-q cat : nr 5 sem :o____ +N sem : 6 fnc : fnc : 3 _mdr : _ _mdr : _ In this step, the rule of DQ+N applies. The “det-q” proplet is finally absorbed by the nw proplet. The original “noun” value in the ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot. The result is a single proplet with the “cat” value of “nr”. Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 男孩 pyn : nanhai noun: boy cat : nr sem : fnc : _mdr : this _ When “这 (zhe, this)” precedes a cardinal, the construction may not be complete. Either a quantifier or a noun will be expected. If it is a quantifier, the nw proplet is absorbed by the cardinal proplet. If it is a noun, the cardinal proplet is absorbed by the nw proplet. For example: “这三个 (these three)” The derivation of this phrase involves first the rule of DET+N, and then the rule of NUM+QUAN. The derivation result is:

_ _ sur : 三个 pyn : san|ge noun: three cat : cdn-q sem : +N fnc : _mdr : this _

78 CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

This construction further functions as a modiﬁer, For example: “这三个男孩 (these three boy)”.

For the combination of “这三个” and “男孩”, the rule of NQ+NOUN applies, and the result is a single proplet with two “mdr” values of “this” and “three”.

Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 男孩 pyn : nanhai noun: boy cat : nr sem : fnc : _mdr : this three_ The quantiﬁer in such a construction is often omitted, especially when the cardinal is “一 (yi, one)”. For example, “这一男孩 (this boy)”. The derivation result is also a single noun proplet with two “mdr” values.

_ _ sur : 男孩 pyn : nanhai noun: boy cat : nr sem : fnc : _mdr : this one_ “这些 (zhexie, these)” has been found 804 times as a determiner, but only in co-occurrence with a noun. For example: “这些书 (these books)”.

Lexical lookup:

_ _ _ _ sur : 这些 sur : 书 pyn : zhexie pyn : shu noun: these noun: book cat : det cat : cn sem : sem : object fnc : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis resembles that of “这男孩 (this boy)”. The derivation result is a single noun proplet with the “mdr” value of “these”:

_ _ sur : 书 pyn : shu noun: book cat : cn sem : object fnc : _mdr : these _

79 4.2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS CHAPTER 4. PRONOUNS

“这样 (zheyang, so)” and “这么 (zheme, so)”, as determiners, form the basic pattern of “determiner + cardinal + quantiﬁer + noun”. For example: “这样一个人 (such a person)” .

During the syntactic-semantic analysis, the determiner proplet, the cardinal proplet and the quan- tiﬁer proplet are all absorbed, leaving merely the core values as the “mdr” values in the resulting single noun proplet.

Derivation result:

_ _ sur : 人 pyn : ren noun: person cat : nr sem : fnc : _mdr : such one_

80 Chapter 5

Analysis of Nouns Modiﬁed by Adverbial Adjectives

In the traditional Chinese grammar, a noun can be modified by an adnominal ADJECTIVE, but not an adverbial ADJECTIVE, such as an adverb. However, nowadays, one of the most often discussed topics in Chinese studies is the collocation of adverbs and nouns, with the former as the modifiers and the latter as the modified. Nouns in such cases are used with either their referential meaning or their connotative meaning. When their connotative meaning is used, the adverbs are mostly those that usually intensify the meaning of adjectives or other adverbs, but do not modify common action verbs. Such adverbs are also called intensifiers. When other adverbs are used as modifiers of nouns, the referential meaning of the nouns applies.

Zhang (2000) says that many nouns can be modified by intensifiers to show their connotative meaning, such as proper nouns and common nouns referring to people or objects. Based on statistics, six kinds of nouns are more often observed in this structure: (1) noun for a certain group of people, e.g. “淑女 (shunv, lady)” and “男人 (nanren, man)”; (2) personal name, e.g. “阿 Q(a-q, Ah-Q)” and “葛朗台 (gelangtai, Grandet)”, which is well-known for a certain feature of the person it refers to; (3) name of a country or a location noun, e.g. “中国 (zhongguo, China)” and “西方 (xifang, West)”; (4) temporal noun, e.g. “现代 (xiandai, modern-times)” and “古代 (gudai, ancient-times)”; (5) abstract noun, e.g. “传统 (chuantong, tradition)” and “青春 (qingchun, youth)”; (6) noun for object, e.g. “铁 (tie, iron)” and “废物 (feiwu, waste)”. To some degree, number 2 and number 6 depend on the trend of times and the knowledge of the conversation participants. Among the various intensifiers, “很 (hen, very)”, “非常 (feichang, very)”, “相当 (xiangdang, rather)”, “极 (ji, extremely)” and “挺 (ting, very)” are more often seen in this structure.

In case only the referential meaning of a noun is applied, the adverb is usually not an intensiﬁer. The number of such adverbs is also limited. Here is a list of the adverbs found in the corpus:

81 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

surface: 又再才共都净光最顶 pinyin: you zai cai gong dou jing guang zui ding English: again again just altogether all only merely most top

In both cases, this grammatic phenomenon of “adverb + noun”, exists and prospers in either oral or written Chinese with its advantage in the sense of rhetorical eﬀect. We can have a look at it from the perspectives of grammar and semantics.

5.1 A Syntactic View

Seen from the perspective of syntax, adverbs modifying nouns create more freedom in sentence composition and gives nouns the syntactic function of adjectives.

5.1.1 Variety in Sentence Composition

Generally, nouns have referential meanings. But, when used in the structure of adverbs modifying nouns, they gain the function of predicates and the whole structure gets into the scheme of a sentence. For example:

1. “房间里书 (In the room, book...)” Lexical lookup: surface: 房间里书

pinyin: fangjian li shu English: room inside book

2. “房间里净书。(There are only books in the room.)” surface: 房间里净书

pinyin: fangjian li jing shu English: room inside only book

In 1, the noun “书 (shu, book)” is used independently from any modiﬁer. It has only the referential meaning and cannot be seen as a predicate. Therefore, the meaning of the whole sequence is unclear. In other words, it is not a complete sentence. In 2, “书 (shu, book)” is modiﬁed by the adverb “净 (jing, only)”. The referential meaning is changed into connotative meaning, making the noun “书 (shu, book)” a predicate and the whole sentence complete with the meaning of “There are only books in the room”. In the analysis of 2 as a sentence, an additional value of “nv (nominal verb)” is copied into the “sem” slot in the proplet of “书 (shu, book)”.

Example 23. 房间里净书。(There are only books in the room.)

Lexical lookup:

82 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

______sur : 房间 sur : 里 sur : 净 sur : 书 sur : 。 pyn : fangjian pyn : li pyn : jing pyn : shu cat : mark noun: room noun: inside adj : only noun: book_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : cn cat : nl cat : adv cat : cn sem : object sem : sem : +N sem : object fnc : fnc : _mdd: _ fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “房间里净书。” _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(SS.noun SS.arg) sur : 房间o____ sur : 里 d 2 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) 2 d pyn : fangjiano____ pyn : li 3 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) d 4 cancel(SS.noun) 3 e d noun: room 4 noun: inside 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.adj) Ö d e 6 ecopy(lcp SS.cat) cat : cn 6 catÖ : nl d 7 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) Ö d 8 nattr(mdd SS) sem : objecto____Ö sem : d 9 cancel(SS.fnc) 7 Ö e fnc : 9 Ö fnc : Ö _mdr : _ _mdr : _ ÒÖ1 e 5 8

In step 1, the rule of AN+N is activated when the second word is read in. An “arg” attribute is created and the “noun” value in the ss proplet becomes its value. The whole combination results in one “adj” proplet of “里 (li, inside)” with the “cat” value of “lcp”, which means “localizer phrase”. A localizer phrase only functions as a modiﬁer. That is why the core value of “里 (li, inside)” is changed from “noun” to “adj”. _ _ _ _ 2. sur : 里 sur : 净 pyn : li pyn : jing adj : inside adj : only cat : lcp cat : adv sem : sem : +N

arg : room_ mdd: _ mdr : _mdd: _

In step 2, an adverb is read in and simply copied into output. ______d 3. 1 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) sur : 里 sur : 净o____ sur : 书 d 2 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) 2 d pyn : li pyn : jingo____ pyn : shu 3 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) d 4 cancel(SS.2.adj) 3 e d adj : inside adj : only 4 noun: book 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) : d : Ó 6 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) :: Ó d cat : lcp: cat : adv o____ cat : cn 7 ecopy(nv SS.2.sem) : Ó d : 6 e 8 acopy(SS.adj SS.2.mdr) sem : :sem : +N 7 Ó sem : object d :: Ó 9 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.mdd) : d nattr(arg SS.2) arg : room mdd:: Ó fnc : 10 _ : 8 _ ÑÓ1 e 5 mdr : 10 _mdr : _ _mdd: _

In step 3, the noun predicate is read in. The rule of S+NV is activated. The adverb proplet, i.e. the second ss proplet, is absorbed. After the “adj” value is copied to the “mdr” slot, the “sur”, “pyn” and “cat” values are replaced by those from the nw proplet. The core attribute of “adj” is changed into “noun” and the value from the nw proplet is provided. The “sem” valued is replaced

83 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED by a new value of “nv”. The “adj” value in the ﬁrst ss proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the second ss proplet and the “noun” value in the second ss proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the ﬁrst.

______d 4. sur : 里 sur : 书 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : li pyn : shu cat : mark p ppp adj : inside noun: book pp sem: v’ decl ppp _ _ pw cat : lcp cat : cn 1 sem : sem : nv arg : room arg : mdr : mdr : only inside

_mdd: book_ _ mdd : _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 里 sur : 书 pyn : li pyn : shu adj : inside noun: book cat : lcp cat : cn mark sem : sem : nv arg : room arg : mdr : mdr : only inside

_mdd: book_ _ mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) book b) N

inside A

Common nouns are used in this construction to show an extreme situation. When a proper noun is used in this construction, it usually emphasizes a certain feature the subject has. For example:

Example 24. 他更阿 Q。(He is more Ah-Q.)

surface: 他更阿 Q pinyin: ta geng a-q English: he more Ah-Q

“阿 Q(a-q, Ah-Q)” is originally a character in Xun Lu’s books, well-known for being optimistic and self-mockery. It is now often quoted to refer to a person who has similar characteristics or shows a similar attitude in a certain situation. The proper noun “阿 Q(a-q, Ah-Q)” can also be used independently, like “他阿 Q (He Ah-Q)”, but pragmatically, it is not enough to provide such a simple description. In the above example sentence, the adverb “更 (geng, more)” modiﬁes the proper noun “阿 Q(a-q, Ah-Q)”. The whole sequence becomes a sentence with a complete meaning

84 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW of “He has more similarity with Ah-Q”. In this sentence, the proper noun functions as a predicator, creating a rhetorical eﬀect. The syntactic-semantic analysis is as follows: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 更 pyn : ta pyn : geng noun: he adj : more cat : pro cat : adv sem : s3 sem : +N fnc :_ mdd: _ _mdr : _

In step 1, the adverb is read in and simply copied into output. ______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 更o____ sur : 阿 Q d 2 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) 3 d pyn : ta pyn : gengo____ pyn : a-q 3 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) d 4 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 4 e d noun:: he adj : more 6 noun: A-Q 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) mmm Ò d : mm 6 cancel(SS.2.adj) cat : pro cat : advo____mmm catÒ : nm d : m mm 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) mm 7 Ò d : mm e e 8 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) m o____9 10Ò sem : s3mm sem: : +N sem : d acopy(rhetorical SS.2.sem) vmm Ò 9 : 8 d fnc :1 mdd: '&%$ !"# Ò fnc : 10 acopy(nv SS.2.sem) _ 11 _ d : 11 ecopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) ÑÒ2 _mdr : _ 5 _mdr : _

In step 2, the proper noun is read in and the rule of S+NV is activated. The adverb proplet is absorbed, but its “adj” value becomes a “mdr” value. The “noun” value in the proper noun proplet is copied as the “fnc” value in the ﬁrst ss proplet. Accordingly, the “noun” value in the ﬁrst ss proplet is copied to the “arg” slot in the proper noun proplet. The value of “nv” is copied to the “sem” slot of the proper noun proplet. Besides, an additional value of “rhetorical” is also copied to it. ______d 3. sur : 他 sur : 阿 Q sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : a-q cat : mark o ooo noun: he noun: A-Q ooo sem: v’ decl wooo _ _ cat : pro cat : nm 1 sem : s3 sem : rhetorical nv fnc : A-Q arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : more _mdd : _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 阿 Q pyn : ta pyn : a-q noun: he noun: A-Q cat : pro cat : nm mark sem : s3 sem : rhetorical nv fnc : A-Q arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : more _mdd : _

85 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) A-Q b) N he N

Actually, in the above two cases and other cases similar to these, the Chinese link verb “像 (xiang, like)” or “是 (shi, be)” can be added to make the sentences more complete in a grammatical sense. Then, the ﬁrst sample sentence becomes:

“房间里 -净 -是 -书 (There are only books in the room.)”

surface: 房间里净是书 pinyin: fangjian li jing shi shu English: room inside only be book and the second sample sentence becomes:

“他更 -像 -阿 Q (He is more like Ah-Q)”

surface: 他更像阿 Q pinyin: ta geng xiang a-q English: he more be like Ah-Q

However, based on the descriptive principle of language analysis, the short sentences are not extended to their complete forms before the syntactic-semantic analysis.

Moreover, it is not rare to see nouns used as predicates. The above construction of adverbs modifying nouns should not be taken as contradictory to the fact that sometimes nouns function as predicates without adverb modiﬁers. For example:

Example 25. 明天星期六。(Tomorrow is Saturday.)

surface: 明天星期六 pinyin: mingtian xingqiliu English: tomorrow Saturday

Example 26. 李明上海人。(Ming Li is from Shanghai.)

surface: 李明上海人 pinyin: liming shanghai ren English: Ming Li Shanghai person

In the sentence of “明天星期六”, a temporal noun is followed by another temporal noun. The construction is used for explaining the date and the subject is usually limited to “明天 (mingtian, tomorrow)”, “昨天 (zuotian, yesterday)”, “后天 (houtian, the day after tomorrow)”, “前天

86 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

(qiantian, the day before yesterday)”, etc. The predicate temporal noun is limited to a weekday, weekend, festival or speciﬁc date.

The derivation result of “明天星期六。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 明天 sur : 星期六 pyn : mingtian pyn : xingqiliu noun: tomorrow noun: Saturday cat : nt cat : nt mark sem : sem : nv fnc : Saturday arg : tomorrow mdr : mdr : _mdd : _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) Saturday b) N tomorrow N

In the sentence of “李明上海人”, a person’s name is followed by a city’s name and then the special word of “人 (ren, person)”. In English, the suﬃx “-ese” is usually attached to a country’s name to indicate the person/people of the country, e.g. China-Chinese, Japan-Japanese. In Chinese, the common noun “人 (ren, person)” will come immediately after the country’s name to form a noun phrase, e.g. “中国”-” 中国人”. It also comes after a city’s name, e.g. “上海”-“上海人”. Within such phrases, “人 (ren, person)” is the key word, the country’s or city’s name is the modiﬁer. Therefore, for the combination of “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)” and “上海 (shanghai, Shanghai)”, there is only one rule operation: copy(nw) (copy the nw proplet into output). When it comes to next step, the syntactic-semantic relation becomes clear.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “李明上海人。” _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 李明 sur : 上海 pyn : liming pyn : shanghai noun: MingLi noun: Shanghai cat : nm cat : nd sem : sem : fnc : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.fnc) sur : 李明 sur : 上海 sur : 人 d 2 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.mdd) d pyn : liming pyn : shanghai pyn : ren 3 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) d 4 acopy(nv nw.sem) d noun: MingLiM noun: ShanghaiA noun: person 5 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) A jjj Ó d M jj 6 cancel(nw.fnc) M jjAjA cat : nm catM : ndjjj A catÓ : nr Mjjj A jjj M A Ó e sem : jjsem : Asem : 4 ujjj M Ó A M Ó A 1 M A e fnc : fnc : M fncA :3 6 Ó M Ó M _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdr :5 _ ÑÓ M& 2

“人 (ren, person)” is the functor and “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)” is the argument. The core values

87 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED are copied into related slots. The modiﬁer-modiﬁed relation between “上海 (shanghai, Shanghai)” and “人 (ren, person)” is also represented.

The derivation result of “李明上海人。”

______sur : 李明 sur : 上海 sur : 人 pyn : liming pyn : shanghai pyn : ren noun: MingLi noun: Shanghai noun: person cat : nm cat : nd cat : nr mark sem : sem : sem : nv fnc : person fnc : arg : MingLi

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr : Shanghai_ _mdd : person _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) person b) N MingLi Shanghai N N The above two cases of nouns as predicates may also have adverbs as modiﬁers. But these adverbs usually do not emphasize on degree, but frequency, possibility, etc. The nouns are still used with their referential meaning. For example:

Example 27. 明天又星期六。(It is again Saturday tomorrow.)

surface: 明天又星期六 pinyin: mingtian you xingqiliu English: tomorrow again Saturday

During the syntactic-semantic analysis, the adverb is again absorbed. The “adj” value is copied to the “mdr” slot in the noun predicate proplet.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 明天 sur : 星期六 pyn : mingtian pyn : xingqiliu noun: tomorrow noun: Saturday cat : nt cat : nt mark sem : sem : nv fnc : Saturday arg : tomorrow mdr : mdr : again

_mdd : _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) Saturday b) N tomorrow N

88 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

Example 28. 李明大概上海人。(Ming Li is probably from Shanghai.)

surface: 李明大概上海人 pinyin: liming dagai shanghai ren English: Ming Li probably Shanghai person

The derivation result of “李明大概上海人。”

______sur : 李明 sur : 人 sur : 上海 pyn : liming pyn : ren pyn : shanghai noun: MingLi noun: person noun: Shanghai cat : nm cat : nr mark cat : nd sem : sem : nv sem : fnc : person arg : MingLi fnc :

_mdr : _ mdr : probably Shanghai mdr : _mdd : _ _mdd : person _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) person b) N MingLi Shanghai N N

Example 25-28 are grammatical sentences with clear meanings. The diﬀerence between Example 25/26 and Example 27/28 lies in that Example 25/26 are static statements while Example 27/28 are subjective appraisal, which shows the speaker’s feelings about or attitude towards the statement. In Example 25/26 the predicate noun describes the concrete features of the subject. In Example 27/28, the adverb varies according to the attitude of the speaker. For example: “明天又星期六。” The adverb “又 (you, again)” shows that the speaker thinks time runs too fast. If we change the adverb to “才 (cai, just)”, then it indicates that the speaker feels time is too slow. In Example 26, a simple static statement is presented, while in Example 28, the adverb “大概 (dagai, probably)” creates a sense of uncertainty. Obviously, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun does not only present a new sentence pattern but more semantic or pragmatic information.

5.1.2 Noun as Adjective

Another rhetorical eﬀect of adverbs modifying nouns lies in that the nouns function as adjectives. From the grammatical view, the nouns modiﬁed by adverbs have the complete function of adjectives. From the view of semantics, the meaning of the nouns equals to that of corresponding adjectives.

For example:

Example 29. 我有油。(I have oil.)

surface: 我有油 pinyin: wo you you English: I have oil

89 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

Example 30. 他太油。(He is too oily. /He is a really sleazy person.)

surface: 他太油 pinyin: ta tai you English: he too oil

Example 31. 我喜欢艺术。(I like art.)

surface: 我喜欢艺术 pinyin: wo xihuan yishu English: I like art

Example 32. 这件衣服挺艺术。(This coat is very artistic.)

surface: 这件衣服挺艺术 pinyin: zhe jian yifu ting yishu English: this piece coat very art

Example 33. 他有本事。(He has the ability.)

surface: 他有本事 pinyin: ta you benshi English: he have ability

Example 34. 他真本事。(He is really capable.)

surface: 他真本事 pinyin: ta zhen benshi English: he really ability

In the above three groups, the words “油 (you, oil)”, “艺术 (yishu, art)” and “本事 (benshi, ability)” in all the above examples are nouns. But their semantic meanings are much different. In Example 29/31/33, the three words all refer to some specific things, while in Example 30/32/34, the nouns are used to describe the features that the referred have. This means nouns’ function changes with the adverb modifiers. The derivation result of the two sentences in each group is accordingly different.

90 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

The derivation result of “我有油。”

______sur : 我 sur : 有 sur : 油 pyn : wo pyn : you pyn : you noun: I verb: have noun: oil cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 sem : non-action sem : object fnc : have arg : I oil fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ There are three proplets in the result, namely “我 (wo, I)”, “有 (you, have)” and “油 (you, oil)”. The ﬁrst and the third are the two arguments and the second is the functor.

The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “他太油。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 油 pyn : ta pyn : you noun: he noun: oil cat : pro cat : cn mark sem : s3 sem : object rhetorical nv fnc : oil arg : he

_mdr :_ mdr : too _mdd : _ Only two proplets are left in the output, with the ﬁrst being the argument and the second being the functor. Two additional values, “rhetorical” and “nv” are copied to the “sem” slot in the functor proplet. The adverb “太 (tai, too)” is absorbed and presented as the “mdr” value in the functor proplet.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) oil b) N he N

The derivation result of “我喜欢艺术。”

______sur : 我 sur : 喜欢 sur : 艺术 pyn : wo pyn : xihuan pyn : yishu noun: I verb: like noun: art cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : sem : abstract patient fnc : like arg : I art fnc : like

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

91 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

Again, in this result are three proplets: the proplets of two arguments and one of the functor.

The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “这件衣服挺艺术。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 衣服 sur : 艺术 pyn : yifu pyn : yishu noun: clothes noun: art cat : cn cat : cn mark sem : object sem : abstract rhetorical nv fnc : art arg : clothes

_mdr : this_ mdr : very _mdd : _ There are only two proplets left in the result. The first one represents the phrase of “这件衣服”. As a determiner-quantifier-noun structure, the determiner and the quantifier are both absorbed and presented as the “mdr” value in the proplet of “衣服 (yifu, clothes)”. The adverb “挺 (ting, very)” is also absorbed and presented as the “mdr” value in the “nv” proplet, i.e. “艺术 (yishu, art)”.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) art b) N clothes N

The derivation result of “他有本事。”

______sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 本事 pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : benshi noun: he verb: have noun: ability cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : abstract fnc : have arg : he ability fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ Though the noun used in this example is an abstract noun, the structure of the sentence is similar to “我有油。” The ﬁnal result also contains three proplets.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) have b) V ?? ?? ? ? he ability N N

92 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

The derivation result of “他真本事。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 本事 pyn : ta pyn : benshi noun: he noun: ability cat : pro cat : cn mark sem : s3 sem : abstract rhetorical nv fnc : ability arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : really _mdd : _ Again, the adverb “真 (zhen, really)” is absorbed and presented as the “mdr” value. Two additional values, “rhetorical” and “nv” are copied to the “sem” slot in the functor proplet.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) ability b) N he N In practice, most frequently used adverbs in this kind of structure are adverbs of degree, such as “很 (hen, very)”, “特 (te, very)” and “绝对 (juedui, absolutely)”, etc., which are also called intensiﬁers. Take “特 (te, very)” as an example.

Example 35. 她的思想特传统。(Her thinking is very traditional.)

surface: 她的思想特传统 pinyin: ta de sixiang te chuantong English: she - thinking very tradition

Example 36. 她特淑女。(She is a lady.)

surface: 她特淑女 pinyin: ta te shunv English: she very lady

Example 37. 这个人特青春。(She is very vigorous.)

surface: 这个人特青春 pinyin: zhe ge ren te qingchun English: this - person very youth

Some linguists argue that nouns are used as adjectives in this kind of structures (Diao, 2001). Others think that it is a shift of part of speech (Zhu & Liu, 1997). Hu [1998] argues that it belongs to a special rhetoric. Anyway, modiﬁed by adverbs, the nouns are no longer names. They

93 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED represent some typical characteristics or status that are related to the originally referred. These nouns are used similarly with adjectives. In this sense, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun is not restricted to the application of predicates. The structure as a whole may also be used as an adnominal or adverbial modiﬁer. For example:

Example 38. 他特绅士地打开了门。(He opened the door like a gentleman.)

surface: 他特绅士地打开了门 pinyin: ta te shenshi de dakai le men English: he very gentleman - open - door

In this example, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun is used as an adverbial, marked by the particle “地 (de, DE)”. The modiﬁed is the verb “打开 (dakai, open)”. In other words, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun is applied to show the manner of the action. Since the front part of the sentence “他特绅士” is possible to be a complete proposition if it continues with a full stop, the derivation result up to this level is similar to a noun used as a predicate.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 特 sur : 绅士 sur : 地 sur : 打开 sur : 了 sur : 门 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : te pyn : shengshi pyn: de pyn : kai pyn: le pyn : men cat : mark

noun: he adj : very noun: gentleman adj : De verb: open adj : LE noun: door_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : adv cat : nr cat : vmr cat : s’ p’ tv cat : asp cat : cn

sem : s3 sem : +N sem : _sem: _ sem : _sem: perf_ sem : object fnc :_ mdd: _ fnc : arg : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 特 pyn : ta pyn : te noun: he adj : very cat : pro cat : adv sem : s3 sem : +N fnc :_ mdd: _ _mdr : _

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 特o____ sur : 绅士 d 2 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) 3 d pyn : ta pyn : teo____ pyn : shengshi 3 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) d 4 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 4 e d noun: he adj : very 6 noun: gentleman 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) ; ll } d ; lll 6 cancel(SS.2.adj) ; lll } d cat : pro cat : advo____ ll cat : nr 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) ; ll l } d ; lll 7 e e 8 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) sem : s3ll sem;l : +No____9 10 } sem : d lu l 9 acopy(rhetorical SS.2.sem) ; 8 } d 10 acopy(nv SS.2.sem) fnc :1 _ mdd:; '&%$ !"# } _ fnc : d ;11 11 ecopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) ~}2 _mdr : _ 5 _mdr : _

Up to this step, the derivation process is the same with the case that a noun functions as the predicator. The core value from the nw proplet is copied to the “fnc” slot in the ﬁrst ss proplet,

94 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW and the core value from the ﬁrst ss proplet is copied as the “arg” value in the resulting “nv” proplet. The adverb proplet is absorbed.

______d 3. 1 ecopy(”#” SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 绅士 sur : 地 d 2 acopy(”#” SS.2.mdd) d pyn : ta pyn : shengshi pyn: de 3 cancel(SS.2.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.2.sem.2) noun: he noun: gentleman adj : De cat : pro cat : nr cat : vmr e sem : s3 sem : rhetorical nv 4 _sem: _ e e fnc : gentleman 1 arg : he 3

_mdr : _ mdr : very e _mdd : 2 _

In step 3, the structure marker “地 (de, DE)” comes with the information that the noun “绅士 (shenshi, gentleman)” is not a predicator. The real predicate word is coming later. The combination “特绅士” is in fact an adverbial of manner. Therefore, the “fnc” value in the ﬁrst ss proplet, is replaced by “#”. The “arg” attribute in the proplet “绅士 (shenshi, gentleman)” is canceled. The value “nv” in the “sem” slot is also removed. An additional temporary value “#” is copied to the “mdd” slot in the proplet “绅士 (shenshi, gentleman)”.

______d 4. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 绅士 sur : 打开 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : shengshi pyn : kai 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) d noun: he noun: gentleman verb: open 5 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.mdd) SSS A k d SS A k } 6 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) SSS A k k e cat : pro cat :S nrS kA cat} : s’ p’ tv 3 SSSk A k k SSS A } e k SSS}AA sem : s3 4 semk : rhetoricalSS sem2 : ku k ASAS) } A 1 } A fnc : # mdr : very arg :A6 }~ 5 _mdr : _ _mdd : # _ _mdr: _

In this step, the real predicate word, a verb, is read in. The temporary value “#” is replaced by the “verb” value in the nw proplet one after another. The “noun” value in the first ss proplet is copied as the first “arg” value in the nw proplet, and the first “cat” value in the nw proplet, i.e. “s”’, is accordingly canceled. The “noun” value in the second ss proplet, i.e. “绅士 (shenshi, gentleman)”, is copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet. In return, the “verb” value is copied as the “mdd” value in the proplet “绅士 (shenshi, gentleman)”. The nw proplet is copied into output, waiting for continuation. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

The derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 绅士 sur : 打开 sur : 门 pyn : ta pyn : shengshi pyn : kai pyn : men noun: he noun: gentleman verb: open noun: door cat : pro cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : rhetorical sem : perf sem : object patient fnc : open mdr : very arg : he door fnc : open

_mdr : _ _mdd : open _ _mdr: gentleman_ _ mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

95 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

It is also seen in the corpus that the structure of an adverb modifying a noun is used as a complement. “得 (de, DE)” is a typical complement marker. When the structure of an adverb modifying a noun comes after “得 (de, DE)”, it is clear that the core value of the key word in the following construction should be copied as the “mdr” value in the preceding predicate proplet. For example:

Example 39. 他长得非常中国。(He looks very Chinese.)

surface: 他长得非常中国 pinyin: ta zhang de feichang zhongguo English: he look - very China

It is not possible to define how a Chinese looks like, but it is clear that a Chinese has some difference in his/her appearance from a German, a Japanese or an American. From the sentence, we cannot tell whether he is handsome, tall, or not. The only thing to do is to copy the “noun” value “China” into the “mdr” slot in the verb proplet to show the modifier-modified relation. Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 得 sur : 非常 sur : 中国 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn: de pyn : feichang pyn : zhongguo cat : mark

noun: he verb: look adj : DE adj : very noun: China_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ iv cat : cmr cat : adv cat : nd

sem : s3 sem : _sem: _ sem : +N sem : fnc : arg : _mdd: _ fnc : _mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 长 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : zhang 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: he verb: look BB | BB || e cat : proB cat| : s’ iv 3 |B|B |e| BB sem : s3|4 semB :2 |} ! fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ The rule of S+V applies in this step. ______d 2. sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 得 1 acopy(”#” SS.mdr) pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn: de noun: he verb: look adj : DE cat : pro cat : iv cat : cmr

sem : s3 agent sem : _sem: _ fnc : look arg : he e _mdr : _ _mdr: 1 _

96 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.1. A SYNTACTIC VIEW

When the structure marker “得 (de, DE)” comes, a complement is expected. The temporary substitute value “#” is copied to the “mdr” slot of the verb proplet. ______3. sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 非常 pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn : feichang noun: he verb: look adj : very cat : pro cat : iv cat : adv sem : s3 agent sem : sem : +N

fnc : look arg : he_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: # _

In this step, the adverb “非常” is read in and copied to output. ______d 4. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdr) sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 非常o____ sur : 中国 d 2 acopy(SS.verb SS.2.mdd) 4 d pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn : feichango____ pyn : zhongguo 3 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) 5 e d noun: he verb: look adj : very 7 noun: China 5 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) DD p d D p 6 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) cat : pro cat : ivD cat : advo____pcat : nd d D p 7 cancel(SS.2.adj) DD p d D 8 p e 8 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) sem : s3 agent sem : semD : +Npo____10 sem : d Dp!2 9 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) p 9 d p 10 acopy(rhetorical SS.2.sem) fnc : look arg : hep _ mdd: _ fnc : xp 3 _mdr : _ _mdr: # 1 _ 6 _mdr : _

In step 4, “中国 (zhongguo, China)” is read in. The adverb proplet is absorbed. The original “adj” value is copied to the “mdr” slot. The “noun” value of “中国 (zhongguo, China)” is copied as the “mdr” value in the verb proplet and accordingly the “verb” value in the verb proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the proplet “中国 (zhongguo, China)”. The value of “rhetorical” is copied to the “sem” slot. ______d 5. sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 中国 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn : zhongguo cat : mark gggg ggggg noun: he verb: look noun:ggg Chinag sem: v’ decl sggggg _ _ cat : pro cat : iv1 cat : nd sem : s3 agent sem : sem : rhetorical fnc : look arg : he mdr : very

_mdr : _ _mdr: China_ _ mdd : look _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 长 sur : 中国 pyn : ta pyn : zhang pyn : zhongguo noun: he verb: look noun: China cat : pro cat : iv mark cat : nd sem : s3 agent sem : sem : rhetorical fnc : look arg : he mdr : very

_mdr : _ _mdr: China_ _ mdd : look _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

97 5.2. A SEMANTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED a) look b) V he China N N

5.2 A Semantic View

From the perspective of semantics, the structure of adverbs modifying nouns enriches semantic expressions. In real communication, we often meet diﬃculties to ﬁnd the right adjectives to describe the characteristics or features of something. For example: “他长得非常中国。(He looks very Chinese.)” The noun “中国 (zhongguo, China)” used here is quite impressive by leaving much room for imagination.

Besides ﬁlling up the gap of semantic expression, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun represents the ﬂexibility and fuzzy beauty of the language. Because of the extensive implication of nouns, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun has its semantic uncertainty. Generally speaking, adjectives and verbs have abstract meanings while the corresponding nouns enable the readers or listeners to create a concrete view of the referred to. The structure of an adverb modifying a noun provide a more vivid description of the features or characteristics that the referred persons or things have.

For example:

Example 40. 她的穿戴很时髦。(Her clothes are fashionable.)

surface: 她的穿戴很时髦 pinyin: ta de chuandai hen shimao English: she - clothes very fashionable

Example 41. 她的穿戴特香港。(Her clothes are fashionable.)

surface: 她的穿戴特香港 pinyin: ta de chuandai te xianggang English: she - clothes very Hongkong

Example 42. 他是一个很吝啬的人。(He is very mean.)

surface: 他是一个很吝啬的人 pinyin: ta shi yi ge hen linse de ren English: he be one - very mean - person

Example 43. 他是一个特葛朗台的人。(He is very mean, like Grandet.)

98 CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED 5.2. A SEMANTIC VIEW

surface: 他是一个特葛朗台的人 pinyin: ta shi yi ge te gelangtai de ren English: he be one - very Grandet - person

Though the meaning of Example 40&41, 42&43, is similar, the rhetoric effects are quite different. “时髦 (shimao, fashionable)” is an adjective to describe the feature of clothes. However, “香港 (xianggang, HongKong)” is more vivid and imaginable, since it is well-known that Hong-Kong is a city of fashion. “葛朗台 (gelangtai, Grandet)” is a figure in Balzac’s works, known as an extremely selfish and mean person. The adjective “吝啬 (linse, mean)” will never reach the rhetoric effect of the noun “葛朗台 (gelangtai, Grandet)”. Their derivation result reflects the difference in the deep structure.

The derivation result of “她的穿戴很时髦。”

______sur : 她 sur : 穿戴 sur : 时髦 pyn : ta pyn : chuandai pyn : shimao noun: she noun: clothing adj : fashionable cat : pro cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : s3 sem : object theme sem : av fnc : fnc : fashionable arg : clothing

mdr : _mdr : she _ mdr : very _mdd : clothing_ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) fashionable b) A clothing N

she N

The derivation result of “她的穿戴特香港。”

______sur : 她 sur : 穿戴 sur : 香港 pyn : ta pyn : chuandai pyn : xianggang noun: she noun: clothing noun: HongKang cat : pro cat : cn cat : nd mark sem : s3 sem : object sem : rhetorical nv fnc : fnc : HongKang arg : clothing

mdr : _mdr : she _ mdr : very _mdd : clothing_ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) HongKang b) N clothing N

she N

99 5.2. A SEMANTIC VIEW CHAPTER 5. NOUNS MODIFIED

The derivation result of “他是一个很吝啬的人。”

______sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 人 sur : 吝啬 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : ren pyn : linse noun: he verb: be noun: person adj : mean cat : pro cat : vx mark cat : nr cat : adj sem : s3 theme sem : sem : sem : fnc : be arg : he person fnc : be mdr : very

mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : one mean_ mdd: person_ _mdd : # _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “他是一个特葛朗台的人。”

______sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 人 sur : 葛朗台 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : ren pyn : gelangtai noun: he verb: be noun: person noun: Grandet cat : pro cat : vx mark cat : nr cat : nm sem : s3 theme sem : sem : sem : rhetorical fnc : be arg : he person fnc : be mdr : very

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one Grandet_ mdd : person _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

All in all, the structure of an adverb modifying a noun, first, fills up the gap of expression; secondly, creates imagination; thirdly, changes the abstract to concrete. It also helps to gain the effect of emphasis, exaggeration and light humor. It shows the combination flexibility of Chinese, as well as the variety and distinctiveness of Chinese expressions. The creativity and innovation of language usage is also presented. Nouns in this structure are treated like adjectives. It is out of the principle of analyzing Chinese as it is in practice. From the syntactic relationship, as presented by attribute values, this special structure can be traced and the original distinctiveness is maintained to the largest extent. In respect to the semantic meaning, an additional value of “rhetorical” is appended when a proper noun, an abstract common noun or a noun referring to a certain group of people is modified by an adverb of degree. From the signature presentation, the semantic relations of N/N and N|N are proved available in Chinese.

100 Chapter 6

Analysis of Nouns in Subject or Object Positions

Nouns are often used as subjects and objects. In Chinese, a noun may also start a sentence and be followed by a main verb. The superﬁcial pattern is similar to that of subject-predicate, but it does not mean that the noun is the logical subject. It may turn out to be an adverbial. The sentence may be one with an omitted subject, or a special “有 (you, there-be)” construction.

In the regular basic structure of S+V+O, nouns are most frequently seen as subjects and objects. For example:

Example 44. 人们欢迎李明。(People welcome Ming Li.)

surface: 人们欢迎李明 pinyin: ren men huanying liming English: person - welcome Ming Li

In this example, “人 (ren, person)”, followed by a plural marker, is the subject. The proper noun “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)” is the object.

The derivation result of “人们欢迎李明。(People welcome Ming Li.)”

______sur : 人 sur : 欢迎 sur : 李明 pyn : ren pyn : huanying pyn : liming noun: person verb: welcome noun: MingLi cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : nm sem : pl agent sem : sem : patient fnc : welcome arg : person MingLi fnc : welcome

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

101 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

Example 45. 我不同意你的意见。(I don’t agree to your opinion.)

surface: 我不同意你的意见 pinyin: wo bu tongyi ni de yijian English: I not agree you - opinion

In this example, the pronoun “我 (wo, I)” is the subject and “意见 (yijian, opinion)” is the object. The pronoun “你 (ni, you)”, followed by the particle “的 (de, DE)” modiﬁed the object.

The derivation result of “我不同意你的意见。(I don’t agree to your opinion.)”

______sur : 我 sur : 同意 sur : 你 sur : 意见 pyn : wo pyn : tongyi pyn : ni pyn : yijian noun: I verb: agree-with noun: you noun: opinion cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : cn sem : s1 sem : sem : s2 sem : patient fnc : agree-with arg : I opinion fnc : fnc : agree-with

_mdr : _ mdr : not mdr : _mdr : you _ _mdd: _ _mdd : opinion_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

Besides sentential objects, nouns are also used after prepositions, forming preposition-object phrases. For example:

Example 46. 他从北京来。(He comes from Peking.)

surface: 他从北京来 pinyin: ta cong beijing lai English: he from Peking come

“北京 (beijing, Peking)” is the name of the capital city of China. “从 (cong, from)” is a preposition. The preposition phrase “从北京” modiﬁes the predicate verb “来 (lai, come)”.

102 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The derivation result of “他从北京来。(He comes from Peking.)”

______sur : 他 sur : 从 sur : 来 pyn : ta pyn : cong pyn : lai noun: he adj : from verb: come cat : pro cat : prep cat : vq mark sem : s3 agent sem : sem : spt fnc : come arg : Peking arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdd: come_ _ mdr: from _ In the preposition proplet, the “arg” slot is ﬁlled by “Peking”, which presents the syntactic relation that “北京 (beijing, Peking)” is the object.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) come b) V he from N A Generally, the word order of a preposition and its object is the same in Chinese as in English. But a preposition phrase usually comes after a main verb in English. In Chinese, depending on prepositions, the word order may be diﬀerent. The above sentence “他从北京来。” can serve as a good example. Here is another example.

Example 47. 我和老师讨论问题。(I discussed with the teacher.)

surface: 我和老师讨论问题 pinyin: wo he laoshi taolun wenti English: I with teacher discuss question

“和 (he, with)” is a preposition. “老师 (laoshi, teacher)” is a common noun used as its object. This relation is presented as the “arg” slot in the preposition proplet is ﬁlled by the “noun” value from the proplet of “老师 (laoshi, teacher)”. The whole preposition phrase shows up before the predicate verb “讨论 (taolun, discuss)”, which does not happen in English.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 和 sur : 讨论 sur : 问题 pyn : wo pyn : he pyn : taolun pyn : wenti noun: I adj : with verb: discuss noun: question cat : pro cat : prep cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 sem : sem : sem : patient fnc : discuss arg : teacher arg : I question fnc : discuss

_mdr : _ _mdd: discuss_ _ mdr: with _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

103 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The above examples are all about simple nouns without modifiers. When they are modified by numeral-quantifier phrases, the new construction of numeral-quantifier-noun serves as one element on a higher level of syntax.

Example 48. 她有一辆车。(She has a car.)

surface: 她有一辆车 pinyin: ta you yi liang che English: she have one - car

“一辆车 (a car)” functions as the object of the transitive verb “有 (you, have)”. In the numeral- quantiﬁer-noun construction, “车 (che, car)” is the key word. Therefore, only the “noun” value of the “车 (che, car)” is copied as an argument of the verb. But the derivation process follows the time-linear order of LAG: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 她 sur : 有 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : you 3 cancel(nw.cat.1)

noun: sheE verb: have EE y E y e cat : proEE caty : s’ p’ tv 3 y EE EE sem : s3y sem :E non-action2 y| " fnc :1 arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _

In step 1, the transitive verb “有 (you, have)” is read in and the rule of “S+V” is activated. The output becomes the sentence start for next step. ______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 她 sur : 有 sur : 一 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi 3 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc)

noun: she verb: haveE noun: one EE y eE yy cat : pro cat : p’ tv 2 EEyycat : cdn yyEE yy EE sem : s3 sem : non-actiony semE3 : y| " fnc : have arg : she 1 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

In step 2, the cardinal “一 (yi, one)” is read in. The core value of “一 (yi, one)” is copied as the second “arg” value in the verb proplet. In return, the “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot in the cardinal proplet. ______d 3. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 她 sur : 有 sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 辆 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : you pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : liang 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: she verb: have noun: one noun: LIANG e cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : have arg : she one fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

104 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The rule of NUM+QUAN is applied in step 3. ______d 4. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 她 sur : 有 sur : 一辆o____ sur : 车 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi|liango____ pyn : che 3 ecopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 2 d noun: she verb: have noun: one o____ noun: car 5 cancel(SS.arg.2) lll d 4 lll 6 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn-qo____lll cat : cn d ll l 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) ll 7 d ll 8 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) sem : s3 sem : non-actionlll sem : +No____ sem : object lu ll 8 6 e fnc : have arg : she one 5 fnc : have fnc : 3 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

In step 4, a variation of the rule of “NQ+NOUN” is activated. The “cdn-p” proplet is absorbed. The original “noun” value becomes the “mdr” value. The second “arg” value in the verb proplet is replaced by the “noun” value from the nw proplet. ______d 5. sur : 她 sur : 有 sur : 车 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat)

pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : cheg cat : mark gggg gggg noun: she verb: have noun:gggg car sem: v’ decl sgggg _ _ cat : pro cat : tv 1 cat : cn sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : object fnc : have arg : she car fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one _mdd : _

The derivation result of “她有一辆车。(She has a car.)”

______sur : 她 sur : 有 sur : 车 pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : che noun: she verb: have noun: car cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : object fnc : have arg : she car fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The numeral-quantiﬁer-noun construction may also be used as a subject. For example:

Example 49. 两个人成了朋友。(The two persons became friends.)

surface: 两个人成了朋友 pinyin: liang ge ren cheng le pengyou English: two - person become - friend

105 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The numeral-quantiﬁer-noun construction “两个人” functions as the subject. According to the rule of NUM+QUAN and NQ+NOUN, the derivation result of the construction is a single proplet.

The derivation result of “两个人成了朋友。(The two persons became friends.)”

______sur : 人 sur : 成 sur : 朋友 pyn : ren pyn : cheng pyn : pengyou noun: person verb: become noun: friend cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : nr sem : agent sem : perf sem : patient fnc : become arg : person friend fnc : become

mdr : two_ mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

6.1 Temporal Nouns

Temporal nouns are special in that they have both the common features of nouns and some similarities with adverbs.

Like other common nouns, temporal nouns can be modified by numerals or numeral-quantifier constructions, though there are some restrictions. Some temporal nouns, including “天 (tian, day)”, “周 (zhou, week)” and “年 (nian, year)”, can only be modified by numerals, e.g. “三天 (three days)”, “三周 (three weeks)”, “五年 (five years)”, or “第三天 (the third day)”, “第三周 (the third week)”, “第五年 (the fifth year)”. But other temporal nouns, including “月 (yue, month)”, “星期 (xingqi, week)”, “早晨 (zaochen, morning)”, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” etc. require the quantifier “个 (ge, GE)”. For example: “三个早晨 (three mornings)” is acceptable; “三早晨” is not. “第三个早晨 (the third morning)” is acceptable; “第三早晨” is not.

6.1.1 Temporal Noun as Object

Temporal nouns can be used as objects of verbs.

Example 50. 我喜欢星期天。(I like Sundays.)

surface: 我喜欢星期天 pinyin: wo xihuan xingqitian English: I like Sunday

In this example, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is the object. It is the second argument of the transitive verb “喜欢 (xihuan, like)”, as presented in the second place in the “arg” slot of the verb proplet.

106 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS

The derivation result of “我喜欢星期天。(I like Sundays.)”

______sur : 我 sur : 喜欢 sur : 星期天 pyn : wo pyn : xihuan pyn : xingqingtian noun: I verb: like noun: Sunday cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : nt sem : s1 agent sem : sem : fnc : like arg : I Sunday fnc : like

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

Temporal noun can also be used as objects of prepositions.

Example 51. 这件事发生在星期天。(It happened on Sunday.)

surface: 这件事发生在星期天 pinyin: zhe jian shi fasheng zai xingqitian English: this - event happen on Sunday

In this example, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is the object of the preposition “在 (zai, in-at-on)”. It is the only argument of the preposition.

The derivation result:

______sur : 事 sur : 发生 sur : 在 pyn : shi pyn : fasheng pyn : zai noun: event verb: happen adj : in-at-on cat : cn cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : sem : sem : complement fnc : happen arg : event arg : Sunday

_mdr : this_ _ mdr: in-at-on_ _ mdd: happen _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) happen b) V event in-at-on N A 6.1.2 Temporal Noun as Attributive

Temporal nouns are also used as attributives. In this case, the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is required.

Example 52. 我喜欢星期天的早晨。(I like Sunday morning.)

107 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

surface: 我喜欢星期天的早晨 pinyin: wo xihuan xingqitian de zaochen English: I like Sunday - morning

In this example, the temporal noun “早晨 (zaochen, morning)” is the object, modiﬁed by another temporal noun “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)”.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 喜欢 sur : 星期天 sur : 早晨 pyn : wo pyn : xihuan pyn : xingqingtian pyn : zaochen noun: I verb: like noun: Sunday noun: morning cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : nt cat : nt sem : s1 agent sem : sem : sem : patient fnc : like arg : I morning fnc : fnc : like

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : mdr : Sunday _mdd : morning_ _ mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

6.1.3 Temporal Noun as Subject

To be subjects is another application of temporal nouns.

Example 53. 星期天是明天。(Sunday is tomorrow.)

surface: 星期天是明天 pinyin: xingqitian shi mingtian English: Sunday be tomorrow

In this example, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is the subject. It is the ﬁrst argument of the link verb “是 (shi, be)”.

Derivation result:

______sur : 星期天 sur : 是 sur : 明天 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : shi pyn : mingtian noun: Sunday adj : indeed noun: tomorrow cat : nt cat : adv cat : nt mark sem : sem : sem : nv

fnc : tomorrow_ mdd: _ arg : Sunday mdr : mdr : _mdd : _ _mdd : _

108 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) tomorrow b) N Sunday N However, it does not mean that a temporal noun, in the position of a subject, is the logic subject of the sentence.

6.1.4 Temporal Noun in Subject Position

Omission is not rare in Chinese. When it is taken as unimportant, the information can be omitted, no matter it is a subject or any other element of the sentence. That is to say, it is not necessary to keep the sentence structure complete, since the semantic meaning and relation plays a more important role in Chinese. The following examples will help to explain it.

Example 54. 星期天异常寒冷。(It was unusually cold on Sunday.)

surface: 星期天异常寒冷 pinyin: xingqitian yichang hanleng English: Sunday unusually cold

In this example, the logical subject is “天气 (tianqi, weather)”, but it is missing. When the logic subject “天气 (tianqi, weather)” is omitted, the sentence is still understood and well accepted in Chinese. It is because only the “weather” can be cold, not “Sunday”. In this case, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)”, though in the position of a subject, is in fact a temporal adverbial. In deep structure, the example is a sentence without a subject.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 星期天 sur : 异常 sur : 寒冷 sur : 。 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : yichang pyn : hanleng cat : mark

noun: Sunday adj : unusually adj : cold_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : nt cat : adv cat : adj sem : sem : sem : fnc : _mdd: _ mdr : mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 星期天 sur : 异常 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : yichang noun: Sunday adj : unusually cat : nt cat : adv sem : sem : fnc : _mdd: _ mdr : _mdd : _

109 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

In step 1, the nw proplet “异常 (yichang, unusually)” is read in. The rule of “N+ADJ” is activated and the nw proplet is copied to output. ______d 2. 1 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) sur : 星期天 sur : 异常o_____ sur : 寒冷 d 2 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) 2 d pyn : xingqingtian pyn : yichango_____ pyn : hanleng 3 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) d 4 ecopy(nw.adj SS.2.adj) 3 d noun: Sunday adj : unusuallyo_____ adj : cold 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) EE q d E 4 qq 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) EE qq d cat : nt cat : advo_____qq cat : adj 7 acopy(nw.adj SS.mdd) EE qq E 5 q d e E e qq 8 acopy(adverbial SS.sem) sem : 8 Esem : q11qo_____ sem : d EE q 9 acopy(SS.noun SS.2.mdr) Eqq 6 d fnc : mdd:qq E mdr : 10 ecopy(”#” SS.2.arg) q_q E9 _ d qq " 1 11 acopy(av SS.2.sem) qq e mdr : qq 10 _mdd: _ qx _mdd : 7 _

In step 2, the adjective is read in. A variation of the rule of ADJ+ADJ is activated. The nw proplet absorbs the preceding adverb proplet. The original “adj” value becomes the “mdr” value. The “noun” value of “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is copied as the second “mdr” value into the adjective proplet. Accordingly, the “adj” value from the proplet “寒冷 (hanleng, cold)” is copied as the “mdd” value into the noun proplet. An additional value “adverbial” is given to the “sem” attribute. Since the logic subject is missing, a substitute value “#” is copied into the “arg” slot in the adjective proplet. An additional value “av” is copied to its “sem” slot. ______d 3. sur : 星期天 sur : 寒冷 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : xingqingtian pyn : hanleng cat : mark mm mmm noun: Sunday adj : cold mmm sem: v’ decl vmmm _ _ cat : nt cat : adj 1 sem : adverbial sem : av fnc : arg : # mdr : mdr : unusually Sunday

_mdd : cold _ _mdd: _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 星期天 sur : 寒冷 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : hanleng noun: Sunday adj : cold cat : nt cat : adj mark sem : adverbial sem : av fnc : arg : # mdr : mdr : unusually Sunday

_mdd : cold _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) cold b) A

(#) Sunday (-) N

Example 55. 星期天去上海了。(X went to Shanghai on Sunday.)

110 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.1. TEMPORAL NOUNS

surface: 星期天去上海了 pinyin: xingqitian qu shanghai le English: Sunday go Shanghai -

In this example, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” is again in the position of a subject, but as a day, “星期天 (xingqitian, Sunday)” can go nowhere. It cannot be the agent of the verb “去 (qu, go)”. The logic subject must be a person, e.g. “我 (wo, I)”, “她 (ta, she)”, “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)”, or anyone else. If the subject is ““我 (wo, I)”, then the complete sentence is:

“星期天我去上海了。(I went to Shanghai on Sunday.)”

It can be assumed that, based on the context, both the hearer and the speaker know clearly who is the subject. They think it is not necessary to clarify it. So, the example sentence (b) is again a sentence without a subject in its deep structure.

Lexical lookup of “星期天去上海了。”

______sur : 星期天 sur : 去 sur : 上海 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : qu pyn : shanghai pyn: le cat : mark

noun: Sunday verb: go noun: Shanghai adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : nt cat : s’ vq cat : nd cat : asp

sem : sem : spt sem : _sem: perf_ fnc : arg : fnc :

mdr : _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 星期天 sur : 去 d 2 acopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) d pyn : xingqingtian pyn : qu 3 acopy(”#” nw.arg) d 4 cancel(nw.cat.1) noun: Sunday verb: go AA Ó AA Ó e cat : nt A catÓ : s’ vq 4 A ÓÓ AA Ó sem : ÓAAsem : spt ÓÓ A Ó A e fnc : Ó argA : 3 Ó A 1 ÓÓ mdr : Ó _mdr: _ ÑÓ 2 _mdd : _

In this step, the verb “去 (qu, go)” is read in. In Chinese, the subject is usually expected to come before the predicate word if it is a complete sentence. In this example, the appearance of the verb “去” indicates that it must be a sentence with a missing subject. Therefore, a substitute value “#” is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value is accordingly canceled. The temporal noun in the sentence start is the modiﬁer. The “noun” value is copied as the “mdr” value in the verb proplet. In return, the “verb” valued is copied to the “mdd” slot in the noun proplet.

111 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

Derivation result:

______sur : 星期天 sur : 去 sur : 上海 pyn : xingqingtian pyn : qu pyn : shanghai noun: Sunday verb: go noun: Shanghai cat : nt cat : vq mark cat : nd sem : sem : spt perf sem : fnc : arg : # fnc :

mdr : _mdr: Sunday Shanghai_ mdr : _mdd : go _ _mdd : go _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) go b) V

(#) Sunday Shanghai (-) N N

6.2 Location Nouns

This group of nouns indicate the relations regarding direction or location. Common nouns for places are excluded, such as “车站 (chezhan, station)”, “机场 (jichang, airport)”, “学校 (xuexiao, school)”, “图书馆 (tushuguan, library)”, etc. The most frequently used simple nouns for direction and location, or location nouns for short, include:

Table 6.1: Simple Nouns of Direction & Location in Chinese surface: 东南西北上下左右

pinyin: dong nan xi bei shang xia zuo you

English: east south west north upside downside left right

surface: 前后内外里中间旁

pinyin: qian hou nei wai li zhong jian pang

English: front back inside outside inside middle in-between aside

Compound location nouns are mainly composed of simple nouns and one of the three morphemes: “边 (bian, side)”, “面 (mian, side)” and “头 (tou, end)”. Not every one in the above list can be combined with the three morphemes. In other words, the combination is not free. It follows some customs. “头 (tou, end)” changes slightly the semantic meaning of simple nouns by emphasizing the end in the concerned direction. It can combine with 10 of the above simple nouns and form the following new words.

Table 6.2: Compound Nouns of Direction & Location 1 surface: 东头南头西头北头上头下头前头后头外头里头

pinyin: dongtou nantou xitou beitou shangtou xiatou qiantou houtou waitou litou

English: east south west north upside downside front back outside inside

112 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS

“边 (bian, side)” and “面 (mian, side)” are more productive. They can combine with most of the simple nouns. Take “边 (bian, side)” as an example.

Table 6.3: Compound Nouns of Direction & Location 2 surface: 东边南边西边北边上边下边左边右边

pinyin: dongbian nanbian xibian beibian shangbian xiabian zuobian youbian

English: east south west north upside downside left right

surface: 前边后边外边里边旁边

pinyin: qianbian houbian waibian libian pangbian

English: front back outside inside aside

Two simple nouns with opposite meanings may also combine together to form a compound noun. For example:

Table 6.4: Compound Nouns of Direction & Location 3 surface: 东西南北上下左右前后内外中间

pinyin: dongxi nanbei shangxia zuoyou qianhou neiwai zhongjian

English: east&west south&north up&down left&right front&back inside&outside middle

Besides the above, there are still a few more nouns for location, which cannot be grouped into any of the above pattern. But the number is rather limited, including “底下 (dixia, part-below)”, “跟前 (genqian, front)”, “面前 (mianqian, front)”, “当中 (dangzhong, middle)”, “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)”, “周围 (zhouwei, surroundings)”, etc.

Like other nouns, they can be used as subjects and objects. They can also be used as attributives, for which, the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is required.

6.2.1 Location Noun after Preposition

Location nouns are mostly seen in adverbial constructions. Sometimes they come after prepositions, such as “在 (zai, in-at-on)”, “到 (dao, to)”, “往 (wang, towards)”, forming preposition-object phrases to modify other elements in the same sentence.

Example 56. 李明住在前面。(Ming Li lives in front.)

surface: 李明住在前面 pinyin: liming zhu zai qianmian English: Ming Li live in/at/on front

The noun “前面 (qianmian, front)” functions as the object of the preposition “在 (zai, in-at-on)”, and is presented as the “arg” value in the preposition proplet.

113 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The derivation result of “李明住在前面。(Ming Li lives in front.)”

______sur : 李明 sur : 住 sur : 在 pyn : liming pyn : zhu pyn : zai noun: MingLi verb: live adj : in-at-on cat : nm cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : agent sem : sem : complement fnc : live arg : MingLi arg : front

_mdr : _ _mdr: in-at-on_ _ mdd: live _

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) live b) V MingLi in-at-on N A

The English translation of the example sentence is “Ming Li lives in front.” This sentence may continue as “Ming Li lives in front of the school.” In Chinese the word order is diﬀerent. The word for “school” comes in between the preposition and the location noun. That is to say, location nouns may not follow prepositions immediately. For example:

Example 57. 李明住在学校前面。(Ming Li lives in front of the school.)

surface: 李明住在学校前面 pinyin: liming zhu zai xuexiao qianmian English: Ming Li live in/at/on school front

The combination of “在... 前面” means “in front of”. “学校 (xuexiao, school)” is in fact the modiﬁer of “前面 (qianmian, front)”, but comes before the location noun. In this case, “学校 (xuexiao, school)” is the indirect object of the preposition, and “前面 (qianmian, front)” is the direct object. To clarify the relation between the two objects, “前面 (qianmian, front)” is usually called a “localizer” by natural language processing practitioners. In our analysis, the two objects are both copied into the “arg” slot in the preposition proplet. So, the derivation result of the sentence is as follows:

_mdr : _ _mdr: in-at-on_ _ mdd: live _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) live b) V MingLi in-at-on N A

114 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS

Location nouns in combination with certain morphemes form the second kind of localizers. For example:

Example 58. 李明住在学校以东。(Ming Li lives to the east of the school.)

surface: 李明住在学校以东 pinyin: liming zhu zai xuexiao yidong English: Ming Li live in/at/on school east of

Example 59. 李明出现在我之前。(Ming Li appears in front of me.)

surface: 李明住在我之前 pinyin: liming zhu zai wo zhiqian English: Ming Li live in/at/on I before

The word “以东 (yidong, east-of)” and “之前 (zhiqian, before)” are combinations of basic location nouns with the particle “之 (zhi, ZHI)” and “以 (yi, YI)”.

“之 (zhi, ZHI)” is one of the few words from ancient Chinese. It is similar to the particle “的 (de, DE)” in the sense that both indicate the possessive relation. For example: “之上 (zhishang, above)” means basically “the upside of”. The extended meaning equals to “on” or “above” in English. The diﬀerence is that the object of “on” or “above” follows the preposition in English, while a noun always comes before “之上 (zhishang, above)” in Chinese.

We can not call these words, like “以东 (yidong, east-of)” and “之前 (zhiqian, before)”, location nouns, because they are never used as subjects or objects. Basically, they indicate locative relations instead of referring to some places and they always come after a noun phrase, e.g. “在我之上 (above me)”. In this case, it is more reasonable to call them “localizers” formed by location nouns.

“之 (zhi, ZHI)” is restricted to combine with simple nouns of direction and location. The following combinations are all that have been found in the corpus.

Table 6.5: 之 + Simple Location Nouns surface: 之上之下之前之后之内之外之中之间

pinyin: zhishang zhixia zhiqian zhihou zhihou zhiwai zhizhong zhijian

English: above below before behind inside outside inside between

Compared with “之 (zhi, ZHI)”, “以 (yi, YI)” is only a little bit more free in combination with the directional nouns.

115 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

Table 6.6: 以 + Simple Location Nouns surface: 以东以西以南以北以上以下

pinyin: yidong yixi yinan yibei yishang yixia

English: east of west of south of north of above below

surface: 以前以后以内以外以里

pinyin: yiqian yihou yinei yiwai yili

English: before after within beyond within

It has never been observed in collocation with “中 (zhong, middle)”, “间 (jian, in-between)”, “旁 (pang, aside)”, “左 (zuo, left)”and “右 (you, right)”. The meaning of the combination is “to the ... of”. Again, the object precedes the combination. The preposition “在 (zai, in-at-on)” is also often seen at the beginning of the phrase with “以 (yi, YI)”, e.g. “在中国以南 (to the south of China)”, but it is not a must. In the derivation process, the localizers are treated in the same way with those location nouns in similar positions. The derivation result of “李明住在学校以东。” is:

_mdr : _ _mdr: in-at-on_ _ mdd: live _

The derivation result of “李明出现在我之前。” is:

______sur : 李明 sur : 出现 sur : 在 pyn : liming pyn : chuxian pyn : zai noun: MingLi verb: appear adj : in-at-on cat : nm cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : agent sem : sem : complement fnc : appear arg : MingLi arg : I front

_mdr : _ _mdr: in-at-on_ _ mdd: appear _ 6.2.2 Location Noun as Adverbial Independently Besides following a preposition in any pattern to become an adverbial, location nouns can also function as adverbials independently. For example:

Example 60. 李明住附近。(Ming Li lives in the neighborhood.)

surface: 李明住附近 pinyin: liming zhu fujin English: Ming Li live neighborhood

116 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS

The preposition is omitted in this sentence, but the semantic meaning does not change with the structure. Syntactically, “住 (zhu, live)” is an intransitive verb. Semantically, “住 (zhu, live)” and “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)” cannot have the relation of an agent with a verb, or a verb with a patient. The only possibility is that “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)” modiﬁes “住 (zhu, live)”. The syntactic-semantic analysis contains the following steps: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 李明 sur : 住 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : liming pyn : zhu 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: MingLiF verb: live FF x F xx e cat : nmF x cat : s’ iv 3 xFxF e xx FF sem : 4 x semF2 : x{ # fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.mdr) sur : 李明 sur : 住 sur : 附近 d 2 ecopy(SS.verb nw.mdd) pyn : liming pyn : zhu pyn : fujin noun: MingLi verb: live noun: neighbourhood ? z ? z cat : nm cat : iv catz :z nl ? zz sem : agent sem : z?semz : z ? zz fnc : live arg : MingLizz fnc? : }z ? 1 mdr : mdr: mdr : 2 _ _ _ _ _ ? _

In this step, the “noun” value in the nw proplet is copied as the “mdr” value in the verb proplet. Accordingly, the “verb” value in the ss proplet is copied to the “mdd” slot in the nw proplet.

Derivation result:

______sur : 李明 sur : 住 sur : 附近 pyn : liming pyn : zhu pyn : fujin noun: MingLi verb: live noun: neighbourhood cat : nm cat : iv mark cat : nl sem : agent sem : sem : fnc : live arg : MingLi fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: neighbourhood_ mdr : _mdd : live _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) live b) V MingLi neighbourhood N N 6.2.3 Location Noun as Adverbial in Subject Position

“李明住附近。” can be translated into English as “Ming Li lives (in) the neighborhood.” The word order of the English sentence may be reversed as “In the neighborhood lives Ming Li.” It is also possible to say “附近住着李明。” in Chinese. In this case, the location noun “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)” occupies the position of a subject. In fact, “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)” is the agent, though it comes at the end of the sentence. “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)”, as a noun of location,

117 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO cannot move, run or live. Though it is in the position of a subject, the logic subject is “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)”. Again, the only explanation is that “附近 (fujin, neighborhood)” modiﬁes the verb “住 (zhu, live)” by providing locative information.

Example 61. 附近住着李明。(Ming Li lives in the neighborhood.)

surface: 附近住着李明 pinyin: fujin zhu zhe liming English: neighborhood live - Ming Li

The derivation is as follows: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 附近 sur : 住 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) pyn : fujin pyn : zhu

noun: neighbourhoodC verb: live CC Ñ cat : nl CC catÑ : s’ iv CC Ñ sem : ÑCC sem : CC fnc : Ñ argC : Ñ C!1 Ñ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ÐÑ 2

In step 1, the verb “住 (zhu, live)” is read in. This is diﬀerent from the structure of a temporal noun followed by a main verb. In the current case, a reversed word order is expected. In other words, the input of the verb “住 (zhu, live)” does not indicate the missing of the logic subject. Therefore, in this step, no substitute value of “#” is copied. ______d 2. sur : 附近 sur : 住 sur : 着 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : fujin pyn : zhu pyn: zhe noun: neighbourhood verb: live adj : ZHE cat : nl cat : s’ iv cat : asp sem : sem : o _sem: cont_ 1 fnc : arg :

mdr : _mdr: neighbourhood_ _mdd : live _

A particle is read in and a variation of the rule of “W+MR” is activated. ______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 附近 sur : 住 sur : 李明 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) d pyn : fujin pyn : zhu pyn : liming 3 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) d 4 acopy(agent nw.sem) noun: neighbourhood verb: live K noun: MingLi KK ss e KK ss cat : nl cat : s’ iv 2 KKsscat : nm ssKK ss KK e sem : sem : cont ss semKK3 : 4 sy % fnc : arg : 1 fnc :

mdr : _mdr: neighbourhood_ _ mdr : _ _mdd : live _

When the proper noun is read in, the syntactic-semantic relation becomes clear and complete. The “noun” value in the nw proplet is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet. In return, the

118 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS core value in the verb proplet is copied as the “fnc” value in the nw proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the verb proplet is accordingly canceled.

______d 4. sur : 附近 sur : 住 sur : 李明 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : fujin pyn : zhu pyn : liming cat : mark ggggg ggggg noun: neighbourhood verb: live ggnoun:ggg MingLi sem: v’ decl gs gggg _ _ cat : nl cat : iv 1 cat : nm sem : sem : cont sem : agent fnc : arg : MingLi fnc : live

mdr : _mdr: neighbourhood_ _ mdr : _ _mdd : live _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 附近 sur : 住 sur : 李明 pyn : fujin pyn : zhu pyn : liming noun: neighbourhood verb: live noun: MingLi cat : nl cat : iv mark cat : nm sem : sem : cont sem : agent fnc : arg : MingLi fnc : live

mdr : _mdr: neighbourhood_ _ mdr : _ _mdd : live _

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) live b) V MingLi neighbourhood N N

In the corpus 565 sentences are started with location nouns. 93% of them have these nouns as modiﬁers. Here is another example.

Example 62. 后面落下几个人。(Several persons lagged behind.)

surface: 后面落下几个人 pinyin: houmian luoxia ji ge ren English: backside lag several - person

“落 (la, lag)” is a one-valence verb, requiring a human agent. Undoubtedly, “后面 (houmian, backside)” is used as a modiﬁer, and the sentence has a reversed order of “modiﬁer + verb +

119 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO subject”. The derivation result represents the deep semantic relation:

______sur : 后面 sur : 落下 sur : 人 pyn : houmian pyn : laxia pyn : ren noun: back verb: lag noun: person cat : nl cat : iv mark cat : nr sem : sem : sem : fnc : arg : person fnc : lag

mdr : _mdr: back_ mdr : several _mdd : lag _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) lag b) V person back N N

In the above sentences, the subjects come at last, though their formal position is taken by location nouns. Sometimes, the subject does not appear at all. For example:

Example 63. 前边建了一座楼房。(A building has been built up in front.)

surface: 前边建了一座楼房 pinyin: qianbian jian le yi zuo loufang English: front build - one - building

Though the English translation is a passive sentence, the original Chinese sentence is not. “前边 (qianbian, front)” is in the subject position, but it is impossible for “前边 (qianbian, front)” to perform the action of “建 (jian, build)”. “建 (jian, build)” is a transitive verb and requires two arguments. When it comes immediately after the location noun, we can assume that the sentence will be an incomplete sentence with a missing logic subject. The second noun, coming at the end of the sentence, is “楼房 (loufang, building)”. It serves as the object of the transitive verb “建 (jian, build-up)”. In this case, the analysis process in the front part resembles that of “星期天去上海了。(X went to Shanghai on Sunday.)”.

Lexical lookup of “前边建了一座楼房。”

______sur : 前边 sur : 建 sur : 了 sur : 一 sur : 座 sur : 楼房 sur : 。 pyn : qianbian pyn : jian pyn: le pyn : yi pyn : zuo pyn : loufang cat : mark

noun: front verb: build adj : LE noun: one noun: ZUO noun: building_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : nl cat : s’ p’ tv cat : asp cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : cn

sem : sem : _sem: perf_ sem : _sem : +N_ sem : object fnc : arg : fnc : fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

120 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS

Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 前边 sur : 建 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) d pyn : qianbian pyn : jian 3 acopy(”#” nw.arg) d 4 cancel(nw.cat.1) noun: frontA verb: build A Ò AA e cat : nl A catÒ : s’ p’ tv 4 AA Ò sem : Asem : Ò AA Ò A e fnc : argA : 3 Ò A 1 Ò _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ÑÒ 2

In step 1, the second word, “建 (jian, build-up)”, is read in and the rule of S+V is activated. The “cat” value in the ss proplet is “nl” and the “cat” value in the nw proplet is “s’ p’ tv”. Since the ss proplet cannot be the agent, a substitute value “#” is copied into the “arg” slot in the nw proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the nw proplet is accordingly canceled. The “noun” value in the ss proplet is copied as the “mdr” value in the nw proplet and the “verb” value in the nw proplet is coped as the “mdd” value in the ss proplet.

The derivation result of “前边建了一座楼房。”

______sur : 前边 sur : 建 sur : 楼房 pyn : qianbian pyn : jian pyn : loufang noun: front verb: build noun: building cat : nl cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : sem : perf sem : object patient fnc : arg : # building fnc : build

mdr : _mdr: front _ mdr : one _mdd : build _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

In the same pattern with “星期天异常寒冷。(It was unusually cold on Sunday.)” are found sentences with location nouns. For example:

Example 64. 外面相当冷。(It is rather cold outside.)

surface: 外面相当冷 pinyin: waimian xiangdang leng English: outside rather cold

Similarly, “外面 (waimian, outside)” is not the logic subject. The logic subject should be “天气 (tianqi, weather)”. The complete sentence is “外面天气相当冷。(It is rather cold outside.)”

The syntactic-semantic analysis is similar to that of “星期天异常寒冷。”

121 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

The derivation result of “外面相当冷。(It is rather cold outside.)” is:

_ _ _ _ sur : 外面 sur : 冷 pyn : waimian pyn : leng noun: outside adj : cold cat : nl cat : adj mark sem : adverbial sem : av fnc : arg : # mdr : mdr : rather outside _mdd : cold _ _mdd: _ As shown in the result, “外面 (waimian, outside)”, as a location noun, is the modiﬁer. The logic subject is missing. The place in the “arg” slot of the adjective proplet is held by the substitute value “#”.

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) cold b) A

(#) outside (-) N

6.2.4 Location Noun in “有 (you)” Construction

In English, there is a special sentence pattern of “there be”, which describes existence. At the same time, there is a transitive verb “have”, which shows the relation of possession. It is not difficult to distinguish them because they have different forms and positions in sentences. But, in Chinese, both of the two cases require the same graphic form of “有 (you)”, i.e. “有 (you)” is used to present the relation of possession, as well as the situation of existence. It is stored in the lexicon as two different entries. But superficially, the sentence structure in both cases is the same in Chinese. For example:

Example 65. 李明有一把椅子。(Ming Li has a chair.)

surface: 李明有一把椅子 pinyin: liming you yi ba yizi English: Ming Li have one - chair

Example 66. 旁边有一把椅子。(There is a chair nearby.)

surface: 旁边有一把椅子 pinyin: pangbian you yi ba yizi English: aside there be one - chair

Except the subject, both examples are composed of the same words in the same order. In Example 65, the verb “有 (you)” equals to “have” in English, which has two valencies and indicates the relation of possession. But in Example 66, the verb “有 (you)” is similar to “there be” in English,

122 CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS because it describes existence. Semantic information is required in the analysis of these two sentences. In Example 65, the subject is a person, named “李明 (liming, Ming-Li)”. He owns a chair. In Example 66, the subject is a location. A location cannot possess anything. It can only be a modiﬁer.

The derivation result of “李明有一把椅子。” is:

______sur : 李明 sur : 有 sur : 椅子 pyn : liming pyn : you pyn : yizi noun: MingLi verb: have noun: chair cat : nm cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : sem : non-action sem : object fnc : have arg : MingLi chair fnc : have

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one _mdd : _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “旁边有一把椅子。” is as follows:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 旁边 sur : 有 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) pyn : pangbian pyn : you

noun: asideB verb: there-be BB Ò cat : nl BB catÒ : s’ iv BB Ò sem : ÒBsemB : BB fnc : Ò argB : Ò B 1 Ò _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ÐÒ 2

In step 1, the input of the intransitive verb “有 (you, there-be)” indicates the reverse order of the sentence. No operation is activated except copying the nw proplet into output.

______2. sur : 旁边 sur : 有 sur : 一 pyn : pangbian pyn : you pyn : yi noun: aside verb: there-be noun: one cat : nl cat : s’ iv cat : cdn sem : sem : sem : fnc : arg : fnc :

mdr : _mdr: aside_ mdr : _mdd : there-be _ _mdd : _

123 6.2. LOCATION NOUNS CHAPTER 6. NOUNS AS SO

In step 2, the cardinal is read in and copied into output. ______d 3. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 旁边 sur : 有 sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 把 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : pangbian pyn : you pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : ba 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: aside verb: there-be noun: one noun: BA e cat : nl cat : s’ iv cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : sem : sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : arg : fnc :

mdr : _mdr: aside_ mdr : _mdd : there-be _ _mdd : _

In step 3, the input of the quantiﬁer starts the rule of NUM+QUAN. ______d 4. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 旁边 sur : 有 sur : o____一把 sur : 椅子 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : pangbian pyn : you pyn :o____ yi|ba pyn : yizi 3 ecopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 2 d noun: aside verb: there-be noun:o____ one noun: chair 5 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) D mm D m d cancel(SS.cat.1) e 4 mmm 6 cat : nl cat : s’ iv 6 D cat :o____ cdn-qmm cat : cn d D m m m 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) mm 7 d ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) mmDm 8 sem : sem : mm sem9 :o____ +N sem : object d vmm D" 9 ecopy(SS.verb SS.2.fnc) 8 5 fnc : arg : fnc : fnc : 3 mdr : _mdr: aside_ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : there-be _ _mdd : _

When the key word in the subject phrase is read in, a variation of the rule of NQ+NOUN is activated. The “noun” value in the nw proplet is copied as the “arg” value in the verb proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value is canceled accordingly. In return, the “verb” value is copied as the “fnc” value. The “cdn-q” proplet is absorbed.

The derivation result is as follows:

______sur : 旁边 sur : 有 sur : 椅子 pyn : pangbian pyn : you pyn : yizi noun: aside verb: there-be noun: chair cat : nl cat : iv mark cat : cn sem : sem : sem : object fnc : arg : chair fnc : there-be

mdr : _mdr: aside_ mdr : one _mdd : there-be _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) there-be b) V chair aside N N

124 Summary of Part I

The discussion in the part of NOUNs is about the analysis of nouns, pronouns, numerals and quantifiers. Inflection and derivation of Chinese words, as different from that in other languages, is introduced with typical examples. Quantifiers are usually found in combination with numerals and in the patterns of “QQ” and “一 QQ”. They are absorbed into the numeral proplets, due to lack of content. The analysis of pronouns is done with the further categorization of personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns. Nouns modified by adverbial adjectives have rhetorical meanings and special pragmatic function. They are temporarily taken as adjectives on grammatical level and gain special semantic values. Nouns in the superficial subject or object positions may not be the logical subjects or objects. It often happens to temporal nouns and location nouns. They are represented as modifiers after the analysis according to their semantic relations to other parts of the sentences.

125 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Part II

VERB Application and Analysis

127

A “correct” sentence is required to follow rules for syntactic composition, and the demand of individual words as well. Thematic Theory (Chomsky [1993], Gao [2004], Shen [1997], Xu and Shen [1998]) is concerned about the relation between syntactics and vocabulary. It is actually a verb-centered theory, according to which, the thematic structure of a verb include the number of arguments, the thematic role and the grammatical category of each argument. It distinguishes itself from the valence theory but they are not contradictory. We follow Hausser’s division of one-valence, two-valence and three-valence verbs, and adopt the expression of “thematic roles” for speciﬁc representation of this collocation feature of verbs.

This part is also composed of ﬁve chapters, focusing respectively on common verbs, modal verbs, directional verbs, causative verbs and three-valence verbs.

In Chapter 7, the common features of Chinese verbs are generalized as:

• mainly used as predicate;

• can be modiﬁed by most adverbs;

• depending on adverbial elements or aspect markers to present tense or aspect;

• can be used in repetition;

• no inﬁnitive or gerund form, no matter in phrase or sentence;

The last point is further explained with the cases of verbs as subjects, objects or attributives.

The topic of Chapter 8 is about modal verbs. As in English, modal verbs in Chinese are functors of other verbs. But, they are often modiﬁed by adverbs and used in a continuous sequence before the verb arguments.

Directional verbs, as discussed in Chapter 9, are used independently or in combination with other words. When used in combination with other predicate words, they become complementary modiﬁers.

Causative verbs in Chapter 10 are distinctive in that they take complete clauses as objects. In this case, the core values of the predicate words in the sub-clauses are copied as the “arg” values of the causative verbs while the subjects in the sub-clauses are given the additional “sem” value of “experiencer”. Three-valence words are introduced in three groups. Group 1 is represented by the word “给 (gei, give)”. Group 2 is represented by “抢 (qiang, rob)”. Group 3 is exempliﬁed by “听 (ting, listen)”. Group 1 is possible to be found in many languages. But group 2 and 3 seems to be particular in Chinese.

129 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 7

Analysis of Common Verbs

Common verbs describe action or behavior, such as “听 (ting, listen)”, “游泳 (youyong, swim)” and “道歉 (daoqian, apologize)”. They are bestowed with the main grammatical features of verbs and are therefore called typical verbs.

Common verbs are mainly used as predicates. They can be modified by adverbs, such as “不 (bu, not)” and “都 (dou, all)”. But they cannot be modified by adverbs of degree or intensifiers, such as “很 (hen, very)” and “太 (tai, too)”. For example:

“他们学德语。(They study German.)”

surface: 他们学德语 pinyin: ta men xue deyu English: he - study German

This is the basic sentence. In the following four examples, the verb “学 (xue, study)” is modiﬁed respectively by the adverb “不 (bu, not)”, “都 (dou, all)”, “很 (hen, very)” and “太 (tai, too)”.

“他们不学德语。(They don’t study German.)”

“他们都学德语。(They all study German.)”

“* 他们很学德语。”

“* 他们太学德语。”

The last two sample sentences with the mark of “*” are not accepted in Chinese.

Chinese verbs don’t change their forms to show time or aspect. If there is no context, it is rather easy to have the question “Has it happened already or not?” Sometimes, temporal nouns (see Temporal nouns) or adverbs (see Adverbs) help to clarify the temporal information within sentences. At other times, verbs are complemented/followed by aspect markers, including “着 (zhe, ZHE)”, “了 (le, LE)”, and “过 (guo, GUO)”. These aspect markers are stored in the lexicon as follows:

131 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

______sur : 着 sur : 了 sur : 过 pyn: zhe pyn: le pyn: guo adj : ZHE adj : LE adj : GUO cat : asp cat : asp cat : asp sem: past _sem: cont_ _sem: perf_ _ _ “着 (zhe, ZHE)”indicates the continuous tense, and is therefore marked as “cont” in the “sem” slot. “了 (le, LE)”indicates the perfect tense and is therefore marked as “perf”; “过 (guo, GUO)” indicates the past and there comes “past” as its “sem” value.

The rule for combining a verb with an aspect marker is named “W+ASP”.

Rule: W+ASP {}

ss-pattern: [verb:_, cat:(_ V), sem:_, arg:(_)] nw-pattern: [adj:_, cat:(asp), sem:_] operation: acopy(nw.sem ss.sem)

Here are some example sentences:

Example 67. 他总躺着。(He is always lying.)

surface: 他总躺着 pinyin: ta zong tang zhe English: he always lie -

The proplet “着 (zhe, ZHE)” is absorbed during the derivation, but the “sem” value of the verb is replaced by the “sem” value of “着 (zhe, ZHE)”.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 躺 pyn : ta pyn : tang noun: he verb: lie cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s3 sem : cont fnc : lie arg : he

_mdr :_ mdr : always _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) lie b) V he N

Example 68. 他学了德语。(He has learnt German.)

132 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

surface: 他学了德语 pinyin: ta xue le deyu English: he study - German

In this example, “了 (le, LE)” shows that the action has already happened. The “sem” value, i.e. “perf”, is copied to the verb proplet.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 学 sur : 德语 pyn : ta pyn : xue pyn : deyu noun: he verb: study noun: German cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : perf sem : patient fnc : study arg : he German fnc : study

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

Example 69. 他学过吉他。(He has learnt playing Guitar.)

surface: 他学过德语 pinyin: ta xue guo deyu English: he study - German

“过 (guo, GUO)” indicates that the action happened before.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 学 sur : 吉他 pyn : ta pyn : xue pyn : jita noun: he verb: study noun: guitar cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : past sem : object patient fnc : study arg : he guitar fnc : study

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) study b) V ?? ?? ? ? he guitar N N

133 7.1. VERBS IN REPETITION CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

7.1 Verbs in Repetition

In Chinese, verbs are often used in repetition to show temporary attempt. It is classiﬁed by some linguists as the “tentative” aspect of Chinese verbs, in which the time of the action is short and the momentum is small.

7.1.1 AA, AABB and ABAB

A and B represent arbitrary verb morphemes in Chinese. Among these three patterns, “AA” happens to monosyllable verbs. “AABB” applies to compound verbs that are composed of two free verb morphemes. “ABAB” applies to two-syllable simple verbs. For example:

Example 70. 我走走。(I walk a bit.)

surface: 我走走 pinyin: wo zou zou English: I walk walk

In this example, the monosyllable verb “走 (zou, walk)” is repeated once.

Example 71. 他们说说笑笑。(They talk and laugh.)

surface: 他们说说笑笑 pinyin: ta men shuo shuo xiao xiao

English: he - speak speak laugh laugh

In the traditional grammar, “说笑” is a compound verb that is composed of two monosyllable verbs, i.e. “说 (shuo, speak)” and “笑 (xiao, laugh)”. They can be separated without any change in their syntactic and semantic meanings. In this case, the pattern of “AABB” is handled as two verbs in coordination.

Example 72. 我们讨论讨论这个方案。(Let’s discuss a bit about this program.)

surface: 我们讨论讨论这个方案 pinyin: wo men taolun taolun zhe ge fanan English: I – discuss discuss this - program

In this example, “讨论 (taolun, discuss)” is a verb composed of two bound morphemes. It is listed in the lexicon as one entry. Most verbs in the pattern of “ABAB” cannot be separated without changing their syntactic or semantic meaning. Therefore, this pattern is handled in the similar way with monosyllable verbs in repetition: an addition value “try” is copied to the “sem” attribute of the verbs, but the second occurrence of the verb is not copied into next step.

134 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.1. VERBS IN REPETITION

The derivation result of the above examples is as follows:

The derivation result of “我走走。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 走 pyn : wo pyn : zou noun: I verb: walk cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s1 agent sem : try fnc : walk arg : I

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) walk b) V I N

The derivation result of “他们说说笑笑。”

______sur : 他 sur : 说 sur : 笑 pyn : ta pyn : shuo pyn : xiao noun: he verb: speak verb: laugh cat : pro cat : iv cat : iv mark sem : pl agent sem : try sem : try fnc : speak arg : he arg : #

_mdr : _ mdr: mdr: _nc : laugh_ _ pc : speak _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “我们讨论讨论这个方案。”

______sur : 我 sur : 讨论 sur : 方案 pyn : wo pyn : taolun pyn : fangan noun: I verb: discuss noun: plan cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : pl agent sem : try sem : patient fnc : discuss arg : I plan fnc : discuss

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : this _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) discuss b) V ?? ?? ? ? I plan N N 7.1.2 A yi A and A le A

135 7.1. VERBS IN REPETITION CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

Besides repetition, another two patterns are also adopted to express similar semantic meaning. One is “A yi A”, used when the action is going to happen; the other is “A le A”, used if the action has happened already. The pattern of “A yi A” may also be classiﬁed as an expression of the tentative aspect. During the derivation, the value of “try” will be copied into the “sem” slot of the verb proplet. The pattern of “A le A” is diﬀerent. The aspect marker “了 (le, LE)” brings the value “perf” to the “sem” slot of the verb proplet. Then, because of the repetition, the value of “try” is also added to the “sem” slot. Thus comes another aspect of a verb: perfect tentative. However, this tentative aspect has not been observed in collocation with the other two aspect markers. The pattern of “A yi A” and “A le A” mostly happen to monosyllable verbs. For example:

Example 73. 我走一走。(I walk a bit.)

surface: 我走一走 pinyin: wo zou yi zou English: I walk - walk

Example 74. 我走了走。(I walked a bit.)

surface: 我走了走 pinyin: wo zou le zou English: I walk - walk

They also apply to transitive verbs:

Example 75. 我看一看书。(I read a bit.)

surface: 我看一看书 pinyin: wo kan yi kan shu English: I read - read book

Example 76. 我看了看书。(I read a bit.)

surface: 我看了看书 pinyin: wo kan le kan shu English: I read - read book

In the above cases, the structure auxiliaries “一 (yi, YI)” and “了 (le, LE)”, as well as the second verb proplet are not copied into output.

136 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

The derivation result of “我走一走。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 走 pyn : wo pyn : zou noun: I verb: walk cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s1 agent sem : try fnc : walk arg : I

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ The derivation result of “我走了走。”

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 走 pyn : wo pyn : zou noun: I verb: walk cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s1 agent sem : perf try fnc : walk arg : I

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ The derivation result of “我看一看书。”

______sur : 我 sur : 看 sur : 书 pyn : wo pyn : kan pyn : shu noun: I verb: read-visit-look noun: book cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : try sem : object patient fnc : read-visit-look arg : I book fnc : read-visit-look

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The derivation result of “我看了看书。”

______sur : 我 sur : 看 sur : 书 pyn : wo pyn : kan pyn : shu noun: I verb: read-visit-look noun: book cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : perf try sem : object patient fnc : read-visit-look arg : I book fnc : read-visit-look

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

7.2 Verbs in Phrases and Sentences

The construction principles for Chinese sentences are in consistency with those of phrases. In English, the infinitive form or participles of verbs are adopted in phrases, while only the finite form is used for the main verb of a sentence. It is substantially different in Chinese. Chinese verbs never change their forms wherever they are, which means they always show up with their basic forms from the lexicon.

137 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

7.2.1 Verb as Predicator

Verbs are one of the two main kinds of predicators in Chinese, the other one being adjectives. Here is an example.

Example 77. 我听故事。(I listen to stories.)

surface: 我听故事 pinyin: wo ting gushi

English: I listen story

In this example, the verb “听 (ting, listen)” is the main verb and serves as the functor. The two arguments are respectively “我 (wo, I)” and “故事 (gushi, story)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 故事 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn : gushi cat : mark

noun: I verb: listen noun: story_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn sem : s1 sem : sem : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 听 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : ting 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: IE verb: listen EE y E y e cat : proEE caty : s’ p’ tv 3 y EE e EE sem : s1 4y sem :E2 y| " fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In this step, the functor-argument relation between the subject and the predicate verb is presented. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the verb proplet is canceled. The value of “agent” is copied into the “sem” slot in the ss proplet. ______d 2. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 故事 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn : gushi 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) noun: I verb: listen noun: story BB | BBe || cat : pro cat : p’ tv 3 B |cat : cn |B|B || BB e sem : s1 agent sem : | semB1 : 4 |} ! fnc : listen arg : I 2 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

138 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

In this step, the functor-argument relation between the predicate verb and the object is represented. The second “cat” value in the verb proplet is canceled, meaning the two valencies of the verb are both ﬁlled. The value of “patient” is copied into the “sem” slot in the nw proplet.

______d 3. sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 故事 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat)

pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn : gushih cat : mark hhhh hhhh noun: I verb: listen noun:hhhh story sem: v’ decl thhhh _ _ cat : pro cat : tv 1 cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : sem : patient fnc : listen arg : I story fnc : listen

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

When the full stop is read in the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 故事 pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn : gushi noun: I verb: listen noun: story cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : sem : patient fnc : listen arg : I story fnc : listen

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) listen b) V ?? ?? ? ? I story N N

7.2.2 Verb as Subject

Example 78. 说更难。(It is more diﬃcult to speak.)

surface: 说更难 pinyin: shuo geng nan

English: speak more diﬃcult

In this example, the verb “说 (shuo, speak)” plays the role of a subject. The adjective “难 (nan, difficult)” is the predicator. In English, if a verb is applied in such an occasion, the infinitive form is adopted. Then the translation is “(To) speak (is) more difficult.” The elements in brackets are not available in the original Chinese sentence. In other words, Chinese verbs take their basic lexical forms when they are used as subjects. It is the same when they are used as objects. In this case, an additional value of “vn” is provided to the “sem” attribute of the verb.

139 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 说 sur : 更 sur : 难 sur : 。 pyn : shuo pyn : geng pyn : nan cat : mark

verb: speak adj : more adj : diﬃcult_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : s’ iv cat : adv cat : adj sem : sem : +N sem :

arg : _mdd: _ mdr : _mdr: _ _mdd: _

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 说 sur : 难 pyn : shuo pyn : nan verb: speak adj : diﬃcult cat : s’ iv cat : adj mark sem : vn sem : av fnc : diﬃcult arg : speak arg : mdr : more

_mdr: _ _mdd: _

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) diﬃcult b) A speak V

7.2.3 Verb as Object

Example 79. 她能忍受孩子的闹。(She can stand the noise from the child.)

surface: 她能忍受孩子的闹 pinyin: ta neng renshou haizi de nao

English: she can stand child - disturb

In this example, the verb “闹 (nao, disturb)” comes after the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)”. The structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” has the function to nominalize the following verb. The predicate of the sentence is a combination of a modal verb and a common verb. The phrase “孩子的闹” as a whole is the object, the key word being “闹 (nao, disturb)”. During the derivation, the noun “孩子 (haizi, child)” is ﬁrst analyzed as the object. But, when the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is read in, an additional “mdd” is created for the noun proplet and a substitute value “#” is provided.

140 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 她 sur : 能 sur : 忍受 sur : 孩子 sur : 的 sur : 闹 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : neng pyn : renshou pyn : haizi pyn: de pyn : nao cat : mark

noun: she verb: can verb: stand noun: child adj : DE verb: disturb_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ vz cat : s’ p’ tv cat : nr cat : smr cat : s’ iv

sem : s3 sem : sem : sem : _sem: _ sem : fnc : arg : arg : fnc : arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

Step 0-3 are skipped. In step 3, the verb-object relation between the verb “忍受 (renshou, stand)” and the noun “孩子 (haizi, child)” is represented. The result is copied into output as the sentence start for next step. ______d 4. sur : 她 sur : 能 sur : 忍受 sur : 孩子 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : ta pyn : neng pyn : renshou pyn : haizi pyn: de noun: she verb: can verb: stand noun: child adj : DE cat : pro cat : vz cat : tv cat : nr cat : smr

sem : s3 agent sem : sem : sem : patient_ sem: _ fnc : can arg : she stand fnc : can fnc : stand

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # child_ mdr : _ e _mdr: _ 1

In step 4, the particle provides a substitute value “#” to the attribute “mdd” in the noun proplet. ______d 5. 1 cancel(SS.arg.2) sur : 她 sur : 能 sur : 忍受 sur : 孩子 sur : 闹 d 2 acopy(nw.verb SS.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : neng pyn : renshou pyn : haizi pyn : nao 3 ecopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) d 4 acopy(vn nw.sem) d noun: she verb: can verb: standK noun: childF verb: disturb 5 cancel(SS.2.mdd) K FF ooox d K F oo x e 6 cancel(SS.2.sem.1) cat : pro cat : vz cat : tv cat : nr oFoF cat : s’ iv 10 d K oo Fx 7 acopy(patient nw.sem) K oo x FF d K oo e F e e 8 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.fnc) sem : s3 agent sem : sem : sem :o patientx 6 semF : 4 7 o K F9 d oo x{ # 9 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.arg) oo K d o K8 10 cancel(nw.cat.1) fnc : can arg : she stand fnc : can ooo fnc : stand arg : woo K K 2 e K _mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # child 1 mdr : _mdr:K _ K3 e % _mdr: _ _mdd : # 5 _

The input of “闹 (nao, disturb)” activates the rule of “AN+NV”. Though the noun “孩子 (haizi, child)” and the verb “闹 (nao, disturb)” is connected by the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)”, their relation is functor-argument instead of possessive. So, in this step, the functor-argument relation is presented through copying the “noun” value into the “arg” slot and the “verb” value into the “fnc” slot in the proplets concerned. The functor-argument relation between the verb “忍受 (renshou, stand)” and the noun “孩子 (haizi, child)” is canceled, because the key word of the object is the verb “闹 (nao, disturb)”. Thereafter, the relation between the two verbs are presented through the rule operations: the core value of “闹 (nao, disturb)” is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet “忍受 (renshou, stand)”; A new “fnc” attribute is set up for the verb “闹 (nao, disturb)” and the core value from “忍受 (renshou, stand)” is provided as its value. The

141 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

“sem” values in related proplets are also changed, e.g. “vn” is added into the “sem” slot of the nw proplet.

Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 能 sur : 忍受 sur : 孩子 sur : 闹 pyn : ta pyn : neng pyn : renshou pyn : haizi pyn : nao noun: she verb: can verb: stand noun: child verb: disturb cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : tv cat : nr cat : iv sem : s3 agent sem : sem : sem : sem : vn patient fnc : can arg : she stand fnc : can fnc : disturb fnc : stand

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # disturb_ mdr : _ arg : child _mdr: _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

7.2.4 Verb as Purpose Adverbial

Example 80. 她读小说解闷。(She read novels to kill time.)

surface: 她读小说解闷 pinyin: ta du xiaoshuo jiemen

English: she read novel kill time

In this example, the first verb “读 (du, read)” is the main verb. The two arguments are respectively “她 (ta, she)” and “小说 (xiaoshuo, novel)”. The second verb in the sentence, “解闷 (jiemen, kill- time)”, shows the purpose of “读 (du, read)”. This is resulted from the semantic analysis. “读 (du, read)” is an action verb, while “解闷 (jiemen, kill-time)” comes from a different category with the “sem” value of “+manner”. The modifier-modified relation is more reasonable than coordination between the two verbs.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 她 sur : 读 sur : 小说 sur : 解闷 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : du pyn : xiaoshuo pyn : jiemen cat : mark

noun: she verb: read noun: novel verb: kill-time_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn cat : s’ iv sem : s3 sem : sem : object sem : +manner fnc : arg : fnc : arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _

142 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

The syntactics-semantic analysis:

Step 0-2 are skipped. The derivation result is copied into output as the sentence start for step 3. ______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.mdr) sur : 她 sur : 读 sur : 小说 sur : 解闷 d 2 ecopy(SS.verb nw.mdd) d pyn : ta pyn : du pyn : xiaoshuo pyn : jiemen 3 acopy(”#” nw.arg) d 4 cancel(nw.cat.1) noun: she verb: readO noun: novel verb: kill-time O mmm O mmm e O m 4 cat : pro cat : tv catO : cn mmm cat : s’ iv O mm O mm sem : s3 agent sem : sem : objectmmOm patient sem : +manner mm O mmm O mmm O e fnc : read arg : she novelmm fnc : read O arg : 3 vmmm O O 1 mdr : mdr: mdr : mdr:O 2 ______O' _

A variation of the rule of V+V is activated by the input of “解闷 (jiemen, kill-time)”. During the rule application, the “verb” value in the nw proplet is copied as the “mdr” value in the ﬁrst proplet, and the “verb” value in the ss proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the nw proplet. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 读 sur : 小说 sur : 解闷 pyn : ta pyn : du pyn : xiaoshuo pyn : jiemen noun: she verb: read noun: novel verb: kill-time cat : pro cat : tv cat : cn cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : sem : object patient sem : +manner fnc : read arg : she novel fnc : read arg : #

_mdr : _ _mdr: kill-time_ _ mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: read _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

7.2.5 Verb as Attributive

Example 81. 流动资产包括现金。(Current assets include cash.)

surface: 流动资产包括现金 pinyin: liudong zichan baokuo xianjin English: ﬂow asset include cash

In English, it is impossible to have a basic verb as an attributive. Usually, the verb is changed into a gerund, an infinitive or an attributive clause. It is not the case in Chinese. In the above example, “流动 (liudong, flow)” is an intransitive verb. When it is followed by a noun, here “资产 (zichan, assets)”, the relation of modifier-modified is established. The phrase “流动资产” may be

143 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

translated into English as “assets that flow”, “flowing assets”, or “assets to flow”, but never “flow assets”.

In this case, the core value from the verb proplet is copied as the “mdr” value in the noun proplet and the core value from the noun proplet is copied as the “mdd” value in the verb proplet. An additional value of “av” is added to the “sem” attribute in the verb proplet.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 流动 sur : 资产 sur : 包括 sur : 现金 sur : 。 pyn : liudong pyn : zichan pyn : baokuo pyn : xianjin cat : mark

verb: ﬂow noun: assets verb: include noun: cash_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : s’ iv cat : cn cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn sem : sem : sem : non-action sem : arg : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.mdr) sur : 流动 sur : 资产 d 2 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdd) d pyn : liudong pyn : zichan 3 ecopy(va SS.cat) verb: ﬂow noun: assets >> Õ >>e cat : s’ iv 3 > catÕ : cn >> Õ sem : Õ>sem : >> arg : Õ fnc> : Õ > 1 Õ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ ÒÕ 2

In this step, the modifier-modified relation between the first two words is presented. Then both the two proplets are copied into next step.

______d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 流动 sur : 资产 sur : 包括 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : liudong pyn : zichan pyn : baokuo 3 cancel(nw.cat.1)

verb: ﬂow noun: assetsH verb: include HH v HH v e cat : va cat : cnHH catv : s’ p’ tv 3 v HH v H sem : sem : semH :H2 non-action {v # arg : fnc : 1 arg :

mdr : _mdr : ﬂow_ _ mdr: _ _mdd: assets _

In this step, the noun “资产 (zichan, assets)” is analyzed as the subject. Its core value is copied to the “arg” slot in the nw proplet. The “verb” value from the nw proplet is copied as the “fnc”

144 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

value in the noun proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the nw proplet is canceled.

______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 流动 sur : 资产 sur : 包括 sur : 现金 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : liudong pyn : zichan pyn : baokuo pyn : xianjin 3 cancel(SS.cat.1)

verb: ﬂow noun: assets verb: includeH noun: cash HH vv eHH vv cat : va cat : cn cat : p’ tv 3 HHvvcat : cn v HH vv H sem : sem : sem : non-actionvv semHH1 : {v # arg : fnc : include arg : assets 2 fnc :

mdr : _mdr : ﬂow_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd: assets _

In this step, the second argument of the main verb is read in.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 流动 sur : 资产 sur : 包括 sur : 现金 pyn : liudong pyn : zichan pyn : baokuo pyn : xianjin verb: ﬂow noun: assets verb: include noun: cash cat : va cat : cn cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : sem : sem : non-action sem : arg : fnc : include arg : assets cash fnc : include

mdr : _mdr : ﬂow_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd: assets _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) include b) V ?? ?? ? ? assets cash N N

ﬂow V

The above example shows the case that a single verb is used as an attributive. When there is an attributive clause, the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is often required. For example:

Example 82. 上午来找我的是我的父亲。(The person who came for me in the morning is my father.)

surface: 上午来找我的是我的父亲 pinyin: shangwu lai zhao wo de shi wo de fuqin English: morning come look for I - be I - father

145 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 的 sur : 是 sur : 我 sur : 的 sur : 父亲 sur : 。 pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn: de pyn : shi pyn : wo pyn: de pyn : fuqin cat : mark

noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I adj : DE verb: be noun: I adj : DE noun: father_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : nt cat : s’ vq cat : s’ p’ tv cat : pro cat : smr cat : s’ p’ vx cat : pro cat : smr cat : nr

sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1_ sem: _ sem : sem : s1_ sem: _ sem : fnc : arg : arg : fnc : arg : fnc : fnc :

mdr : _mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 上午 sur : 来 d 2 acopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai 3 acopy(”#” nw.arg) d 4 cancel(nw.cat.1) noun: morning verb: come >> Ö > Ö e cat : nt > catÖ : s’ vq 4 >> Ö > ÖÖ sem : >Ö>sem : spt ÖÖ > Ö > e fnc : Ö arg> : 3 Ö > 1 ÖÖ mdr : Ö _mdr: _ ÓÖ 2 _mdd : _

In this step, the modiﬁer-modiﬁed relation is presented. The missing subject is represented by “#”. ______d 2. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.mdd) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao 3 cancel(SS.2.mdr.1) d 4 acopy(SS.2.verb nw.mdr) d noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for 5 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.mdd) PP @ r d PP @ Ô 6 acopy(”#” nw.arg) PP @ r e cat : nt catPP : vq @ rcatÔ : s’ p’ tv 7 d PP @r 7 cancel(nw.cat.1) PP r @ Ô PPP r @@ sem : sem : sptr PP Ôsem@ : r PPP Ô @ r PP @ e fnc : arg : # Ô PargP @ : 6 r PP1 @4 r Ô ' r e mdr : r mdr: morningÔ 3 mdr: yr _ _ _ _ ÒÔ _mdd : come2 _ 5

In step 2, an action verb is read in. The core values from both the two ss proplets are copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet. Again, the logical subject argument is represented by “#” in the nw proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the nw proplet is accordingly canceled. ______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) noun: morning verb: come verb: look-forG noun: I GG ww e G w cat : nt cat : vq cat : p’ tv 3 GG wwcat : pro wwGG ww GG e sem : sem : spt sem : semG : s1 4 ww G1 w{ # fnc : arg : # arg : # 2 fnc :

mdr : mdr : _mdr: morning come_ _ mdr : _ _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_

146 CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES

In this step, the rule of V+N is activated by the input of a pronoun.

______d 4. sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn: de noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I adj : DE cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv cat : pro cat : smr

sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1 patient_ sem: _ fnc : arg : # arg : # I fnc : look-for

mdr : mdr : _mdr: morning come_ _ mdr : _ e _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ 1

In step 4, the input of the structure marker brings an additional value “#” to the “mdd” attribute in the preceding pronoun proplet. Because it is possible that the object of the verb “找 (zhao, look for)” is a phrase instead of a single word, i.e. it is not certain yet whether the sentence start is a subject clause, no change happens to the verb proplet.

______d 5. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.arg) sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 是 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn : shi 3 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 cancel(SS.2.mdd) noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I verb: be TTT q TTT q TTTT q e cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv catTT :T pro q cat : s’ p’ vx 2 TTT q TqTT sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1q patientTTTT sem : q TTT1 q * q fnc : arg : # arg : # I fncq : look-for arg : q q mdr : mdr : mdr: morning comeq mdr : mdr: _ q _ _ _ xq e _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ 3 _mdd : # 4 _

In step 5, the link verb “是 (shi, be)” is read in and it becomes clear that this is a complex sentence with a subject clause. The “mdd” attribute in the pronoun proplet is removed and a new “mdd” attribute is created in the verb proplet “找 (zhao, look for)”. The core value from the nw proplet is copied as the value of the new “mdd” attribute. In return, the core value from the verb proplet “找 (zhao, look for)” is copied as the “mdr” value in the nw proplet.

______d 6. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.2.arg) sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 是 sur : 我 d 2 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn : shi pyn : wo 3 acopy(SS.2.verb nw.fnc) noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I verb: be noun: I AA } AAe }} cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv cat : pro cat : p’ vx 2A }cat : pro }}AA }} AA sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1 patient sem : } semA3 : s1 }~ fnc : arg : # fnc : be fnc : look-for arg : look-for1 fnc :

mdr : mdr : arg : # I _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ _ mdr: morning come_

147 7.2. VERBS IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES CHAPTER 7. COMMON VERBS

In step 6, the rule of VX+P is activated. ______d 7. sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 是 sur : 我 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn : shi pyn : wo pyn: de noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I verb: be noun: I adj : DE cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv cat : pro cat : vx cat : pro cat : smr

sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1 patient sem : sem : s1_ sem: _ fnc : arg : # fnc : be fnc : look-for arg : look-for I fnc : be

mdr : mdr : arg : # I _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ e _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ _ mdr: morning come_ 1

The input of the structure marker again changes the existing syntactic-semantic relations. ______d 8. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.mdd) sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 是 sur : 我 sur : 父亲 d 2 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.mdr) d pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn : shi pyn : wo pyn : fuqin 3 cancel(SS.arg.2) d 4 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I verb: be noun: I noun: father 5 cancel(SS.2.sem.2) RRR 99 ll d RRR 9 lll 6 cancel(SS.2.fnc.1) cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv cat : pro cat : vx RcatR : proll9 cat : nr d RR ll 9 7 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) llRlRR 9 lll RReR 9 sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1 patient sem : ll sem : s1 5 RR9sem : vlll R9R97( 9 4 e e 3 6 9 fnc : arg : # fnc : be fnc : look-for arg : look-for I fnc : be fnc9 :2

mdr : mdr : arg : # I _mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdr : _ Õ 1 _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ _ mdr: morning come_ _mdd : # _

Up to step 8, the genuine syntactic-semantic relation of the whole sentence is presented. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 上午 sur : 来 sur : 找 sur : 我 sur : 是 sur : 我 sur : 父亲 pyn : shangwu pyn : lai pyn : zhao pyn : wo pyn : shi pyn : wo pyn : fuqin noun: morning verb: come verb: look-for noun: I verb: be noun: I noun: father cat : nt cat : vq cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : vx cat : pro cat : nr sem : sem : spt sem : sem : s1 patient sem : sem : s1 sem : fnc : arg : # fnc : be fnc : look-for arg : look-for father fnc : fnc : be

mdr : mdr : arg : # I _mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdr : I _ _mdd : look-for_ _ mdd: look-for_ _ mdr: morning come_ _mdd : father_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

148 Chapter 8

Analysis of Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are special in that they take verbs or verb phrases as one of their two arguments.

All together 10 modal verbs are collected from the corpus.

Table 8.1: Modal Verbs in Chinese surface: 愿意可能会能应该可以敢得必须肯 pinyin: yuanyi keneng hui neng yinggai keyi gan dei bixu ken English: be willing to may will/can can should can dare have to must agree to

Most of the modal verbs have one counterpart in English, but “会 (hui)” has two alternatives: “will” and “can”. This is dependent on the context. When it is used as an equivalent to “can”, “会 (hui)” stresses on the ability of the subject. When used as “will”, it stresses on the possibility.

Example 83. 他会跑。He will/can run.

surface: 他会跑 pinyin: ta hui pao English: he can/will run

This sentence can be translated as “He can run.” or “He will run.” The ﬁrst one will be chosen if the context indicates that he is a small child and is able to do something. If there is a preceding sentence that is a question, like “If he meets a tiger, then?” The second interpretation may be a better answer.

Another two modal verbs are also translated as “can”. “能 (neng, can)” is used to express ability or possibility. “可以 (keyi, can)” is more like “be allowed to”.

149 8.1. MODIFIED BY ADVERBS CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS

8.1 Modiﬁed by Adverbs

Zhu [1982], Li and Thompson [1981], Tang [1984] have all discussed about the grammatical features of modal verbs in Chinese. Some of them argue that modal verbs cannot be modified by intensifiers, such as “很 (hen, very)”. Others have different opinions. The fact is, on one hand, it is not difficult to find examples that Chinese modal verbs are modified by adverbs. In the corpus, “愿意 (yuanyi, be-willing-to)”, “可能 (keneng, may)”, “会 (hui, will-can)”, “能 (neng, can)”， “应该 (yinggai, should)”,“可以 (keyi, may)” and “得 (dei, have-to)” are found modified by “很 (hen, very)”, “更 (geng, more)” or “真 (zhen, really)”. But, on the other hand, the number of adverbs in such an application is rather limited. Most of them are intensifiers but not all intensifiers are applied in such cases. “很 (hen, very)”, “更 (geng, more)” and “真 (zhen, really)” are the top three on the list. Here are some examples:

他很会弹吉他。(He can play guitar very well.)

surface: 他很会弹吉他 pinyin: ta hen hui tan jita English: he very can play guitar

他更会弹吉他。(He can play guitar better.)

surface: 他更会弹吉他 pinyin: ta geng hui tan jita English: he more can play guitar

他真会弹吉他。(He really can play guitar.)

surface: 他真会弹吉他 pinyin: ta zhen hui tan jita English: he really can play guitar

In this case, the adverb proplet is absorbed during the derivation process, but its core value is copied as the “mdr” value in the resulting proplet. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 84. 他很会弹吉他。(He can play guitar very well.)

The syntactic-semantic analysis involves several times of combination: _ _ _ _ 1. sur : 他 sur : 很 pyn : ta pyn : hen noun: he adj : very cat : pro cat : adv sem : s3 sem : +N fnc :_ mdd: _ _mdr : _

150 CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS 8.1. MODIFIED BY ADVERBS

In this step, the adverb proplet is read in and simply copied to output.

______d 2. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 很o____ sur : 会 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) 4 d pyn : ta pyn : heno____ pyn : hui 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) 5 e d noun: heQ adj : very 8 verb: will-can 5 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) QQQ mmm Ð d QQQ mmm e 6 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) cat : pro catQ :Q advo____mm catÐ : s’ p’ vz 2 d QmQmQm 7 ecopy(SS.2.adj SS.2.mdr) mm9 QQ Ð d mmm QQQ 8 cancel(SS.2.adj) sem : s3mm sem : +No____Ð semQQ 1 : d vmm '&%$ !"# Q( 9 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) 10 Ð d 3 10 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) fnc :_ mdd: Ð _ garg : d g g 11 ecopy(nw.arg SS.2.arg) Ð 7 sg 6'&%$ !"# _mdr : _ 11 _mdr: _

When the modal verb is read in, the functor-argument relation with the subject and the modi- ﬁcation relation with the adverb is represented. The adverb proplet is absorbed. Two proplets, namely “他 (ta, he)” and “会 (hui, will-can)”, are copied into output.

______d 3. 1 acopy(”#” nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 弹 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : tan 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.cat.1) d noun: he verb: will-can verb: play 5 ecopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) 8 w 8 w e ww e cat : pro cat : p’ vz 84 wcat : s’ p’ tv 2 ww ww8 sem : s3 sem : w 8sem : {w 3 8 e fnc : will-can arg : he arg : 1 8 8 _mdr : _ mdr : very_ mdr: _ 8 5 _mdd: _

In this step, the common verb “弹 (tan, play)” is read in. The “verb” value becomes the “arg” value in the modal verb proplet. An “fnc” attribute is created in the nw proplet, and provided with the “verb” value from the preceding proplet. The substitute value “#” is copied to the “arg” slot in the nw proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the nw proplet is accordingly removed.

______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 弹 sur : 吉他 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : tan pyn : jita 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) noun: he verb: will-can verb: play noun: guitar FF Ñ FeF Ñ cat : pro cat : vz cat : p’ tv 3 F catÑ : cn FFÑÑ ÑFF e sem : s3 sem : sem : Ñ semF : object 4 Ñ F"1 ÑÑ fnc : will-can arg : he play fnc : will-canÑÑ fnc : ÐÑ 2 _mdr : _ mdr : very arg : # _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _

In this step, the object noun is read in. The functor-argument relation between the common verb and the common noun is represented through the rule operations.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

151 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 弹 sur : 吉他 pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : tan pyn : jita noun: he verb: will-can verb: play noun: guitar cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : tv cat : cn sem : s3 sem : sem : sem : object patient fnc : will-can arg : he play fnc : will-can fnc : play

_mdr : _ mdr : very arg : # guitar_ mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

8.2 Modal Verbs in Combination

In English, it is possible to see two modal verbs in a continuous sequence, as in a conjunction construction. For example: “He should and will come.” Or, “He should, can, and will come.” But if there is no conjunctive, like “and”, in between, it is not a grammatical sentence, i.e. it is not correct to say “He should will come.” It is diﬀerent in Chinese. Two modal verbs in a continuous sequence are accepted in either way.

• Modal verbs in coordination

Here is an example.

Example 85. 他应该而且会来。(He should and will come.)

surface: 他应该而且会来 pinyin: ta yinggai erqie hui lai English: he should and can/will come

The conjunction “而且 (erqie, and)” connects the two modal verbs, forming a coordination construction. The ﬁrst modal verb is called the previous conjunct and the second is called next conjunct.

152 CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 应该 sur : 而且 sur : 会 sur : 来 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : yinggai pyn : erqie pyn : hui pyn : lai cat : mark

noun: he verb: should adj : and verb: will-can verb: come_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ vz cat : conj cat : s’ p’ vz cat : s’ vq sem : s3 sem : sem : sem : sem : spt fnc : arg : arg : arg : arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 应该 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : yinggai 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: heE verb: should EE y E y e cat : proEE caty : s’ p’ vz 3 y EE e EE sem : s3 4y sem :E2 y| " fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In this step, the functor-argument relation is represented between the proplet “他 (ta, he)” and “应该 (yinggai, should)”.

______d 2. sur : 他 sur : 应该 sur : 而且 1 ecopy(”#” SS.nc) pyn : ta pyn : yinggai pyn : erqie noun: he verb: should adj : and cat : pro cat : p’ vz cat : conj sem : s3 agent sem : sem : fnc : should arg : he arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _ e 1

In this step, the conjunction is read in. The “nc (next conjunct)” attribute is created for the modal verb proplet. A substitute value “#” is provided, indicating a next conjunct is expected.

______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 应该 sur : 会 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.nc) d pyn : ta pyn : yinggai pyn : hui 3 ecopy(SS.2.verb nw.pc) d 4 acopy(”#” nw.arg) d noun: he verb: should8 verb:l will-can 5 cancel(nw.cat.1) lll Ö 8 lll e cat : pro cat : p’l vzll8 catÖ : s’ p’ vz 5 lll lll 8 Ö sem : s3 agentll seml : Ösem : lu ll 8 Ö 1 8 e fnc : should arg : he Ö arg8 : 4 Ö 8 _mdr : _ mdr: _mdr: _ ÓÖ 8 3 2 _nc : # _

In this step, a second modal verb is read in, the core value of which replaces the “nc” value in the second ss proplet. At the same time, the “pc (previous conjunct)” attribute is created for the nw

153 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS proplet and the core value from the second ss proplet is copied as its value. ______d 4. 1 acopy(”#” nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 应该 sur : 会 sur : 来 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : yinggai pyn : hui pyn : lai 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.2.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) d noun: he verb: should verb: will-can verb: come 5 ecopy(SS.2.verb nw.fnc) 7 y 7 e yy e cat : pro cat : p’ vz cat : p’ vz 4 caty : s’ vq 2 7 yy y7y sem : s3 agent sem : sem : yy 7 sem : spt |y 3 7 e fnc : should will-can arg : he arg : # arg7 : 1 7 _mdr : _ mdr: mdr: _mdr: _ 7 5 _nc : will-can_ _ pc : should _

In step 4, the common verb is read in as the second argument of the modal verb.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 应该 sur : 会 sur : 来 pyn : ta pyn : yinggai pyn : hui pyn : lai noun: he verb: should verb: will-can verb: come cat : pro cat : p’ vz cat : vz mark cat : vq sem : s3 agent sem : sem : sem : spt fnc : should will-can arg : he arg : # come fnc : will-can

_mdr : _ mdr: mdr: arg : # _nc : will-can_ _ pc : should_ _ mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

• Modal verbs in a continuous sequence

The second case is also possible in Chinese. But, without the conjunction, the relation between the two modal verbs is no longer coordination. Generally speaking, the second modal verb maintains its meaning and function, but the syntactic and semantic meaning of the first modal verb is weakened. From the perspective of semantics, it is proper to take the first modal verb as a modifier. For example:

Example 86. 他应该会来。(He is probably coming.)

surface: 他应该会来 pinyin: ta yinggai hui lai English: he should can/will come

The conjunction is missing and the meaning of the sentence is diﬀerent. In this case, the ﬁrst modal word is absorbed when the second modal verb is read in.

154 CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “他应该会来。”

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In this step, the ﬁrst modal verb is read in and the functor-argument relation between the subject and the modal verb is represented.

______d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 应该o____ sur : 会 d 2 acopy(SS.2.verb SS.2.mdr) 3 d pyn : ta pyn : yinggaio____ pyn : hui 3 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) d 4 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 4 d noun: he verb: shouldo____ verb: will-can 5 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) l l 5 l cat : pro cat : p’l vzl cat : s’ p’ vz l l sem : s3 agentl seml : sem : lu l 1 fnc : should arg : he arg : 2 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _

When the second modal verb is read in, a variation of the rule of “V+V” is activated. The “fnc” value in the noun proplet is replaced by the “verb” value from the nw proplet. The “verb” value in the ﬁrst modal verb proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot. Then all the “sur”, “pyn” and “verb” attributes in the ﬁrst modal verb proplet gain new values from the nw proplet, i.e. the modal verb proplet in the sentence start is absorbed by the nw proplet.

______d 3. 1 acopy(”#” nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 来 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : lai 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.cat.1) d noun: he verb: will-can verb: come 5 ecopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) 8 y 8 e yy e cat : pro cat : p’ vz 4 caty : s’ vq 2 8 yy yy8 sem : s3 agent sem : yy sem : spt |y 8 3 e fnc : will-can arg : he arg8 : 1 8 mdr : mdr: should mdr: _ _ _ _ _ 8 5 _

The rule of “V+VO” is activated when the common verb is read in.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

155 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 来 pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : lai noun: he verb: will-can verb: come cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : vq sem : s3 agent sem : sem : spt fnc : will-can arg : he come fnc : will-can

_mdr : _ _mdr: should_ arg : # _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The combination with conjunctions, like in (a), is relatively free and arbitrary, but the combination without conjunctions is restricted with respect to language customs. The following patterns are found in the corpus:

Patterns of two modal verbs in a sequence:

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 会 (hui, will/can)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 能 (neng, can)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 必须 (bixu, must)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 得 (dei, have to)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 敢 (gan, dare)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 会 (hui, will/can)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 能 (neng, can)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 肯 (ken, agree to)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 可以 (keyi, can)

• 得 (dei, have to) + 能 (neng, can)

• 得 (dei, have to) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 得 (dei, have to) + 肯 (ken, agree to)

• 得 (dei, have to) + 敢 (gan, dare)

156 CHAPTER 8. MODAL VERBS 8.2. MODAL VERBS IN COMBINATION

• 能 (neng, can) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 必须 (bixu, must) + 得 (dei, have to)

The number of modal verbs in a continuous sequence without conjunctions can reach three, though the frequency of such patterns is not high. For example:

Example 87. 他应该会愿意来。(He is probably willing to come.)

surface: 他应该会愿意来 pinyin: ta yinggai hui yuanyi lai English: he should can/will be willing to come

In this case, the ﬁrst two modal verbs are both handled as modiﬁers and absorbed by the third modal verb proplet.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 愿意 sur : 来 pyn : ta pyn : yuanyi pyn : lai noun: he verb: be-willing-to verb: come cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : vq sem : s3 agent sem : sem : spt fnc : be-willing-to arg : he come fnc : be-willing-to

_mdr : _ _mdr: should will-can_ arg : # _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The number of such patterns is also limited. In fact, only four are collected as follows.

Patterns of three modal verbs in a sequence:

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 会 (hui, will/can) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 能 (neng, can) + 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

• 可能 (keneng, may) + 必须 (bixu, must)+ 得 (dei, have to)

• 应该 (yinggai, should) + 会 (hui, will/can)+ 愿意 (yuanyi, be willing to)

157 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 9

Analysis of Directional Verbs

Directional verbs belong to a sub-class of verbs. They indicate direction, e.g. from near to far, from high to low, from inside to outside, or other similar meanings. They can be further divided into simple words and compound words.

Simple directional verbs in Chinese are usually monosyllables, including：

Table 9.1: Monosyllable Directional Verbs in Chinese surface: 上下进出回起来去 pinyin: shang xia jin chu hui qi lai qu English: go up go down go in go out go back start come go

Among the above eight directional verbs, the last two can follow any one of the preceding ﬁve (the sixth is excluded) to form two-syllable compound directional verbs:

Table 9.2: Two-syllable Directional Verbs in Chinese surface: 上来下来进来出来回来起来 pinyin: shanglai xialai jinlai chulai huilai qilai English: go up go down go in go out go back start

surface: 上去下去进去出去回去 pinyin: shangqu xiaqu jinqu chuqu huiqu English: go up go down go in go out go back

The sixth word “起 (qi, start)” is only seen in collocation with “来 (lai, come)”, but not with “去 (qu, go)” i.e, “起来 (qilai, start)” is accepted while “起去” is not.

159 9.1. VERB + DIRECTIONAL VERB CHAPTER 9. DIRECTIONAL VERBS

9.1 Verb + Directional Verb

Directional verbs can be used as predicators independently or follow common verb predicates to indicate directions. For example:

Example 88. 他来了。(He has come.)

surface: 他来了 pinyin: ta lai le English: he come -

In this example, the directional verb “来 (lai, come)” plays the role of a functor.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 来 pyn : ta pyn : lai noun: he verb: come cat : pro cat : vq mark sem : s3 agent sem : spt perf fnc : come arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) come b) V he N

Example 89. 眼泪要掉下来了。(Tears are going to drop down.)

surface: 眼泪要掉下来了 pinyin: yanlei yao diao xialai le English: tear be going to drop go down -

In this example, the directional verb “下来 (xialai, go-down)” follows the common verb “掉 (diao, drop)” to indicate direction. It is treated as a complementary modiﬁer.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 眼泪 sur : 要 sur : 掉 sur : 下来 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : yanlei pyn : yao pyn : diao pyn : xialai pyn: le cat : mark

noun: tear verb: be-going-to verb: drop verb: come-down adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : cn cat : s’ p’ vz cat : s’ iv cat : s’ vq cat : asp

sem : sem : sem : sem : spt _sem: perf_ fnc : arg : arg : arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _

160 CHAPTER 9. DIRECTIONAL VERBS 9.1. VERB + DIRECTIONAL VERB

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

The previous steps are skipped. The result is copied as the ss part for step 3.

______d 3. sur : 眼泪 sur : 要 sur : 掉 sur : 下来 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.mdr) pyn : yanlei pyn : yao pyn : diao pyn : xialai noun: tear verb: be-going-to verb: drop verb: come-down ÒÒ cat : cn cat : vz cat : iv catÒÒ : s’ vq ÒÒ sem : agent sem : sem : ÒsemÒ : spt ÒÒ fnc : be-going-to arg : tear drop fnc : be-going-toÒ arg : ÒÒ ÒÒ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # Ò _mdr: _ ÑÒ 1 _mdr: _

The “verb” value in the directional verb proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the common verb proplet. The directional verb proplet is not copied into output.

Derivation result:

______sur : 眼泪 sur : 要 sur : 掉 pyn : yanlei pyn : yao pyn : diao noun: tear verb: be-going-to verb: drop cat : cn cat : vz mark cat : iv sem : agent sem : sem : perf fnc : be-going-to arg : tear drop fnc : be-going-to

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # _mdr: come-down_

The SRG and the signature presentation:

In the sentences with directional verbs as complements, the aspect marker “了 (le, LE)”, if required by context, may come after the directional verb, like in the above example, or before the directional verb. For example:

Example 90. 他笑了起来。(He has started laughing.)

surface: 他笑了起来 pinyin: ta xiao le qilai English: he laugh - start

161 9.1. VERB + DIRECTIONAL VERB CHAPTER 9. DIRECTIONAL VERBS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 笑 sur : 了 sur : 起来 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : xiao pyn: le pyn : qilai cat : mark

noun: he verb: laugh adj : LE verb: start_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ iv cat : asp cat : s’ vq

sem : s3 sem : _sem: perf_ sem : spt fnc : arg : arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr: _ Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 笑 pyn : ta pyn : xiao noun: he verb: laugh cat : pro cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : perf fnc : laugh arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdr: start _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) laugh b) V he N But the aspect marker “过 (guo, GUO)” comes only after directional verbs. For example:

Example 91. 眼泪掉下来过。(Tears dropped down once.)

surface: 眼泪掉下来过 pinyin: yanlei diao xialai guo English: tear drop go down -

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 眼泪 sur : 掉 pyn : yanlei pyn : diao noun: tear verb: drop cat : cn cat : iv mark sem : sem : past fnc : drop arg : tear

_mdr : _ _mdr: come-down_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) drop b) V tear N The combination of verb + directional verb may be further used as a conjunct in a coordination construction. For example:

162 CHAPTER 9. DIRECTIONAL VERBS 9.2. ADJECTIVE + DIRECTIONAL VERB

Example 92. 两个主要政党已经联合起来组成政府。(Two main parties have united to organize a goverment.)

surface: 两个主要政党已经联合起来组成政府 pinyin: liang ge zhuyao zhengdang yijing lianhe qilai zucheng zhengfu English: two - main party already unite start organize government

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 两 sur : 个 sur : 主要 sur : 政党 sur : 已经 sur : 联合 sur : 起来 sur : 组成 sur : 政府 sur : 。 pyn : liang pyn : ge pyn : zhuyao pyn : zhengdang pyn : yijing pyn : lianhe pyn : qilai pyn : zucheng pyn : zhengfu cat : mark noun: two noun: GE adj : main noun: party adj : perfect verb: unite verb: start verb: organize noun: government_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : adj cat : cn cat : adv cat : s’ iv cat : s’ vq cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : sem : tense sem : sem : spt sem : sem : fnc : mdr : fnc : _mdd: _ arg : arg : arg : fnc : mdr : _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Derivation result:

______sur : 政党 sur : 主要 sur : 联合 sur : 组成 sur : 政府 pyn : zhengdang pyn : zhuyao pyn : lianhe pyn : zucheng pyn : zhengfu noun: party adj : main verb: unite verb: organize noun: government cat : cn cat : adj cat : iv cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : sem : sem : perfect sem : sem : patient fnc : unite mdr : arg : party arg : # government fnc : organize mdr : two main_ mdd: party_ mdr: start mdr: _mdr : _ _mdd : _ _nc : organize_ _ pc : unite _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

9.2 Adjective + Directional Verb

Directional verbs are also seen as modiﬁers of adjectives. In such an application, their core values are also copied into the “mdr” slot in the adjective proplet. For example:

Example 93. 她的脸红起来。(Her face is becoming red.)

surface: 她的脸红起来 pinyin: ta de lian hong qilai English: she - face red start

163 9.2. ADJECTIVE + DIRECTIONAL VERB CHAPTER 9. DIRECTIONAL VERBS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 她 sur : 的 sur : 脸 sur : 红 sur : 起来 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn: de pyn : lian pyn : hong pyn : qilai cat : mark

noun: she adj : DE noun: face adj : red verb: start_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : smr cat : cn cat : adj cat : s’ vq

sem : s3_ sem: _ sem : object sem : sem : spt fnc : fnc : mdr : arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _ Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 脸 sur : 红 pyn : ta pyn : lian pyn : hong noun: she noun: face adj : red cat : pro cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : s3 sem : object theme sem : av fnc : fnc : red arg : face

mdr : _mdr : she _ mdr : start _mdd : face_ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) red b) A face N

she N

164 Chapter 10

Analysis of Causative and Three-valence Verbs

Causative verbs express command or requirement. They are distinctive in that they take complete clauses as objects. Three-valence words can be further divided into three groups. Group 1 is represented by the word “给 (gei, give)”. Group 2 is represented by “抢 (qiang, rob)”. Group 3 is exempliﬁed by “听 (ting, listen)”. Group 1 is possible to be found in many languages. But group 2 and 3 seems to be particular in Chinese.

10.1 Causative Verbs

Similar to transitive verbs, they require two arguments, one as the subject and the other as the object. But the object may not be limited to a nominal phrase. It is often a clause. In other words, the core value of the main verb in the object clause should be copied as the second “arg” value in the causative verb proplet. Here lies the diﬀerence of causative verbs from modal verbs. Modal verbs share the same subjects with their verb arguments. In the sentences with causative verbs, the subjects in the subclauses are usually diﬀerent from those in the main clauses.

The number of monosyllable causative verbs is limited, mainly including:

Table 10.1: Monosyllable Causative Verbs surface: 使令叫请让教 pinyin: shi ling jiao qing rang jiao English: make order ask request let teach

surface: 派催逼求托 pinyin: pai cui bi qiu tuo English: dispatch urge force beg entrust

165 10.1. CAUSATIVE VERBS CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS

Two-syllable causative verbs mainly include the following:

Table 10.2: Two-syllable Causative Verbs surface: 命令请求吩咐发动鼓励 pinyin: mingling qingqiu fenfu fadong guli English: command request order initiate encourage

surface: 迫使动员组织号召禁止 pinyin: poshi dongyuan zuzhi haozhao jinzhi English: force motivate organize call on forbit

Here is an example sentence.

Example 94. 我会吩咐她准备咖啡。(I will order her to prepare coﬀee.)

surface: 我会吩咐她准备咖啡 pinyin: wo hui fenfu ta zhunbei kafei English: I will order she prepare coﬀee

In this sentence, the subject of the main clause is “我 (wo, I)”, but the subject in the sub-clause is “她 (ta, she)”. The modal verb “会 (hui, will-can)” and the causative verb “吩咐 (fenfu, order)” share the same subject “我 (wo, I)”. But the common verb “准备 (zhunbei, prepare)” in the sub- clause is the functor of “她 (ta, she)”, instead of “我 (wo, I)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 sur : 她 sur : 准备 sur : 咖啡 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu pyn : ta pyn : zhunbei pyn : kafei cat : mark

noun: I verb: will-can verb: order noun: she verb: prepare noun: coﬀee_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ vz cat : s’ p’ tv cat : pro cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn sem : s1 sem : sem : causative sem : s3 sem : sem : object fnc : arg : arg : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr: _ _mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

First, the subject of the main clause “我 (wo, I)” is read in as the sentence start.

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 会 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : hui 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: IE verb: will-can EE y E y e cat : proEE caty : s’ p’ vz 3 y EE e EE sem : s1 4y sem :E2 y| " fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

166 CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS 10.1. CAUSATIVE VERBS

With the input of the modal verb “会 (hui, will-can)”, the rule of “S+V” is activated. ______d 2. 1 acopy(”#” nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.2.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) d noun: I verb: will-can: verb: order 5 ecopy(SS.2.verb nw.fnc) xx d : e x e 6 cancel(SS.sem.2) cat : pro cat : p’ vz 4 catxx : s’ p’ tv 2 d : xx 7 acopy(causer SS.sem) e e xx: sem : s1 agent 6 7 sem : xx sem : causative x{ : 3 e fnc : will-can arg : I arg: : 1 : mdr : mdr: mdr: _ _ _ _ _ : 5 _

In this step, the rule of “V+VO” is activated when the causative verb “吩咐 (fenfu, order)” is read in. “吩咐 (fenfu, order)” is a two-valence verb. Only the ﬁrst “cat” value is canceled in this step. Because the “sem” value of “吩咐 (fenfu, order)” is “causative”, the second “sem” value in the subject proplet is changed from “agent” to “causer”. ______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 sur : 她 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu pyn : ta 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(experiencer nw.sem) noun: I verb: will-can verb: orderE noun: she EE Ò eE ÒÒ cat : pro cat : vz cat : p’ tv 3 E catÒ : pro EEÒ Ò E e sem : s1 causer sem : sem : causativeÒ semE 1 : s3 4 Ò E" ÒÒ fnc : will-can arg : I order fnc : will-canÒÒ fnc : ÑÒ 2 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # _mdr : _ _mdr: _

The second pronoun is read in. The rule of “V+N” is applied. The “verb” value in the preceding proplet is copied to the “fnc” slot in the nw proplet, and the “noun” value in the nw proplet is copied as the second “arg” value in the verb proplet. An additional value, “experiencer”, is copied to the “sem” slot in the nw proplet. ______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.2.noun nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 sur : 她 sur : 准备 d 2 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.fnc) d pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu pyn : ta pyn : zhunbei 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 cancel(SS.arg.2) d noun: I verb: will-can verb: orderN noun: she J verb: prepare 5 acopy(nw.verb SS.arg) N JJ mmmt d N JJ mmm t e 6 ecopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) cat : pro cat : vz cat : tv catN : pro Jm tcat : s’ p’ tv 3 N mmm JJ N mmm t JJ N mmm t JJ sem : s1 causer sem : sem : causative sem :m s3m experiencerN t semJ :1 mm Nty J% mmm N fnc : will-can arg : I order fnc : will-canmmm fnc : order 2 N arg : vmmm N N 5e N _mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # she 4 _mdr : _ _mdr:N _ N6& _mdr: _

When the main verb in the sub-clause is read in, the functor-argument relation between “吩咐 (fenfu, order)” and “她 (ta, she)” is canceled. The “verb” value in the nw proplet is copied as the second “arg” value in the causative verb proplet. Accordingly, the “verb” value, “require”, is copied as the “fnc” value in the nw proplet. The “fnc” value in the proplet of “她 (ta, she)” is replaced by the “verb” value from the nw proplet. An additional value “agent” is copied to the “sem” slot in the the proplet of “她 (ta, she)”. Accordingly, the “noun” value in the proplet of “她 (ta, she)” is copied as the ﬁrst “arg” value in the nw proplet. After the rule operations in this step, the nw proplet, as a verb proplet with both the “fnc” attribute and the “arg” attribute, is

167 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS

copied into output. ______d 5. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 sur : 她 sur : 准备 sur : 咖啡 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu pyn : ta pyn : zhunbei pyn : kafei 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) noun: I verb: will-can verb: order noun: she verb: prepare noun: coﬀee FF Ñ FeF Ñ cat : pro cat : vz cat : tv cat : pro cat : p’ tv 3 F catÑ : cn FFÑÑ ÑFF e sem : s1 causer sem : sem : causative sem : s3 experiencer sem : Ñ semF : object 4 Ñ F"1 ÑÑ fnc : will-can arg : I order fnc : will-can fnc : prepare fnc : orderÑÑ fnc : ÐÑ 2 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # prepare_ mdr : _ arg : she_ mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _

The input of the last word of the sentence activates the rule of V+N. The second valency of the verb “准备 (zhunbei, prepare)” is ﬁlled. Accordingly, the second “cat” value of the verb is canceled.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 会 sur : 吩咐 sur : 她 sur : 准备 sur : 咖啡 pyn : wo pyn : hui pyn : fenfu pyn : ta pyn : zhunbei pyn : kafei noun: I verb: will-can verb: order noun: she verb: prepare noun: coﬀee cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : tv cat : pro cat : tv cat : cn sem : s1 causer sem : sem : causative sem : s3 experiencer sem : sem : object patient fnc : will-can arg : I order fnc : will-can fnc : prepare fnc : order fnc : prepare

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : # prepare_ mdr : _ arg : she coﬀee_ mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

10.2 Three-valence Verbs

The three-valence verbs in Chinese are classiﬁed into two groups. One is represented by “给 (gei, give)”. The other one is represented by “抢 (qiang, rob)”. Many other verbs, such as “听 (ting, listen)”, are also found is similar patterns. Though they are diﬀerent in semantic composition, they are analyzed similarly with the words from the second group.

10.2.1 “给 (gei, give)” Construction

The three-valence “给 (gei, give)” construction, is found in other languages as well, such as English. Generally, it shows up as a construction with two objects. For example, in Chinese, there is

168 CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS

Example 95. 他给了我一本书。(He gave me a book.)

surface: 他给了我一本书 pinyin: ta gei le wo yi ben shu English: he give - I one - book

In English, there is “He gave me a book.”

This double-object construction is taken by Oehrle [1976], Harley [2003], Cheng et al. [1999] as a causative construction. In fact, the verb “给 (gei, give)” has two semantic elements: cause and have. Basically, “他给了我一本书。(He gave me a book.)” equals to “他使我有了一本书。(He made me have a book.)” The second sentence is a causative sentence with the typical causative verb “使 (shi, make)”. The subject is the causer, and the indirect object is the experiencer.

Verbs in this group mainly include:

Table 10.3: Three-valency Verbs surface: 给送卖交给寄给租 pinyin: gei song mai jiaogei jigei zu English: give oﬀer sell deliver send rent

In the derivation of sentences with such verbs, the value of “experiencer” is provided, as in causative sentences.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 了 sur : 我 sur : 一 sur : 本 sur : 书 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn: le pyn : wo pyn : yi pyn : ben pyn : shu cat : mark noun: he verb: give adj : LE noun: I noun: one noun: BEN noun: book_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ i’ d’ tv cat : asp cat : pro cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : cn sem : s3 sem : unaccusative_ sem: perf_ sem : s1 sem : _sem : +N_ sem : object fnc : arg : fnc : fnc : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr :_ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis of “他给了我一本书。”

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 给 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : gei 3 acopy(agent SS.sem)

noun: heG verb: give GG G e cat : proG catG : s’ i’ d’ tv 2 GG e G sem : s3 3 sem :G unaccusative1 G# fnc : arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

169 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS

When the three-valence verb is read in, the functor-argument relation between the noun and the verb is represented after the operations of the rule of S+V. The ﬁrst “cat” value is canceled in the verb proplet. The value of “agent” is copied to the “sem” slot in the noun proplet. ______d 2. sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn: le noun: he verb: give adj : LE cat : pro cat : i’ d’ tv cat : asp sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusativeo sem: perf _ _ 1 fnc : arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

The input of the aspect marker activates the rule of W+MR. ______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo 3 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) d 4 acopy(experiencer nw.sem) noun: he verb: give I noun: I II uu e II uu cat : pro cat : i’ d’ tv 2 IIuu cat : pro uuII u I e sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusativeu perfI sem : s1 4 uu II3 uz $ fnc : arg : he 1 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

When the indirect object, a pronoun, is read in, the rule of V+N is activated. The “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied to the “arg” slot of the verb proplet. The ﬁrst “cat” value, i.e. “i”’, is accordingly canceled. The “verb” value is copied as the “fnc” value in the nw proplet. The value of “experiencer” is copied to the “sem” slot in the nw proplet. ______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 sur : 一 d 2 acopy(patient nw.sem) d pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo pyn : yi 3 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d 4 cancel(SS.cat.1) noun: he verb: give UU noun: I i noun: one UUUU iiii e UUUU iiii cat : pro cat : d’ tv 4 catUUU :U proiiii cat : cdn iiiUiUUU iiii UUUU e sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusative perfiii sem : s1 experiencerUUU sem : 2 tiiii UUU1* fnc : arg : he I 3 fnc : give fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : _mdd : _

In this step, the cardinal is read in. The “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot of the nw proplet, and the “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet. The value of “patient” is added to the “sem” slot in the nw proplet. ______d 5. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 sur : 一o o/ o/ o/ sur : 本 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo pyn : yio o/ 2o/ o/ o/ o/ pyn : ben 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: he verb: give noun: I noun: one noun: BEN e cat : pro cat : tv cat : pro cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusative perf sem : s1 experiencer sem : patiento sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : arg : he I one fnc : give fnc : give

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : _mdd : _

170 CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS

The input of the quantiﬁer activates the rule of NUM+QUAN. ______d 6. 1 acopy(SS.3.noun SS.3.mdr) sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 sur : 一本o______sur : 书 d 2 cancel(SS.3.sem.2) 3 d pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo pyn : yi|beno______pyn : shu 3 ecopy(nw.sur SS.3.sur) d 4 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.3.pyn) 4 d noun: he verb: give noun: I noun: oneo______noun: book 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.3.noun) eeeeee d 5eeee 6 ecopy(nw.cat SS.3.cat) eeeeee d cat : pro cat : tv cat : pro ecateee : cdn-qo______cat : cn 7 acopy(nw.sem SS.3.sem) eeeeee d eee 6 8 cancel(SS.arg.3) eeeeee e sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusative perf semeeee : s1 experiencer sem : patiento +N 2 sem : object d acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) reeeeee 9 e 7 fnc : arg : he I one 8 9 fnc : give fnc : give fnc : 1 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _

When the common noun, “书 (shu, book)”, is read in, the preceding “cdn-q” proplet is absorbed. The third “arg” value in the verb proplet is replaced by the “noun” value from the nw proplet. The derivation result is copied into output as four proplets. ______d 7. sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 sur : 书 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo pyn : shu cc cat : mark cccccccc cccccccc cccccccc noun: he verb: give noun: Icccccccc noun: book sem: v’ decl qcccccccc _ _ cat : pro cat : tv 1 cat : pro cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusative perf sem : s1 experiencer sem : patient object fnc : arg : he I book fnc : give fnc : give

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : one _mdd : _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 给 sur : 我 sur : 书 pyn : ta pyn : gei pyn : wo pyn : shu noun: he verb: give noun: I noun: book cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : unaccusative perf sem : s1 experiencer sem : patient object fnc : arg : he I book fnc : give fnc : give

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : one _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) give b) V ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? he I book N N N

10.2.2 “抢 (qiang, rob)” Construction

Superﬁcially, the verbs in the “给 (gei, give)” construction have one subject and two objects, direct and indirect. In deep structure, the indirect object is the subject in the sub-clause, or the smaller subject (the subject of the main clause being the larger one). So the three arguments are respectively the agent, the experiencer and the patient. In the “抢 (qiang, rob)” construction, the subject in the main clause is also the agent, but the two objects are respectively the aﬀectee and

171 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS the patient. This is because, in the “抢 (qiang, rob)” construction, the middle argument is not the neutral or initiative experiencer but the passive indirect patient.

Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 96. 他抢了我一本书。(He robbed me of a book.)

surface: 他抢了我一本书 pinyin: ta qiang le wo yi ben shu English: he rob - I one - book

If the words in Group 1 have two semantic elements: cause and have, then the verbs in Group 2 also have two: cause and lose. “他抢了我一本书。(He robbed me of a book.)” can be interpreted as “他使我丢了一本书。(He made me lose a book.)”

The derivation result of “他抢了我一本书。” is also composed of four proplets:

______sur : 他 sur : 抢 sur : 我 sur : 书 pyn : ta pyn : qiang pyn : wo pyn : shu noun: he verb: rob noun: I noun: book cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : unergative perf sem : s1 aﬀectee sem : patient object fnc : arg : he I book fnc : rob fnc : rob

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : one _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) rob b) V ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? he I book N N N

The most frequently used words in this pattern also include “偷 (tou, steal)”, “盗 (dao, steal)”, “夺 (duo, rob)” and “拿 (na, take)”, etc.

10.2.3 “听 (ting, listen)” Construction

“吃 (chi, eat)”, “打 (da, beat)”, “听 (ting, listen)” and many other words are observed in the pattern of “verb + personal pronoun + (numeral + quantiﬁer) + common noun”, i.e. the same pattern with the words in the above two groups. But semantically, these words cannot be assigned the two elements of “cause” and “have”, or “cause” and “lose”. Take the following sentence as an example.

Example 97. 我听了他两堂课。(I attended to two of his lessons.)

surface: 我听了他两堂课 pinyin: wo ting le ta liang tang ke English: I listen - he two - lesson

172 CHAPTER 10. SPECIAL VERBS 10.2. THREE-VALENCE VERBS

Note: the aspect marker “了 (le, LE)” is not required in this pattern. Its main function here is to make all the examples balanced in the number of words.

The action “听 (ting, listen)” is not possible to make the middle argument have or lose anything. However, the indirect object “他 (ta, he)” is also passively aﬀected. It is proper to give the value of “aﬀectee” to its attribute “sem”. Therefore, the syntactic-semantic analysis of this example resembles that of the “抢 (qiang, rob)” construction.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 了 sur : 他 sur : 两 sur : 堂 sur : 课 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn: le pyn : ta pyn : liang pyn : tang pyn : ke cat : mark noun: I verb: listen adj : LE noun: he noun: two noun: TANG noun: lession_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ i’ d’ tv cat : asp cat : pro cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : cn sem : s1 sem : unergative_ sem: perf_ sem : s3 sem : _sem : +N_ sem : fnc : arg : fnc : fnc : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdr :_ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 听 sur : 他 sur : 课 pyn : wo pyn : ting pyn : ta pyn : ke noun: I verb: listen noun: he noun: lession cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : cn sem : s1 agent sem : unergative perf sem : s3 aﬀectee sem : patient fnc : arg : I he lession fnc : listen fnc : listen

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ mdr : two _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) listen b) V ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? I he lession N N N

173 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Summary of Part II

VERBs include common verbs with one, two or three valences, modal verbs, directional verbs, and causative verbs. Chinese verbs don’t have formal changes when used in different tense or aspect. The combination of verbs with aspect markers is analyzed. During the automatic derivation, the semantic value of the aspect marker replaces the original value of the verb regarding tense or aspect. The patterns of AA, AABB, ABAB, A yi A and A le A are generalized as frequent grammatic phenomena in Chinese. Verbs as predicators gain values for their “arg” attribute. Verbs as subjects or objects receive the additional attribute-value pair of “fnc”. Their semantic attribute has a special value of “vn”. When verbs are used as adverbials or attributives, they have the attribute-value pair of “mdd” to indicate the relation with the elements they modify. In addition, their semantic attribute gets the value of “va”. Modal verbs may be modified by adverbs. They may also be used in combination with one another. The patterns are generalized. Their semantic meaning is discussed and presented. Directional verbs may be used independently or in combination with other verbs and adjectives. When following other verbs or adjectives, they are complementary and therefore treated as modifiers and absorbed by the preceding words.

175 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Part III

ADJECTIVE Application and Analysis

177

Adjective is one of the traditional eight English parts of speech. But in LAG-Chinese, we distinguish ADJECTIVE from adjective. The upper case ADJECTIVE refers to one of the three basic parts of speech. Below ADJECTIVE, we have sub-classes of adjective, adverb, conjunction, preposition and other function words, including structure auxiliaries, markers, etc. This part includes three chapters, namely adjective, adverb, preposition and conjunctive.

Adjectives in Chinese can be used as adnominal modiﬁers, the same as in English. But, they are also used as adverbial modiﬁers. In this case they are sometimes supported by auxiliaries, other times not. In Chinese, adjectives and verbs are known as the two main predicate words. In other words, adjectives can be used as predicators as verbs can. Based on this functional similarity with verbs, adjectives are also seen in collocation with aspect markers. They take objects, too. The repetition of adjectives are discussed in the last section of Chapter 11.

An overview of adverbs in Chinese is presented at the beginning of Chapter 12. The most frequently found 9 sentence patterns with adverbs are exempliﬁed. Among all the adverbs, only “很 (hen, very)” and “极 (ji, extremely)” are observed as independent complementary modiﬁers. This is discussed in the second section. The third section presents some adverbs, such as “又 (you, again)” and “越 (yue, more)”, which can be used in coordination and function as conjunctives.

Chapter 13 focuses on the analysis of prepositions and conjuntives. Prepositions are never used independently. They require nominal constructions as objects. Then the preposition phrases, as a whole, serve as adnominal or adverbial modifiers. When preposition phrases are used as attributives, the particle “的 (de, DE)” is usually required. Prepositions are also observed in collocation with aspect markers. “把 (ba, BA)” and “被 (bei, by)” constructions are introduced as special application of prepositions. “把 (ba, BA)” has the function of object-fronting while “被 (bei, by)” generally indicates the passive voice. In superficial structure, they have the modifier- modified relation with the predicators. But semantically, the arguments of “把 (ba, BA)” and “被 (bei, by)” are respectively patients and agents. Conjunctives are exemplified on both phrasal and sentential level. On sentential level, Chinese conjunctives tend to occur in pairs. Within a proposition, they can come after or before the subject.

Particles, including aspect markers “着 (zhe, ZHE)”, “了 (le, LE)”, and “过 (guo, GUO)”, structural auxiliaries “的 (de, DE)”, “地 (de, DE)”, “得 (de, DE)”, “给 (gei, GEI)” and “所 (suo, SUO)”, etc. also belong to this family of ADJECTIVE. They are spread here and there at proper places instead of being collected in a separate chapter.

179 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 11

Analysis of Adjectives

Adjectives in Chinese form an open class. Generally speaking, an adjective can be modified by an adverb of degree, i.e. intensifier. In English, an adjective modifies a nominal phrase, giving more information about the modified. Chinese adjectives have more functions. Besides attributive, an adjective in Chinese also plays the role of a predicate and an adverbial modifier.

11.1 Overview

A common usage of adjectives is attributive. In English, there is “He is a clever boy.” In Chinese, we have:

Example 98. 他是一个聪明孩子。(He is a clever boy.)

surface: 他是一个聪明孩子 pinyin: ta shi yi ge congming haizi English: he be one - clever child

Except the quantiﬁer “个 (ge, GE)”, the two sentences are equivalent word by word.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 一 sur : 个 sur : 聪明 sur : 孩子 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : yi pyn : ge pyn : congming pyn : haizi cat : mark

noun: he verb: be noun: one noun: GE adj : clever noun: child_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ vx cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : adj cat : nr

sem : s3 sem : sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : fnc : arg : fnc : mdr : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _

181 11.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

The pattern of “numeral + quantiﬁer + adjective + noun” is rather common in Chinese. During the derivation, the numeral and the quantiﬁer are absorbed.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “他是一个聪明孩子。”

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 是 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : ta pyn : shi 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(theme SS.sem) noun: heE verb: be EE y E yy e cat : proEE catyy : s’ p’ vx 2 yyEE yey EE sem : s3y4 sem :E1 y| " fnc : 3 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

______2. sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 一 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : yi noun: he verb: be noun: one cat : pro cat : p’ vx cat : cdn sem : s3 theme sem : sem : fnc : be arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

______d 3. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 个 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : ge 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: he verb: be noun: one noun: GE e cat : pro cat : p’ vx cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : s3 theme sem : sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : be arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd : _

______4. sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 一个 sur : 聪明 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : yi|ge pyn : congming noun: he verb: be noun: one adj : clever cat : pro cat : p’ vx cat : cdn-q cat : adj sem : s3 theme sem : sem : +N sem : fnc : be arg : he fnc : mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd : _

______d 5. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : o______一个 sur : 聪明 sur : 孩子 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) 6 d pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn :o______yi|ge pyn : congming pyn : haizi 3 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) d 4 acopy(SS.3.adj nw.mdr) 7 d noun: he verb: be V noun:o______one adj : clever= noun: child 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.3.mdd) VVVV = hhhh Ñ d VVV 9 hh=h 6 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) e VVVV hhhh = Ñ d cat : pro cat : p’ vx 2 cat :o______cdn-qVVV cathhh : adj = cat : nr 7 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) '&%$ !"# hhVhVhVV = Ñ d 10 hhh VVV = 8 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) hhhh VVVV Ñ = sem : s3 theme sem : semhh :o______+N sem : VV 3 sem : d shhhh '&%$ !"# ÑVVV=+ = 9 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 11 d = 10 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) 1 Ñ = fnc : be arg : he fnc : o______mdr : fnc4 : d = 11 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) '&%$ !"# 8 ÐÑ 13 d 5 12 acopy(nw.mdr SS.2.mdr) _mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : o _mdd: _ _mdr : _ d '&%$ !"# 13 ecopy(nw.fnc SS.2.fnc) 12 _mdd : _

182 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.1. OVERVIEW

______d 6. sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 孩子 sur : 聪明 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : haizi pyn : congming cat : mark ddddddd ddddddd ddddddd noun: he verb: be noun:dd childddddd adj : clever_ sem: v’ decl_ rdddddd cat : pro cat : vx 1 cat : nr cat : adj sem : s3 theme sem : sem : sem : fnc : be arg : he child fnc : be mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one clever_ mdd: child _ _mdd : _

The rules of S+VX, VX+P, NUM+QUAN, N+ADJ, ADJ+N and S+IP are applied one after another.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 孩子 sur : 聪明 pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : haizi pyn : congming noun: he verb: be noun: child adj : clever cat : pro cat : vx mark cat : nr cat : adj sem : s3 theme sem : sem : sem : fnc : be arg : he child fnc : be mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : one clever_ mdd: child _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) be b) V ?? ?? ? ? he child N N

clever A

Theoretically, the particle “的 (de, DE)” can follow all adjectives when they are used as adnominal modiﬁers. The above example equals to

Example 99. 他是一个聪明的孩子。(He is a clever boy.)

surface: 他是一个聪明的孩子 pinyin: ta shi yi ge congming de haizi English: he be one - clever - child

The syntactic-semantic analysis for the front part is the same with the above example. The result of step 4 is copied into output as the sentence start for next step. ______d 5. sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : 一个 sur : 聪明 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn : yi|ge pyn : congming pyn: de noun: he verb: be noun: one adj : clever adj : DE cat : pro cat : p’ vx cat : cdn-q cat : adj cat : smr

sem : s3 theme sem : sem : +N sem : _sem: _ fnc : be arg : he fnc : mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ e 1 _mdd : _

183 11.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

In step 5, the particle “的 (de, DE)” is read in. A substitute value “#” is copied to the “mdd” slot in the adjective proplet. ______d 6. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 他 sur : 是 sur : o______一个 sur : 聪明 sur : 孩子 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) 6 d pyn : ta pyn : shi pyn :o______yi|ge pyn : congming pyn : haizi 3 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) d 4 acopy(SS.3.adj nw.mdr) 7 d noun: he verb: be V noun:o______one adj : clever= noun: child 5 ecopy(nw.noun SS.3.mdd) VVVV = hhhh Ñ d VVV 9 hh=h 6 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) e VVVV hhhh = Ñ d cat : pro cat : p’ vx 2 cat :o______cdn-qVVV cathhh : adj = cat : nr 7 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) '&%$ !"# hhVhVhVV = Ñ d 10 hhh VVV = 8 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) hhhh VVVV Ñ = sem : s3 theme sem : semhh :o______+N sem : VV 3 sem : d shhhh '&%$ !"# ÑVVV=+ = 9 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 11 d = 10 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) 1 Ñ = fnc : be arg : he fnc : o______mdr : fnc4 : d = 11 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) '&%$ !"# 8 ÐÑ 13 d 5 12 acopy(nw.mdr SS.2.mdr) mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : o _mdd: _ _mdr : _ d '&%$ !"# 13 ecopy(nw.fnc SS.2.fnc) 12 _mdd : # _ _mdd : _

When the noun “孩子 (haizi, child)” is read in, the substitute value “#” is replaced. The “cdn-q” proplet is absorbed.

The derivation result of this sentence is the same as that of the above example.

mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : one clever_ mdd: child _ _mdd : # _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation are also the same as those of the above example.

When there is an adverb, it usually precedes the adjective, as in English. For example:

Example 100. 他是一个很聪明的孩子。(He is a very clever boy.)

surface: 他是一个很聪明的孩子 pinyin: ta shi yi ge hen congming de haizi English: he be one - very clever - child

The adverb “很 (hen, very)” is absorbed by the adjective during derivation, but its core value is copied as the “mdr” value in the adjective proplet.

The derivation result is as follows:

mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : one clever_ mdd: child _ _mdd : # _ _mdd : _

184 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS

One more difference of Chinese adjectives from English ones is that Chinese adjectives can be used as adverbial modifiers. Normally there are two variations of this application: with or without the adverbial marker “地 (de, DE)”. In English, adjectives change to adverbs before modifying verbs. In other words, adjectives in English are only modifiers of nominal phrases while adverbs modify verbs. This is not the same in Chinese. The particle “地 (de, DE)” is taken as an adverbial marker. When an adjective is followed by the particle “地 (de, DE)”, it becomes an adverbial modifier. But, the particle “地 (de, DE)” is not mandatory. For example:

Example 101. 他平安地回来了。(He came back safe.)

surface: 他平安地回来了 pinyin: ta pingan de huilai le English: he safe - return -

Example 102. 他平安回来了。(He came back safe.)

surface: 他平安回来了 pinyin: ta pingan huilai le English: he safe return -

Both sentences are grammatical with clear meaning. Syntactically, the ﬁrst sentence has an additional particle. Semantically, the two sentences have the same meaning. The derivation process of the two sentences is slightly diﬀerent due to the particle “地 (de, DE)”, but the derivation result is the same:

______sur : 他 sur : 平安 sur : 回来 pyn : ta pyn : pingan pyn : huilai noun: he adj : safe verb: return cat : pro cat : adj cat : iv mark sem : s3 sem : sem : perf fnc : return mdr : arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdd: return_ _ mdr: safe _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) return b) V he safe N A

11.2 Adjectives as Predicators

The two most common predicators in Chinese are verbs and adjectives. This is diﬀerent from English. Adjectives are never used as predicators in English. For example, the Chinese sentence

185 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

Example 103. 他聪明。(He is clever.)

surface: 他聪明 pinyin: ta congming English: he clever is composed of a pronoun and an adjective. The equivalent English translation is

“He is clever.” which is composed of three words: a pronoun, a link verb and an adjective.

Based on the principle of descriptive analysis, adjectives in such applications are provided the value “av” for their attribute “sem”. At the same time, an additional attribute “arg” is created in the adjective proplet.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “他聪明。”

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 他 sur : 聪明 d 2 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d pyn : ta pyn : congming 3 acopy(theme SS.sem) d 4 acopy(av nw.sem) noun: he adj : clever 8 y 8 y yy cat : pro8 caty : adj yy ey 8 e sem : s3yy3 sem : 4 y| 8 fnc : 2 mdr8 : 8 mdr : mdd: _ _ _ 8 1 _

In this step, the rule of S+AV is activated and the functor-argument relation is represented. The “adj” value in the nw proplet is copied into the “fnc” slot in the ss proplet. In return, the core value from the ss proplet is copied as the “arg” value in the nw proplet. The value of “theme” is copied to the “sem” slot in the ss proplet, and the value of “av” is copied to the “sem” slot in the nw proplet.

______d 2. sur : 他 sur : 聪明 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : ta pyn : congming cat : mark p pp pp noun: he adj : cleverpp sem: v’ decl pp _ _ x cat : pro cat : adj 1 sem : s3 theme sem : av fnc : clever arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

186 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 聪明 pyn : ta pyn : congming noun: he adj : clever cat : pro cat : adj mark sem : s3 theme sem : av fnc : clever arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) clever b) A he N

Actually, it is also possible to see the link verb “是 (shi, be)” between the subject and the adjective predicate, e.g. “他是聪明”, but the pragmatic meaning changes signiﬁcantly. “他聪明” means “He is clever”, while “他是聪明” means “He is clever, but...”. In other words, if there is a “是 (shi, be)” in between, the sentence will be taken as incomplete and something negative about the subject is expected.

When an adjective is used as a predicate, there may also be an adverb as its modiﬁer. For example:

Example 104. 他很聪明。(He is very clever.)

surface: 他很聪明 pinyin: ta hen congming English: he very clever

The adverb proplet is absorbed during derivation.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 他 sur : 聪明 pyn : ta pyn : congming noun: he adj : clever cat : pro cat : adj mark sem : s3 theme sem : av fnc : clever arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : very _mdd: _ Because of the absorption of the adverb, the SRG and the signature presentation of this example are the same as those of the above sentence.

11.2.1 Adjective + asp

187 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

Since adjectives are also used as predicators, they are similar to verbs in several aspects. As discussed earlier, Chinese verbs don’t have any formal changes with respect to tense or aspect. The information of tense and aspect is provided by context, adverbs or aspect markers. This is the same with adjectives. When adjectives are used as predicators, they can be further modiﬁed by aspect markers. For example:

Example 105. 这台电脑坏了。(This computer has broken down.)

surface: 这台电脑坏了 pinyin: zhe tai diannao huai le English: this - computer broken -

In this example, “坏 (huai, broken)” is an adjective and used as a predicator. It is followed by the aspect marker “了 (le, LE)”. The combination of “坏 (huai, broken)” with the aspect marker “了 (le, LE)” follows the rule of W+ASP.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 这 sur : 台 sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : zhe pyn : tai pyn : diannao pyn : huai pyn: le cat : mark

noun: this noun: TAI noun: computer adj : broken adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : det cat : nquan cat : cn cat : adj cat : asp

sem : _sem : +N_ sem : object sem : _sem: perf_ fnc : fnc : mdr : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

In step 1-2, the derivation of “这台电脑” follows the rule of DET+N and DP+N. The derivation result is a simple proplet of “电脑 (diannao, computer)”, which is copied into output as the sentence start for step 3.

_ _ _ _ d 3. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 d 2 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d pyn : diannao pyn : huai 3 acopy(theme SS.sem) d 4 acopy(av nw.sem) noun: computer adj : broken : x : xx cat : cn xxcat : adj : xx xex: e sem : objectxx 3 sem : 4 x{ : fnc : 2 mdr: : : mdr : this mdd: _ _ _ : 1 _

188 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS

In step 3, the rule of S+AV is activated when the adjective “坏 (huai, broken)” is read in. ______d 4. sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : diannao pyn : huai pyn: le noun: computer adj : broken adj : LE cat : cn cat : adj cat : asp sem : object theme sem : avo sem: perf _ _ 1 fnc : broken arg : computer

_mdr : this _ mdr : _mdd: _

In step 4, the rule of W+ASP applies. The “sem” value of the aspect marker is copied into the adjective proplet.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 pyn : diannao pyn : huai noun: computer adj : broken cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : object theme sem : av perf fnc : broken arg : computer

_mdr : this _ mdr : _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) broken b) A computer N The other two aspect markers can also modify adjective predicates. For example:

Example 106. 这台电脑坏过。(This computer was broken before.)

surface: 这台电脑坏过 pinyin: zhe tai diannao huai guo English: this - computer broken -

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 pyn : diannao pyn : huai noun: computer adj : broken cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : object theme sem : av past fnc : broken arg : computer

_mdr : this _ mdr : _mdd: _

189 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

Example 107. 这台电脑还坏着。(This computer is still broken.)

surface: 这台电脑还坏着 pinyin: zhe tai diannao hai huai zhe English: this - computer still broken -

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 电脑 sur : 坏 pyn : diannao pyn : huai noun: computer adj : broken cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : object theme sem : av cont fnc : broken arg : computer

_mdr : this _ mdr : still _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation are the same as those of the example with “了 (le, LE)”.

11.2.2 Adjective + Object

Another similarity between verbs and adjectives lies in that adjective predicators also take objects. Dexi Zhu (1982) defines adjectives as words that can be modified by “很 (hen, very)” and do not take any object. But in real practice, structures like “活跃 (huoyue, active) 气氛 (qifen, atmosphere)” and “方便 (fanbian, convenient) 群众 (qunzhong, people)” are frequently used. This grammatical phenomenon was discussed as early as in Chinese Grammar of Mr. Ma, which is considered as the first grammar book in China. Li Wang (1947) also listed this phenomenon in his Modern Chinese Grammar. Such analysis was extended in his Theory of Chinese Grammar (1947). With the development of research in Chinese grammar after 1940s, significant process has been seen in the study of adjectives taking objects. Generally speaking, there are 4 opinions about this grammatical phenomenon.

Some linguists argue that adjectives cannot take objects. When followed by objects, they are transformed into verbs, i.e. these words have two parts of speech: adjective and verb. Repre- sentatives of this group include: Dexi Zhu (2000:56), Shuxiang Lv (1966), Changyin Ye (1996), Qilong Wang (1995), Quan Li (1996), Rui Guo (2002) and Jianming Lu (2005). But, Yiping Lv (2000), Li Wang (1989) and Fuyi Xing (2004) only take it as a temporary shift in part of speech. A third opinion is that an adjective is still an adjective when it is followed by an object. Zhigong Zhang (1982), Xiaolong Shen (2001), Xiao Fan (1983) and Xilun Shen (1984) support this view by saying that both the graphical form and the core meaning of the adjective is not changed after it takes any object. Shuxin Liu (2002) and Jingchun Tan (1997) don’t agree with any one of them. Liu calls the adjectives with objects “adjective-verbs” and Tan calls them “causative verbs”. The former one is a completely new grammatical category and the later is a sub-category of verbs.

In this LAG-Chinese research: adjectives are adjectives, no matter where they are or what role they play. Based on the relations between an adjective and its object, the A+O structure has

190 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS two varieties. One is that the object is the agent, with the adjective representing its property or status. The other one is that the object is associated with the property or status the adjective represents. Generally, the adjectives used in the second occasion describes people’s psychological status.

(1) A+O case 1

There are more than a hundred adjectives that can be used in the ﬁrst occasion. 90% of them have the meaning of making the objects have the property or status they represent. For example:

Example 108. 这项工程方便了生活。(This project made life convenient.)

surface: 这项工程方便了生活 pinyin: zhe xiang gongcheng fanbian le shenghuo English: this - project convenient - life

Example 109. 我们应该稳定情绪。(We should make our mood stable.)

surface: 我们应该稳定情绪 pinyin: wo men yinggai wending qingxu English: I - should stable mood

“方便了生活 (convenient life)”equals to “使生活方便了 (made life convenient)”. “稳定情绪 (stable mood)” equals to “使情绪稳定 (make mood stable)”. Though adjectives are not stored in the lexicon as two-valence words, they are allowed to have two arguments during the derivation.

The syntactic-semantic analysis is similar to that of a verb used as a predicator.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 这 sur : 项 sur : 工程 sur : 方便 sur : 了 sur : 生活 sur : 。 pyn : zhe pyn : xiang pyn : gongcheng pyn : fangbian pyn: le pyn : shenghuo cat : mark

noun: this noun: XIANG noun: project adj : convenient adj : LE noun: life _sem: v’ decl_ cat : det cat : nquan cat : cn cat : adj cat : asp cat : cn

sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : _sem: perf_ sem : fnc : fnc : mdr : fnc : _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ The derivation result:

______sur : 工程 sur : 方便 sur : 生活 pyn : gongcheng pyn : fangbian pyn : shenghuo noun: project adj : convenient noun: life cat : cn cat : adj mark cat : cn sem : theme sem : av perf sem : fnc : convenient arg : project life fnc : convenient

_mdr : this _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd: _

191 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) convenient b) A ?? ?? ? ? project life N N

In the example sentence “我们应该稳定情绪。(We should make our mood stable.)”, the adjective “稳定 (wending, stable)” is ﬁrst the argument of the preceding modal verb, and then the functor of the following common noun.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 们 sur : 应该 sur : 稳定 sur : 情绪 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn: men pyn : yinggai pyn : wending pyn : qingxu cat : mark

noun: I adj : MEN verb: should adj : stable noun: mood_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : pmr cat : s’ p’ vz cat : adj cat : cn

sem : s1_ sem: pl_ sem : sem : sem : abstract fnc : arg : mdr : fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 我 sur : 们 1 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : wo pyn: men noun: I adj : MEN cat : pro cat : pmr sem :o___ s1 sem: pl _ _ 1 fnc : _mdr : _

The input of the plural morpheme starts the rule of W+MR.

_ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 应该 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : yinggai 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: I verb: should DD z DD z e cat : proD cat : s’ p’ vz 3 DDz e z DD 4z D sem : pl sem :D2 z| " fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In this step, the rule of S+V is applied.

______3. sur : 我 sur : 应该 sur : 稳定 pyn : wo pyn : yinggai pyn : wending noun: I verb: should adj : stable cat : pro cat : p’ vz cat : adj sem : pl agent sem : sem : fnc : should arg : I mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _

192 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS

The adjective is read in and analyzed as the second argument of the modal verb. The “adj”value is copied to the “arg” slot in the preceding modal verb proplet. Then, an additional attribute “fnc” is created in the nw proplet and the core value from the modal verb proplet is copied to it. ______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.2.adj SS.arg) sur : 我 sur : 应该 sur : 稳定 sur : 情绪 d 2 cancel(SS.cat.1) d pyn : wo pyn : yinggai pyn : wending pyn : qingxu 3 ecopy(SS.verb SS.2.fnc) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.arg) d noun: I verb: should adj : stable noun: mood 5 acopy(SS.2.adj nw.fnc) 8 y FF Õ d 8 e yy FF 6 acopy(av SS.2.sem) cat : pro cat : p’ vz 2 ycaty : adj FF catÕ : cn 8 y F Õ yy8 e FF sem : pl agent sem : y sem : 6 semF : abstract y Õ F5 |y 8 " 1 Õ fnc : should arg : I mdr8 : Õ fnc : 8 Õ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: 8 3 _ _mdr : _ ÒÕ 4

When the common noun is read in, the rule of ADJ+N is started. The core value from the nw proplet is copied as the second “arg” value in the adjective proplet. Accordingly, the core value from the adjective proplet is appended to the “fnc” attribute in the nw proplet. ______d 5. sur : 我 sur : 应该 sur : 稳定 sur : 情绪 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat) pyn : wo pyn : yinggai pyn : wending pyn : qingxu cat : mark hh hhhh hhhh noun: I verb: should adj : stable noun:hhhh mood sem: v’ decl shhhh _ _ cat : pro cat : vz cat : adj 1 cat : cn sem : pl agent sem : sem : av sem : abstract fnc : should arg : I stable fnc : should fnc : stable

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : mood_ mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 应该 sur : 稳定 sur : 情绪 pyn : wo pyn : yinggai pyn : wending pyn : qingxu noun: I verb: should adj : stable noun: mood cat : pro cat : vz cat : adj mark cat : cn sem : pl agent sem : sem : av sem : abstract fnc : should arg : I stable fnc : should fnc : stable

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ arg : mood_ mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

(2) A+O case 2

193 11.2. ADJECTIVES AS PREDICATORS CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

Only less than 30 adjectives show up in the second occasion and most of them are related to human being’s psychological status. For example:

Example 110. 他热心公益。(He is keen on public beneﬁts.)

surface: 他热心公益 pinyin: ta rexin gongyi English: he warm-hearted public beneﬁts

Example 111. 我可怜他。(I have pity on him.)

surface: 我可怜他 pinyin: wo kelian ta English: I pitiful he

“热心 (rexin, warm-hearted)”and “可怜 (kelian, pitiful)” are both adjectives used as predicates with objects. Their meaning is changed from descriptive to actively showing certain emotions to the objects.

The syntactic-semantic analysis process is similar to A+O case 1. The derivation result of the above sample sentences is as follows:

The derivation result of “他热心公益。”

______sur : 他 sur : 热心 sur : 公益 pyn : ta pyn : rexin pyn : gongyi noun: he adj : warm-hearted noun: public-beneﬁts cat : pro cat : adj mark cat : cn sem : s3 theme sem : av sem : fnc : warm-hearted arg : he public-beneﬁts fnc : warm-hearted

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “我可怜他。”

______sur : 我 sur : 可怜 sur : 他 pyn : wo pyn : kelian pyn : ta noun: I adj : pitiful noun: he cat : pro cat : adj mark cat : pro sem : s1 theme sem : av sem : s3 fnc : pitiful arg : I he fnc : pitiful

_mdr : _ mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd: _

194 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION

The SRG and the signature presentation:

Semantically, these adjectives in the A+O structure have the feature of [+human]. The property they describe is people’s attitude towards or feelings about the object. Since the human agent is able to control his or her initiative, as they can control their actions, adjectives in this group gain some similarities with verbs in their grammatical functions.

11.3 Adjectives in Repetition

Another point worth mentioning is that Chinese adjectives are often used in repetition. For example:

Example 112. 她的脸红红的。(Her face is red.)

surface: 她的脸红红的 pinyin: ta de lian hong hong de English: she - face red red -

As in the example sentence, almost all monosyllable adjectives can be used in the pattern of “AA” to give a sense of emphasis. In this case, an additional value of “emphasized” is copied to the “sem” slot in the adjective proplet.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “她的脸红红的。” _ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 她 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : ta pyn: de noun: she adj : DE cat : pro cat : smr

sem : s3_ sem: _ fnc : _mdr : _ e 1

_ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdd) sur : 她 sur : 脸 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.mdr) pyn : ta pyn : lian

noun:9 she noun: face 99 cat : pro99 cat : cn 9 sem : s39 sem : object 99 9 fnc : fnc9 : 9 2

mdr :_ mdr : _ Ô 1 _mdd : # _

195 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

These two steps follow the rules of W+MR and AN+N.

______d 3. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 她 sur : 脸 sur : 红 d 2 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d pyn : ta pyn : lian pyn : hong 3 acopy(theme SS.sem) d 4 acopy(av nw.sem) noun: she noun: face adj : red 6 z 6 z cat : pro cat : cn zcatz : adj 6 zz zz6e e sem : s3 sem : objectzz 3 6 sem : 4 }z 2 6 fnc : fnc : mdr6 : 6 mdr : _mdr : she _ _mdd:6 _ 1 _mdd : face_

When the ﬁrst adjective is read in, the rule of “S+AV” is activated. The functor-argument relation is represented.

______d 4. sur : 她 sur : 脸 sur : 红 sur : 红 1 acopy(emphasized SS.sem) pyn : ta pyn : lian pyn : hong pyn : hong noun: she noun: face adj : red adj : red cat : pro cat : cn cat : adj cat : adj e sem : s3 sem : object theme sem : av 1 sem : fnc : fnc : red arg : face mdr :

mdr : _mdr : she _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd : face_ _mdd: _

When the second adjective is read in, an additional value “emphasized” is copied into the “sem” slot in the ﬁrst adjective proplet, but the nw proplet is not copied into output.

______d 5. sur : 她 sur : 脸 sur : 红 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : ta pyn : lian pyn : hong pyn: de noun: she noun: face adj : red adj : DE cat : pro cat : cn cat : adj cat : smr

sem : s3 sem : object theme sem : av emphasized_ sem: _ fnc : fnc : red arg : face

mdr : _mdr : she _ mdr : e _mdd : face 1_ _mdd: _

When the particle “的 (de, DE)” is read in, the rule of “W+MR” is activated again. A substitute value “#” is copied to the “mdd” slot in the adjective proplet.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

196 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION

Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 脸 sur : 红 pyn : ta pyn : lian pyn : hong noun: she noun: face adj : red cat : pro cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : s3 sem : object theme sem : av emphasized fnc : fnc : red arg : face

mdr :_ mdr : she _ mdr : _mdd : # _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) red b) A face N

she N A gap is left as indicated by the “mdd” value in the adjective proplet. This is because the particle “的 (de, DE)” is generally a marker of an adnominal modiﬁer. This is consistent with the case of “AA 的” as an adnominal modiﬁer. For example:

Example 113. 他有一双冰冷冰冷的手。(He has a pair of ice-cold hands.)

surface: 他有一双冰冷冰冷的手 pinyin: ta you yi shuang bingleng bingleng de shou English: he have one pair ice-cold ice-cold - hand

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 一 sur : 双 sur : 冰冷 sur : 冰冷 sur : 的 sur : 手 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi pyn : shuang pyn : bingleng pyn : bingleng pyn: de pyn : shou cat : mark

noun: he verb: have noun: one noun: pair adj : ice-cold adj : ice-cold adj : DE noun: hand_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : adj cat : adj cat : smr cat : cn

sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : _sem: _ sem : object fnc : arg : fnc : mdr : mdr : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: Step 0-3 are skipped. ______4. sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 一双 sur : 冰冷 pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi|shuang pyn : bingleng noun: he verb: have noun: one adj : ice-cold cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn-q cat : adj sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : +N sem : fnc : have arg : he one fnc : have mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd : _

197 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

In this step, the adjective is read in for the ﬁrst time and copied into output.

______d 5. sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 一双 sur : 冰冷 sur : 冰冷 1 acopy(emphasized SS.sem) pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi|shuang pyn : bingleng pyn : bingleng noun: he verb: have noun: one adj : ice-cold adj : ice-cold cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn-q cat : adj cat : adj e sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : +N sem : 1 sem : fnc : have arg : he one fnc : have mdr : mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ _mdd: _ _mdd : _

In this step, the adjective is read in for the second time. The repetition activates the rule of “X+X”. The value of “emphasized” is appended to the “sem” attribute in the adjective proplet in the sentence start.

______d 6. sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 一双 sur : 冰冷 sur : 的 1 ecopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi|shuang pyn : bingleng pyn: de noun: he verb: have noun: one adj : ice-cold adj : DE cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn-q cat : adj cat : smr

sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : +N sem : emphasized_ sem: _ fnc : have arg : he one fnc : have mdr :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdd: _ e 1 _mdd : _

The particle “的 (de, DE)” activates the rule of W+MR. The substitute value “#” is appended to the “mdd” attribute.

______d 7. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 一双o______sur : 冰冷 sur : 手 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : yi|shuango______pyn : bingleng pyn : shou 3 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.2.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.2.noun) 2 d noun: he verb: have noun: oneo______adj : ice-cold noun: hand 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) | gggg d 4 | gggg 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) | gggg d cat : pro cat : tv cat : cdn-qo______catgg|gg : adj cat : cn 7 cancel(SS.arg.2) ggggg | d 5gggg | 8 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sem : s3 sem : non-action semg :g +Nggo______||sem : emphasized sem : object d gggg 9 ecopy(nw.noun SS.3.mdd) gs gg || d 6 | 10 acopy(SS.3.adj SS.2.mdr) e 8 | fnc : have arg : he one 7 fnc : have | mdr : fnc : 3~| '&%$ !"# 9 mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : 10 _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : # _ _mdd : _

When the modiﬁed noun is read in, the value “#” is replaced by the “noun” value from the nw proplet. The “cdn-p” proplet is absorbed.

198 CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 有 sur : 手 sur : 冰冷 pyn : ta pyn : you pyn : shou pyn : bingleng noun: he verb: have noun: hand adj : ice-cold cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn cat : adj sem : s3 sem : non-action sem : object sem : emphasized fnc : have arg : he hand fnc : have mdr : mdr : _mdr: _ mdr : one ice-cold_ mdd: hand _ _mdd : # _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

In fact, the particle “的 (de, DE)” is necessary when adjectives are used as predicators or adnominal modiﬁers in the pattern of “AA”. But, when adjectives are used in the pattern of “AA” to modify verbs, the adverbial marker “地 (de, DE)” is not compulsory. For example:

Example 114. 他慢慢走着。(He is walking slowly.)

surface: 他慢慢走着 pinyin: ta man man zou zhe English: he slow slow walk -

Example 115. 他慢慢地走着。(He is walking slowly.)

surface: 他慢慢地走着 pinyin: ta man man de zou zhe English: he slow slow - walk -

In this case, the syntactic-semantic analysis of the two sentences is slightly diﬀerent due to the particle “地 (de, DE)”, but the result is the same.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 慢 sur : 走 pyn : ta pyn : man pyn : zou noun: he adj : slow verb: walk cat : pro cat : adj cat : iv mark sem : s3 sem : emphasized sem : cont fnc : walk mdr : arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdd: walk _ _mdr: slow _

199 11.3. ADJECTIVES IN REPETITION CHAPTER 11. ADJECTIVES

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) walk b) V he slow N A

200 Chapter 12

Analysis of Adverbs

12.1 Overview

The definition of Chinese adverbs varies from person to person. Chen [1982] says that adverbs are modifiers of adjectives or verbs. Chen [1978] takes adverbs as content words that show manner, degree or tone of the statements. Ding [1982] agrees to some extent with Chengze Chen by saying that adverbs are modifiers of verbs, auxiliary verbs and adjectives. Wang [1943]defines them as words that will never be the core elements of sentences, i.e. subjects or predicates. Zhu [1982] argues that adverbs are function words only used as adverbials.

The above definitions have different foundations. Some are based on the lexical meaning, and others are based on the grammatical function or both. In the book of Modern Chinese, Huang and Liao [1991] have integrated the previous definitions and defined adverbs as modifiers of verbs and adjectives in the sense of degree, scope, time, frequency, etc.

Adverbs in Chinese, with only two exceptions (see 13.2), always precede the modiﬁed words. It is proper to say that adverbs are usually used to modify verbs and adjectives. However, as found in the corpus and also proved in some research articles, Chinese adverbs sometimes modify nouns as well. Therefore, the application of adverbs is classiﬁed into two cases in LAG-Chinese: one is to modify verbs or adjectives, and the other is to modify nouns. The phenomenon of adverbs modifying nouns is discussed in Chapter 5. Among all the sentence patterns with adverbs modifying verbs or adjectives, the following 9 are the most frequently found:

12.1.1 Adverb + verb/adjective

Example 116. 他只惦记钱。(He is only concerned about money.)

surface: 他只惦记钱 pinyin: ta zhi dianji qian English: he only concern money

201 12.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 惦记 sur : 钱 pyn : ta pyn : dianji pyn : qian noun: he verb: concern noun: money cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 sem : sem : object patient fnc : concern arg : he money fnc : concern

_mdr : _ mdr : only _mdr : _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

Example 117. 方法很重要。(The method is important.)

surface: 方法很重要 pinyin: fangfa hen zhongyao English: method very important

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 方法 sur : 重要 pyn : fangfa pyn : zhongyao noun: method adj : important cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : theme sem : av fnc : important arg : method

_mdr : _ mdr : very _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) important b) A method N

12.1.2 Adverb + modal verb + verb

Example 118. 我们真应该学习英语。(We should learn English.)

surface: 我们真应该学习英语 pinyin: wo men zhen yinggai xuexi yingyu English: I - really should study English

202 CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS 12.1. OVERVIEW

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 应该 sur : 学习 sur : 英语 pyn : wo pyn : yinggai pyn : xuexi pyn : yingyu noun: I verb: should verb: study noun: English cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : tv cat : cn sem : pl sem : sem : sem : patient fnc : should arg : I study fnc : should fnc : study

_mdr : _ mdr : really arg : # English_ mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

12.1.3 Adverb + adverb + verb/adjective

Example 119. 她不十分了解他。(She does not know him very well.)

surface: 她不十分了解他 pinyin: ta bu shifen liaojie ta English: she not much know he

Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 了解 sur : 他 pyn : ta pyn : liaojie pyn : ta noun: she verb: know noun: he cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro sem : s3 sem : sem : s3 patient fnc : know arg : she he fnc : know

_mdr : _ mdr : not much_ mdr : _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) know b) V ?? ?? ? ? she he N N

Example 120. 头发几乎全白了。(The hair is almost all white.)

surface: 头发几乎全白了 pinyin: toufa jihu quan bai le English: hair almost all white -

203 12.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 头发 sur : 白 pyn : toufa pyn : bai noun: hair adj : white cat : cn cat : adj mark sem : object theme sem : av perf fnc : white arg : hair

_mdr : _ mdr : almost all _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) white b) A hair N

12.1.4 Adverb + adjective + verb

Example 121. 她很快振作起来。(She recovered soon.)

surface: 她很快振作起来 pinyin: ta hen kuai zhenzuo qilai English: she very fast recover start

Derivation result:

______sur : 她 sur : 快 sur : 振作 pyn : ta pyn : kuai pyn : zhenzuo noun: she adj : fast verb: recover cat : pro cat : adj cat : iv mark sem : s3 sem : sem : fnc : recover mdr : very arg : she

_mdr : _ _mdd: recover_ _ mdr: fast start_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) recover b) V she fast N A

12.1.5 Adverb + modal verb + adverb + verb

Example 122. 他肯定会格外生气。(He will certainly be extremely angry.)

surface: 他肯定会格外生气 pinyin: ta kending hui gewai shengqi

English: he certainly will extremely get angry

204 CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS 12.1. OVERVIEW

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 生气 pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : shengqi noun: he verb: will-can verb: get-angry cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : iv sem : s3 sem : sem : fnc : will-can arg : he get-angry fnc : will-can

_mdr : _ mdr : certainly arg : # _mdd: _ mdr : extremely _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

12.1.6 Adverb + directional verb + verb

Example 123. 医生又来探视。(The doctor pays a visit again.)

surface: 医生又来探视 pinyin: yisheng you lai tanshi English: doctor again come visit

Derivation result:

______sur : 医生 sur : 来 sur : 探视 pyn : yisheng pyn : lai pyn : tanshi noun: doctor verb: come verb: visit cat : nr cat : vq cat : iv mark sem : sem : spt sem : fnc : visit arg : # arg : doctor

_mdr : _ mdr : again_ mdr: come _ _mdd: visit _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

12.1.7 Adverb + preposition phrase + verb

Example 124. 他正经由丝绸之路去巴基斯坦。(He is going to Pakistan through the Silk Road.)

surface: 他正经由丝绸之路去巴基斯坦 pinyin: ta zheng jingyou sichouzhilu qu bajisitan English: he right now through Silk Road go Pakistan

205 12.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 经由 sur : 去 sur : 巴基斯坦 pyn : ta pyn : jingyou pyn : qu pyn : bajisitan noun: he adj : through verb: go noun: Pakistan cat : pro cat : prep cat : vq mark cat : nd sem : s3 agent sem : tense sem : spt sem : fnc : go arg : Silk-Road arg : he fnc :

_mdr : _ mdr : right-now_ mdr: through Pakistan_ mdr : _mdd: go _ _mdd : go _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) go b) V he through Pakistan N A N 12.1.8 Adverb + adverb + preposition phrase + directional verb + verb

Example 125. 他就没按照要求去做。(He didn’t follow the requirement.)

surface: 他就没按照要求去做 pinyin: ta jiu mei anzhao yaoqiu qu zuo English: he just not according to requirement go do

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 按照 sur : 去 sur : 做 pyn : ta pyn : anzhao pyn : qu pyn : zuo noun: he adj : according-to verb: go verb: do cat : pro cat : prep cat : vq cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : sem : spt sem : fnc : do arg : requirement arg : # arg : he

_mdr : _ mdr : not just mdr : according-to_ mdr: go _ _mdd: go _ _mdd: do _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

12.1.9 Adverb + adverb + adverb + modal verb + verb

Example 126. 他永远也不会理解。(He will never understand.)

surface: 他永远也不会理解 pinyin: ta yongyuan ye bu hui lijie English: he forever also not will understand

206 CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS 12.2. ADVERBS AS COMPLEMENT

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 会 sur : 理解 pyn : ta pyn : hui pyn : lijie noun: he verb: will-can verb: understand cat : pro cat : vz mark cat : iv sem : s3 sem : sem : fnc : will-can arg : he understand fnc : will-can

_mdr : _ mdr : not for-ever arg : # _mdd: _ _mdr: _

The SRG and the signature presentation:

As shown above, adverbs may modify verbs and adjectives directly or indirectly. It is possible to have up to three adverbs in a continuous sequence before an adjective or a verb. During the syntactic-semantic analysis, adverbs are absorbed by common verbs, modal verbs or adjectives that they modify. However, the absorption is not complete as in the original DBS. Instead, their core value is maintained and copied to the “mdr” attribute of the modiﬁed. Content representation is not aﬀected while a more direct indication of the surface is guaranteed.

12.2 Adverbs as Complement

Among all the adverbs, only “很 (hen, very)” and “极 (ji, extremely)” have been observed as independent complements after verbs or adjectives.

12.2.1 很 (hen, very)

For “很 (hen, very)”, there is always the pattern of “adjective + 得 (de, DE) + 很 (hen, very)”. “得 (de, DE)” is the only complement marker in Chinese. It is well-known as one of the three main structure auxiliaries in Chinese, the other two being “的 (de, DE)” and “地 (de, DE)”. For example:

Example 127. 我开心得很。(I am very happy.)

surface: 我开心得很 pinyin: wo kaixin de hen English: I happy - very

207 12.2. ADVERBS AS COMPLEMENT CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 得 sur : 很 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn: de pyn : hen cat : mark

noun: I adj : happy adj : DE adj : very_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : adj cat : cmr cat : adv

sem : s1 sem : _sem: _ sem : +N fnc : mdr : _mdd: _ _mdr :_ _ mdd: _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

In the ﬁrst step, the ﬁrst word in the sentence, “我 (wo, I)”, is read in.

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 开心 d 2 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d pyn : wo pyn : kaixin 3 acopy(theme SS.sem) d 4 acopy(av nw.sem) noun: I adj : happy 6 | 6 | cat : pro| cat| : adj 6 || |e|6 e sem : s1| 3 sem : 4 |} 6 fnc : 2 mdr6 : 6 mdr : mdd:6 _ _ _ 1 _

In this step, the input of the adjective activates the rule of “S+AV”. The functor-argument relation between the two proplets is represented.

______d 2. sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 得 1 acopy(”#” SS.mdr) pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn: de noun: I adj : happy adj : DE cat : pro cat : adj cat : cmr

sem : s1 theme sem : av_ sem: _ fnc : happy arg : I e _mdr : _ mdr : 1 _mdd: _

A variation of the rule of W+MR is activated by the complement marker “得 (de, DE)”. The substitute value “#” is copied into the “mdr” slot of the adjective proplet.

______d 3. sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 很 1 ecopy(nw.adj SS.mdr) pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn : hen noun: I adj : happy adj : very Ö cat : pro cat : adj catÖ : adv Ö sem : s1 theme sem : avÖ sem : +N Ö Ö fnc : happy arg : I _mdd: _ ÒÖ 1 _mdr : _ mdr : # _mdd: _

208 CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS 12.2. ADVERBS AS COMPLEMENT

When the adverb “很 (hen, very)” is read in, the substitute value “#” is replaced by the core value of the adverb. The adverb proplet is not copied into output.

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 开心 pyn : wo pyn : kaixin noun: I adj : happy cat : pro cat : adj mark sem : s1 theme sem : av fnc : happy arg : I

_mdr : _ mdr : very _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) happy b) A I N

12.2.2 极 (ji, extremely)

For “极 (ji, extremely)”, it is always in the pattern of “adjective/verb + 极 (ji, extremely) + 了 (le, LE)”. For example:

Example 128. 我开心极了。(I am very happy.)

surface: 我开心极了 pinyin: wo kaixin ji le English: I happy extremely -

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 极 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn : ji pyn: le cat : mark

noun: I adj : happy adj : extremely adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : adj cat : adv cat : asp

sem : s1 sem : sem : +N _sem: perf_ fnc : mdr : _mdd: _ _mdr :_ _ mdd: _ Syntactic-semantic analysis: _ _ _ _ d 1. 1 ecopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 开心 d 2 acopy(nw.adj SS.fnc) d pyn : wo pyn : kaixin 3 acopy(theme SS.sem) d 4 acopy(av nw.sem) noun: I adj : happy 6 | 6 | cat : pro| cat| : adj 6 || |e|6 e sem : s1| 3 sem : 4 |} 6 fnc : 2 mdr6 : 6 mdr : mdd:6 _ _ _ 1 _

209 12.2. ADVERBS AS COMPLEMENT CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

______d 2. sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 极 1 ecopy(nw.adj SS.mdr) pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn : ji noun: I adj : happy adj : extremely Ð cat : pro cat : adj catÐ : adv Ð sem : s1 theme sem : avÐ sem : +N Ð Ð fnc : happy arg : I _mdd: _ Ð 1 _mdr : _ mdr : _mdd: _

In step 2, the input of the adverb “极 (ji, extremely)” activates a variation of the rule of V+COMP. The core value of the adverb is copied to the “mdr” slot in the preceding proplet. ______d 3. sur : 我 sur : 开心 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : wo pyn : kaixin pyn: le noun: I adj : happy adj : LE cat : pro cat : adj cat : asp sem : s1 theme sem : avo sem: perf _ _ 1 fnc : happy arg : I

_mdr : _ mdr : extremely _mdd: _

Then the aspect marker is read in. The rule of W+ASP is activated. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 我 sur : 开心 pyn : wo pyn : kaixin noun: I adj : happy cat : pro cat : adj mark sem : s1 theme sem : av perf fnc : happy arg : I

_mdr : _ mdr : extremely _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) happy b) A I N

“极 (ji, extremely)” is used in the same pattern to modify verbs. For example:

Example 129. 我感动极了。(I am deeply moved.)

surface: 我感动极了 pinyin: wo gandong ji le English: I move extremely -

210 CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS 12.3. ADVERBS IN COORDINATION

The syntactic-semantic analysis is similar to “我开心极了。”

Derivation result:

The SRG and the signature presentation:

12.3 Adverbs in Coordination

Some adverbs, though in the position of adverbials, function like conjunctives, e.g. “又 (you, again)” and “越 (yue, more)”. In this case, they are often used in coordination. For example:

Example 130. 他们又说又笑。(They talk and laugh.)

surface: 他们又说又笑 pinyin: ta men you shuo you xiao English: he - again speak again laugh

Example 131. 他越走越累。(The more he walks, the more he gets tired.)

surface: 他越走越累 pinyin: ta yue zou yue lei English: he more walk more tired

Only a few adverbs are used in this pattern, among which the above two are the most frequent. During the syntactic-semantic analysis, the adverbs are absorbed and the two verbs or the two predicates from any part of speech are treated as conjuncts.

211 12.3. ADVERBS IN COORDINATION CHAPTER 12. ADVERBS

The derivation result of “他们又说又笑。”

______sur : 他 sur : 说 sur : 笑 pyn : ta pyn : shuo pyn : xiao noun: he verb: speak verb: laugh cat : pro cat : iv cat : iv mark sem : pl sem : sem : fnc : speak arg : he arg : #

_mdr : _ mdr : again mdr: mdd: _pc : speak _ _nc : laugh_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

The derivation result of “他越走越累。”

______sur : 他 sur : 走 sur : 累 pyn : ta pyn : zou pyn : lei noun: he verb: walk adj : tired cat : pro cat : iv cat : adj mark sem : s3 sem : sem : av fnc : walk arg : he arg : #

_mdr : _ mdr : the-more mdr : mdd: mdd:

_nc : tired_ _ pc : walk _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

212 Chapter 13

Analysis of Prepositions

13.1 Overview

Most of the modern Chinese prepositions result from the delexical use of verbs in ancient Chinese. Some of them are no longer used as verbs while some others are still verbs in parallel. For example:

在 (zai)

verb: 他不在学校。(He is not at school.) surface: 他不在学校

pinyin: ta bu zai xuexiao English: he not be at school

prep: 他在学校学习。(He studies at school.) surface: 他在学校学习

pinyin: ta zai xuexiao xuexi English: he at school study

朝 (chao) verb: 这扇窗户朝北。(This window faces north.) surface: 这扇窗户朝北

pinyin: zhe shan chuanghu chao bei English: this - window face north prep: 他朝南走。(He walks towards the south.) surface: 他朝南走

pinyin: ta chao nan zou English: he toward south walk

213 13.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

比 (bi) verb: 他们比身高及体重。(They compare height and weight.) surface: 他们比身高及体重

pinyin: ta men bi shengao ji tizhong English: he - compare height and weight prep: 他比她强壮。(He is stronger than her.) surface: 他比她强壮

pinyin: ta bi ta qiangzhuang English: he than she strong

Modern Chinese prepositions are generally classiﬁed into the following groups:

1. to indicate time or location:

surface: 从自于到往在当 pinyin: cong zi yu dao wang zai dang English: from from on-at-in till towards on-at-in when

surface: 朝向顺沿随 pinyin: chao xiang shun yan sui English: towards towards along with along with along with

2. to indicate manner:

surface: 按照按照依依照 pinyin: an zhao anzhao yi yizhao English: according-to according to according to according to according to

surface: 经过通过根据以凭 pinyin: jingguo tongguo genju yi ping English: through through based on according to according to

3. to indicate purpose or cause:

surface: 为因因为由于 pinyin: wei yin yinwei youyu English: for because of because of because of

4. to indicate object or range:

surface: 对对于把向跟与同关于 pinyin: dui duiyu ba xiang gen yu tong guanyu English: for for - towards with with with about

5. to indicate exception:

214 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.1. OVERVIEW

surface: 除除了除去除非 pinyin: chu chule chuqu chufei English: except-besides except-besides except-besides unless

6. to indicate passive voice:

surface: 被叫让给 pinyin: bei jiao rang gei English: by by by by

7. to indicate comparison:

surface: 比 pinyin: bi English: compared with

Prepositions are not used independently. They combine with other words to form preposition phrases. One of the most basic applications of these preposition phrases are adverbial modiﬁers, e.g. “他从北京来。(He comes from Beijing.)” (as in 6.1). In addition, they are also used as adnominal modiﬁers and complements.

13.1.1 Preposition as Attributive:

Adnominal preposition phrases in Chinese come before the modiﬁed nouns. In this case, the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)” is compulsory. For example:

Example 132. 在北京的人是他。(It is him who is in Beijing.)

surface: 在北京的人是他 pinyin: zai beijing de ren shi ta English: in/at/on Peking - person be he

In this example, “在北京的人” is the subject. Within the phrase, “人 (ren, person)” is the key word and “在北京” is a preposition phrase as attributive. This modiﬁer-modiﬁed relation is guaranteed by the structure auxiliary “的 (de, DE)”.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 在 sur : 北京 sur : 的 sur : 人 sur : 是 sur : 他 sur : 。 pyn : zai pyn : beijing pyn: de pyn : ren pyn : shi pyn : ta cat : mark

adj : in-at-on noun: Peking adj : DE noun: person verb: be noun: he_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : prep cat : nd cat : smr cat : nr cat : s’ p’ vx cat : pro

sem : sem : _sem: _ sem : sem : sem : s3 arg : fnc : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

215 13.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 在 sur : 北京 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.arg) pyn : zai pyn : beijing adj : in-at-on noun: Peking w w cat : prepw cat : nd w sem : w sem : {w arg : 1 fnc :

_mdd: _ _mdr : _

In step 1, the rule of PREP+O is activated by the input of “北京 (beijing, Peking)”.

_ _ _ _ d 2. sur : 在 sur : 的 1 acopy(”#” SS.mdd) pyn : zai pyn: de adj : in-at-on adj : DE cat : prep cat : smr sem : _sem: _ arg : Peking e _mdd: 1 _

In step 2, the input of the particle “的 (de, DE)” provides the “mdd” attribute in the preposition proplet with the substitute value “#”.

_ _ _ _ d 3. 1 acopy(SS.adj nw.mdr) sur : 在 sur : 人 d 2 ecopy(nw.noun SS.mdd) pyn : zai pyn : ren

adj : in-at-on> noun: person >> Ð cat : prep>> catÐ : nr >>Ð sem : Ð >sem : >> Ð > arg : Peking fnc> :1 Ð 2 _mdd: # _ _mdr : _

In step 3, the rule of ADJ+N is activated by the input of “人 (ren, person)”. The substitute value “#” is replaced by the “noun” value from the nw proplet. The “adj” value in the preposition proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the nw proplet.

______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 在 sur : 人 sur : 是 d 2 cancel(nw.cat.1) d pyn : zai pyn : ren pyn : shi 3 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) d 4 acopy(theme SS.sem) adj : in-at-on noun: personH verb: be HH vv H v e cat : prep cat : nr HHvcatv : s’ p’ vx 2 vvHH e v H sem : sem : 4 vv semHH : 1 vz $ arg : Peking fnc : 3 arg :

_mdd: person_ _ mdr : in-at-on_ _ mdr: _

216 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.1. OVERVIEW

When the link verb “是 (shi, be)” is read in, the rule of S+VX is applied. ______d 5. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.2.arg) sur : 在 sur : 人 sur : 是 sur : 他 d 2 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) d pyn : zai pyn : ren pyn : shi pyn : ta 3 acopy(SS.2.verb nw.fnc) adj : in-at-on noun: person verb: be noun: he BB | BBe || cat : prep cat : nr cat : p’ vx 2 B| cat : pro ||BB | B sem : sem : theme sem : | semB3 : s3 ~| arg : Peking fnc : be arg : person1 fnc :

_mdd: person_ _ mdr : in-at-on_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _

The rule of VX+P is activated in this step. The “noun” value from the nw proplet is copied as the second “arg” value in the link verb proplet. In return, the “verb” value is copied to the “fnc” slot in the nw proplet.

When the full stop is read in, the rule of S+IP is activated and the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 在 sur : 人 sur : 是 sur : 他 pyn : zai pyn : ren pyn : shi pyn : ta adj : in-at-on noun: person verb: be noun: he cat : prep cat : nr cat : vx mark cat : pro sem : sem : theme sem : sem : s3 arg : Peking fnc : be arg : person he fnc : be

_mdd: person_ _ mdr : in-at-on_ _ mdr: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

13.1.2 Preposition as Complement:

The complementary preposition phrases always come after the modiﬁed verbs. Generally speaking, prepositions observed in this application indicate location or direction. The most frequently found include “在 (zai, in-at-on)”, “到 (dao, till)”, “往 (wang, towards)”, “向 (xiang, towards)”, “于 (yu, on-at-in)”, “自 (zi, from)”. For example:

Example 133. 他出差到北京。(He goes on a business trip to Beijing.)

surface: 他出差到北京 pinyin: ta chuchai dao beijing English: he travel for business to Peking

In this example, “他出差” is the main structure of the sentence, i.e. the subject and the predicate. “到北京” is a preposition phrase used as complement, which gives information about the location.

217 13.1. OVERVIEW CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 出差 sur : 到 sur : 北京 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn : chuchai pyn : dao pyn : beijing cat : mark

noun: he verb: travel-for-business adj : to noun: Peking_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : s’ iv cat : prep cat : nd sem : s3 sem : sem : sem : fnc : arg : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _

The syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 出差 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : chuchai 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) d 4 acopy(agent SS.sem) noun: heK verb: travel-for-business KK ss KK ss e cat : pro catKK ss : s’ iv 3 ssKK ess KK sem : s3 s4s sem : KK2 ys % fnc : 1 arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _

In this step, the rule of S+V is activated by the input of “出差 (chuchai, travel-for-business)”.

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.adj SS.mdr) sur : 他 sur : 出差 sur : 到 d 2 acopy(SS.verb nw.mdd) d pyn : ta pyn : chuchai pyn : dao 3 acopy(complement nw.sem) noun: he verb: travel-for-business adj : to CC { CC {{ cat : pro cat : iv C {{cat : prep CC {{ C{{ e sem : s3 agent sem : {C sem : 3 {{ CC {{ C {{ CC fnc : travel-for-business arg : he { argC2 : {} { ! 1 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _

In step 3, the input of the preposition starts the rule of V+COMP. The “adj” value from the nw proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the preceding verb proplet and an additional value, “complement” is copied to the “sem” slot in the nw proplet.

______d 3. sur : 他 sur : 出差 sur : 到 sur : 北京 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.arg) pyn : ta pyn : chuchai pyn : dao pyn : beijing noun: he verb: travel-for-business adj : to noun: Peking s s cat : pro cat : iv cat : prep s cat : nd s s sem : s3 agent sem : sem : complements sem : ys fnc : travel-for-business arg : he arg : 1 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: to _ _mdd: travel-for-business_ _ mdr : _

Then the rule of PREP+O is activated with the input of “北京 (beijing, Peking)”.

When the full stop is read in, the rule of S+IP is activated.

218 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.1. OVERVIEW

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 出差 sur : 到 pyn : ta pyn : chuchai pyn : dao noun: he verb: travel-for-business adj : to cat : pro cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : s3 agent sem : sem : complement fnc : travel-for-business arg : he arg : Peking

_mdr : _ _mdr: to _ _mdd: travel-for-business_ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) travel-for-business b) V he to N A 13.1.3 Preposition with ASP:

Prepositions do not function as predicates. They do not appear as sentence elements independently. They are also not used in repetition, e.g. we have “看 (kan, read) 看 (kan, read).” but not “在 (zai, at-in-on) 在 (zai, at-in-on).” These are two of the main diﬀerences between verbs and prepositions in Chinese. However, both prepositions and verbs take objects, and their similarities are not limited to this. For instance, prepositions in Chinese are also observed in collocation with aspect makers. Here are some examples.

Example 134. 他朝着汽车跑。(He runs towards the car.)

surface: 他朝着汽车跑 pinyin: ta chao zhe qiche pao English: he towards - car run

Example 135. 他出差到过北京。(He has been in Beijing for a business trip.)

surface: 他出差到过北京 pinyin: ta chuchai dao guo beijing English: he travel for business to - Peking

Example 136. 他已经睡在了床上。(He is already sleeping in the bed.)

surface: 他已经睡在了床上 pinyin: ta yijing shui zai le chuang shang English: he already sleep in - bed upside

It is possible for all the three aspect markers “着 (zhe, ZHE)”, “了 (le, LE)”, and “过 (guo, GUO)” to modify prepositions. Their semantic function is the same as they modify verbs or adjectives. In this case, the rule of W+ASP also applies. The “sem” value of the aspect marker is copied to the “sem” attribute of the preposition. The derivation result of the above three sentences is as follows:

219 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

The derivation result of “他朝着汽车跑。”

______sur : 他 sur : 朝 sur : 跑 pyn : ta pyn : chao pyn : pao noun: he adj : towards verb: run cat : pro cat : prep cat : iv mark sem : s3 agent sem : cont sem : fnc : run arg : car arg : he

_mdr : _ _mdd: run_ _ mdr: towards_ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) run b) V he towards N A

The derivation result of “他出差到过北京。”

______sur : 他 sur : 出差 sur : 到 pyn : ta pyn : chuchai pyn : dao noun: he verb: travel-for-business adj : to cat : pro cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : s3 agent sem : sem : complement past fnc : travel-for-business arg : he arg : Peking

_mdr : _ _mdr: to _ _mdd: travel-for-business_ The SRG and the signature presentation is the same as that of “他出差到过北京。”

The derivation result of “他已经睡在了床上。”

______sur : 他 sur : 睡 sur : 在 pyn : ta pyn : shui pyn : zai noun: he verb: sleep adj : in-at-on cat : pro cat : iv mark cat : prep sem : s3 sem : sem : complement perf fnc : sleep arg : he arg : bed upside

_mdr : _ mdr : perfect in-at-on_ mdd: sleep _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

a) sleep b) V he in-at-on N A

13.2 Ba and Bei Constructions

Sentences with the preposition “把 (ba, BA)” are well-known as “Ba Construction”, and those with the preposition “被 (bei, by)” are called “Bei Construction”. Both of them have attracted high interest because of their distinction from other prepositions.

220 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

The basic Ba Construction can be generalized as

“N1 Ba N2 V”.

The basic Bei Construction can be generalized as

“N1 Bei N2 V”.

In the syntactic point of view, if we say the most basic sentence pattern is

“S V O (subject-verb-object)”, then the basic Ba Construction is

“S Ba O V”, and the basic Bei Construction is

“O Bei S V”.

The pattern of SVO, the Ba Construction and the Bei Construction represent three diﬀerent perspectives to describe the relation among the agent, the patient and the action. For example:

• SVO: 他取消合同了。(He has canceled the contract.) surface: 他取消合同了

pinyin: ta quxiao hetong le English: he cancel contract -

• Ba: 他把合同取消了。(He has canceled the contract.) surface: 他把合同取消了

pinyin: ta ba hetong quxiao le English: he - contract cancel -

• Bei: 合同被他取消了。(The contract has been canceled by him.) surface: 合同被他取消了

pinyin: hetong bei ta quxiao le English: contract by he cancel -

All the three examples provide two messages: the contract has been canceled and he has done it.

The preposition “把 (ba, BA)” moves the object from behind the verb to before the verb. The preposition “被 (bei, by)” moves the object to the formal position of the subject, while the logic subject becomes the object of the preposition “被 (bei, by)”. From the perspective of semantics, the preposition object in the Bei construction plays the role of the causative or responsible agent, and the formal subject is the aﬀected.

221 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

Bojiang Zhang (2000) says that the Ba construction represents a similar semantic relation with the preposition object as the affected and the subject as the causative actor. According to Hopper and Thompson [1980], Taylor [1995] and Dowty [1991], it is a strong feature of transitivity that the patient is completely affected. Taylor pointed out that in the typical transitivity the patient has obvious change in their status after the affection. This is mandatory in the Ba and the Bei construction, which are not adopted if the patient is not affected. Compared with the pattern of SVO, the Ba and the Bei construction have a stronger expression of the semantic meaning of being “affected”. This results from the sentence pattern instead of the predicate verb itself, though the verb in these two constructions is supposed to have a strong sense of disposition.

13.2.1 Ba Construction

In the syntactic view, the Ba Construction is concerned with a preposition phrase used as an adverbial modiﬁer. But in the semantic view, Li [1924] states that the normal position of an object is after the predicate verb, and the function of “把 (ba, BA)” is to move the object in front of the verb for emphasis. According to Wang [1943] and Song [1991], the subject in the Ba construction must be an agent, who causes the action of disposal, and the object must be known already. They emphasize that the predicate verb must be a verb of disposal. This condition can be understood as the verb describes the agent’s meaningful action of purpose. Though Lv [1985] and Hu and Wen [1990] argue that the verbs in the Ba Construction have much more varieties, their examples are taken from literary works or oral Chinese. Based on our statistics, the verbs of judgement, such as “是 (shi, be)” and “为 (wei, be)”have never appeared in the Ba Construction. The verbs of perception, such as “讨厌 (taoyan, hate)” and “知道 (zhidao, know)”, are also not used in similar situations. Intransitive verbs, such as “跑 (pao, run)” and “哭 (ku, cry)”, are excluded as well from the Ba Construction. It is proved that transitive verbs, especially verbs with the sense of disposal, are commonly adopted in the Ba Construction. However, the disposal may not be physical, such as displacement of the object or change in its status. It also refers to the change of image in the subject’s cognition.

• Physical disposal

Example 137. 我把书借他了。(I lent the book to him.)

surface: 我把书借他了 pinyin: wo ba shu jie ta le English: I - book lend he -

The SVO pattern of this example is “我借书给他. (I lend books to him.)” The verb “借 (jie, lend)” is a three-valence verb which requires three arguments. It has a strong sense of transitivity and represents the action of changing the location of the object. Here, “书 (shu, book)” is displaced from “我 (wo, I)” to “他 (ta, he)”. Superficially, it is the object of the preposition, but semantically it is the object of the verb “借 (jie, lend)”. Therefore, during the derivation, the preposition “把 (ba, BA)” is absorbed by the verb proplet. The deep functor-argument relation, instead of the modifier-modified relation, is represented.

222 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 我 sur : 把 sur : 书 sur : 借 sur : 他 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : wo pyn : ba pyn : shu pyn : jie pyn : ta pyn: le cat : mark noun: I adj : BA noun: book verb: lend noun: he adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : prep cat : cn cat : s’ i’ d’ tv cat : pro cat : asp sem : s1 sem : sem : object sem : unaccusative sem : s3_ sem: perf_ fnc : arg : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 我 sur : 把 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) pyn : wo pyn : ba

noun: I? adj : BA ?? cat : pro? cat : prep ?? ? sem : s1 sem1 : ? fnc : arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdd: _

In step 1, the preposition 把 (ba, BA) is read in and given the “arg” value of “I”, which is the core value of the ss proplet. But the core value of the nw proplet is not copied in return as the “fnc” value in the ss proplet. Then both proplets are copied into output.

______d 2. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 我 sur : 把 sur : 书 d 2 acopy(patient nw.sem) pyn : wo pyn : ba pyn : shu noun: I adj : BA noun: book { {{ cat : pro cat : prep cat{{ : cn {{ {{ e sem : s1 sem : {{ sem : object 2 {} { fnc : arg : I1 fnc :

_mdr :_ _ mdd: _ _mdr : _

In step 2, the object is read in and its core value is copied as the second “arg” value in the preposition proplet. Again, the “fnc” slot in the nw proplet remains empty.

______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) sur : 我 sur : 把o______sur : 书 sur : 借 d 2 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) 2 d pyn : wo pyn : bao______pyn : shu pyn : jie 3 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) d 4 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) 3 e d noun: I X adj : BA 5 noun: book verb: lend 5 cancel(SS.2.adj) XXXXX ffff nq d XXXX ffff nqq 6 cancel(nw.cat.1) XXXXX fffff nqq e d cat : pro cat : prepo______catXXX : cnfff n qcat : s’ i’ d’ tv 6 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) fXfXfXfXfX n qq 7 fff XXX n q d e ffff XXXXn qq e 8 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) sem : s1 10 sem : o______fff sem : object patientXqXX 12 sem : unaccusative d fff n q XXX 1 9 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sfffff n xqq XXX+ 8 n '&%$ !"# d acopy(agent SS.sem) n 11 10 fnc : 9 arg : I book fncn : arg : d n 11 acopy(nw.verb SS.3.fnc) n d mdr : mdd: n mdr : mdr: 12 acopy(patient SS.3.sem) _ _ _ wn n _ _ _ _ _ 4

With the input of the predicate verb, both “fnc” slots are ﬁlled with the “verb” value from the nw proplet. After the replacement of the “sur”, “pyn”, “cat” and “sem” values, the preposition

223 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

proplet is completely absorbed.

______d 4. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 我 sur : 借 sur : 书 sur : 他 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : wo pyn : jie pyn : shu pyn : ta 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(experiencer nw.sem) noun: I verb: lend VV noun: book hnoun: he VVVV hhhh e VVVV hhhh cat : pro cat : d’ tv 3 cat :VV cnV hhh cat : pro VVVVhhhh hhhh VVVV hhhh VVV e hh VVV 4 sem : s1 agent sem : unaccusativeh semh : object patient patientVV 1 sem : s3 shhhh VVV+ fnc : lend arg : I book 2 fnc : lend fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _

In step 4, the rule of V+N is activated by the input of the indirect object “他 (ta, he)”.

______d 5. sur : 我 sur : 借 sur : 书 sur : 他 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : wo pyn : jie pyn : shu pyn : ta pyn: le noun: I verb: lend noun: book noun: he adj : LE cat : pro cat : tv cat : cn cat : pro cat : asp sem : s1 agent sem : unaccusativeo sem : object patient patient sem : s3 experiencer sem: perf _ _ 1 fnc : lend arg : I book he fnc : lend fnc : lend

_mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _

In step 5, the aspect marker is read in.

With the input of the full stop, the analysis comes to the end.

The derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 借 sur : 书 sur : 他 pyn : wo pyn : jie pyn : shu pyn : ta noun: I verb: lend noun: book noun: he cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn cat : pro sem : s1 agent sem : unaccusative perf sem : object patient patient sem : s3 experiencer fnc : lend arg : I book he fnc : lend fnc : lend

_mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr : _ The functor-argument relation is more explicit in the DBS graphs. The SRG and the signature presentation is as follows:

a) lend b) V ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? I book he N N N

When a modal verb is adopted in the sentence, “把 (ba, BA)” is usually inserted between the modal verb and the common verb. For example:

Example 138. 我想把门打开。(I want to open the door.)

surface: 我想把门打开 pinyin: wo xiang ba men dakai English: I want - door open

224 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

In this example, the object “门 (men, door)” will change the status from being closed to open if the subject “我 (wo, I)” do as “我 (wo, I)” want. Again, the preposition “把 (ba, BA)” is absorbed and the functor-argument relation is represented.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 想 sur : 把 sur : 门 sur : 打开 pyn : wo pyn : xiang pyn : ba pyn : men pyn : kai noun: I verb: want adj : BA noun: door verb: open cat : pro cat : p’ vz cat : prep cat : cn cat : p’ tv mark sem : s1 agent sem : sem : sem : object patient agent sem : fnc : want arg : I arg : # door fnc : open arg : door

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

• Psychological disposal

There is another kind of verbs of disposal, which change image in one’s cognition. For example:

Example 139. 你别把我当孩子。(Don’t take me as a child.)

surface: 你别把我当孩子 pinyin: ni bie ba wo dang haizi English: you not - I take as child

The verb “当 (dang)” means “to take...as”. This kind of verbs do not change the physical status or position of the object, but they represent disposition in one’s cognition.

In the current example, the object, “我 (wo, I)”, is obviously not a child any more, but in the subject’s cognition, the image of “我 (wo, I)” is still a child.

Derivation result:

______sur : 你 sur : 当 sur : 我 sur : 孩子 pyn : ni pyn : dang pyn : wo pyn : haizi noun: you verb: take-as noun: I noun: child cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : pro cat : nr sem : s2 agent sem : unaccusative sem : s1 patient patient sem : fnc : take-as arg : you I child fnc : take-as fnc : take-as

_mdr : _ mdr : not _mdr : _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

225 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS a) take-as b) V ?? ?? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? you I child N N N

This example also shows that adverbs come before the word “把 (ba, BA)”. During the derivation, the adverb proplet is absorbed.

• Ba Construction with complement

In the Ba Construction, a complement is also observed after the verb . The complement may be an adverb or an adjective to show a certain feature of the verb, or the object. In any case, the core value of the complement is copied as the “mdr” value in the modiﬁed verb proplet. For example:

Example 140. 我把衣服洗干净了。(I have washed the clothes clean.)

surface: 我把衣服洗干净了 pinyin: wo ba yifu xi ganjing le English: I - clothes wash clean -

In the above example, the adjective “干净 (ganjing, clean)” shows the status of the object after the action “洗 (xi, wash)”. The result of the action “洗 (xi, wash)” is “衣服干净 (the clothes is clean)”. Though the adjective modiﬁes the status of the object, the whole subject-adjective structure (“衣服干净”) complement the predicate verb. Therefore, the core value of the adjective “干净 (ganjing, clean)”, is copied as the “mdr” value in the verb proplet.

Derivation result:

______sur : 我 sur : 洗 sur : 衣服 sur : 干净 pyn : wo pyn : xi pyn : yifu pyn : ganjing noun: I verb: wash noun: clothes adj : clean cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn cat : adj sem : s1 agent sem : perf sem : object patient patient sem : fnc : wash arg : I clothes fnc : wash mdr :

_mdr : _ mdr : clean_ mdr : _ _mdd: wash _ _mdd: _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

13.2.2 Bei Construction

About the Bei Construction, Yang [1995], Yang [1999], Sun [1995] and Zhang [2001] have done a lot of research. It is generally agreed that the Bei Construction is a typical passive structure in Chinese. Actually, the marker of the Bei Construction is not limited to the word “被 (bei)”. “叫 (jiao)”, “让 (rang)” and “给 (gei)” are the other three well accepted in this pattern. Among all the variation of the Bei Construction, the following 4 are the most frequently found.

226 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

• N1+bei+N2+V

Example 141. 一个人被他谋杀了。(A man was murdered by him.)

surface: 一个人被他谋杀了 pinyin: yi ge ren bei ta mousha le English: one - person by he murder -

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 一 sur : 个 sur : 人 sur : 被 sur : 他 sur : 谋杀 sur : 了 sur : 。 pyn : yi pyn : ge pyn : ren pyn : bei pyn : ta pyn : mousha pyn: le cat : mark noun: one noun: GE noun: person adj : by noun: he verb: murder adj : LE_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : nr cat : prep cat : pro cat : s’ p’ tv cat : asp sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : sem : s3 sem : _sem: perf_ fnc : fnc : arg : fnc : arg : mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr :_ _ mdr: _ _mdd : _ This is the most basic pattern of the Bei Construction.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “一个人被他谋杀了。” _ _ _ _ d 1. o/ o/ 1 sappend(SS.sur nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o 一o/ o/ sur : 个 d 2 sappend(SS.pyn ”|” nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 e d pyn :o yio/ o/2 o/ o/ pyn : ge 3 ecopy(cdn-q SS.cat) d 2 4 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) noun: one noun: GE e cat : cdn 3 cat : nquan sem : o____ sem : +N _ _ 4 fnc : mdr : _mdd : _

_ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) sur : o____一个 sur : 人 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 1 d pyn :o____ yi|ge pyn : ren 3 acopy(SS.noun SS.mdr) d 4 ecopy(nw.noun SS.noun) 2 d noun:o____ one noun: person 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) d 4 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) cat :o____ cdn-q cat : nr 5 sem :o____ +N sem : 6 fnc : fnc : 3 mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd : _ _ _ _ _ 3. sur : 人 sur : 被 pyn : ren pyn : bei noun: person adj : by cat : nr cat : prep sem : sem : fnc : arg :

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdd : _

227 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

In this step, the preposition “被 (bei, by)” is read in and copied into output. ______d 4. 1 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) sur : 人 sur : 被 sur : 他 d 2 acopy(agent nw.sem) pyn : ren pyn : bei pyn : ta noun: person adj : by noun: he ~~ cat : nr cat : prep cat~ : pro ~~ ~~ e sem : sem : ~ sem : s3 2 ~ fnc : arg : 1 fnc :

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The rule of PREP+O is activated in this step and the core value from the nw proplet is copied into the “arg” slot in the preposition proplet. But, diﬀerent from other cases of prepositions plus object, the nw proplet is copied into output together with the preposition proplet. ______d 5. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 人 sur : 被o______sur : 他 sur : 谋杀 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ren pyn : beio______pyn : ta pyn : mousha 3 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) d 4 cancel(SS.2.adj) 2 e d noun: person adj : by 4 noun: he verb: murder 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) EE ggg sx d E ggg 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) E e e gggg sx E 7 10 gg s d cat : nrE cat : prepo______catggg : pro xcat : s’ p’ tv 7 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) E gggg s d E 5 ggg s x 8 acopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) e E gggg s sem : 9 semgEgg : 8 o______sem : s3 agentx sem : d sgggg E" s |x 9 acopy(patient SS.sem) 6 s '&%$ !"# d '&%$ !"# 12 10 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) fnc : 11 arg : he fncs : arg : d s 11 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) s d s 12 ecopy(nw.verb SS.3.fnc) mdr : one_ mdd: s _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ys _mdd : _ 3

When the verb is read in, the preposition proplet is ﬁrst absorbed by the nw proplet after the replacement of certain attributes. Then, the functor-argument relation between the verb and the two noun proplets is represented. ______d 6. sur : 人 sur : 谋杀 sur : 他 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : ren pyn : mousha pyn : ta pyn: le noun: person verb: murder noun: he adj : LE cat : nr cat : tv cat : pro cat : asp sem : patient sem : o sem : s3 agent sem: perf _ _ 1 fnc : murder arg : he person fnc : murder

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The rule of W+ASP is applied when the aspect marker is read in. When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end. Derivation result:

______sur : 人 sur : 谋杀 sur : 他 pyn : ren pyn : mousha pyn : ta noun: person verb: murder noun: he cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : pro sem : patient sem : perf sem : s3 agent fnc : murder arg : he person fnc : murder

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _

228 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

The SRG and the signature presentation: a) murder b) V ?? ?? ? ? he person N N Though the derivation process of the Bei Construction is diﬀerent from the Ba Construction, the two signatures are both the same with that of SVO.

• N1+bei+V

Example 142. 一个人被谋杀了。(A man was murdered.)

surface: 一个人被谋杀了 pinyin: yi ge ren bei mousha le English: one - person by murder -

The agent, also the object of the preposition “被 (bei, by)” is often omitted, indicating the information is unknown or not important to the conversation participants. In this case a gap is left in the “arg” slot when the verb is read in.

The syntactic-semantic analysis of “一个人被谋杀了。”

Step 0-3 are the same with the above sentence. In step 4 comes the combination of the preposition and the predicate verb. ______d 4. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 人 sur : 被o_____ sur : 谋杀 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ren pyn : beio_____ pyn : mousha 3 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) d 4 cancel(SS.2.adj) 2 e d noun: personG adj : by 4 verb: murder 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) G kkk Õ d G kk 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) GG kkeke d cat : nrG cat : prepo_____k 8 11 catÕ : s’ p’ tv 7 acopy(”#” SS.2.arg) G kk k G kk 5 Õ d e kkGkG 8 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) sem : 10 kksemG :9 o_____Õ sem : d ukk # 9 acopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) '&%$ !"# 6 d 12 e Õ 10 acopy(patient SS.sem) fnc : arg : 7 arg : d Õ 11 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) d mdr : one_ mdd: Õ _ _mdr: _ 12 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) ÒÕ _mdd : _ 3

In this step, a substitute value “#” is copied to the “arg” slot in the verb proplet. The preposition proplet is absorbed.

Derivation result:

_ _ _ _ sur : 人 sur : 谋杀 pyn : ren pyn : mousha noun: person verb: murder cat : nr cat : tv mark sem : patient sem : perf fnc : murder arg : # person

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

229 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

a) b) murder? V? ?? ?? (#) person (-) N

• N1+bei+N2+suo+V

Example 143. 一个人被他所杀。(A man was murdered by him.)

surface: 一个人被他所杀 pinyin: yi ge ren bei ta suo sha English: one - person by he - kill

“所 (suo, SUO)” is a special structure auxiliary derived from an ancient pronoun. It is often used in the Bei Construction. In this case, the agent, i.e. the object of the preposition “被 (bei, by)”, is mandatory.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 一 sur : 个 sur : 人 sur : 被 sur : 他 sur : 所 sur : 杀 sur : 。 pyn : yi pyn : ge pyn : ren pyn : bei pyn : ta pyn: suo pyn : sha cat : mark

noun: one noun: GE noun: person adj : by noun: he adj : SUO verb: kill_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : cdn cat : nquan cat : nr cat : prep cat : pro cat : smr cat : s’ p’ tv

sem : _sem : +N_ sem : sem : sem : s3_ sem: +V_ sem : fnc : fnc : arg : fnc : arg :

mdr : _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd : _ The syntactic-semantic analysis:

Step 0-4 are skipped. ______d 5. sur : 人 sur : 被 sur : 他 sur : 所 1 acopy(”#” SS.fnc) pyn : ren pyn : bei pyn : ta pyn: suo noun: person adj : by noun: he adj : SUO cat : nr cat : prep cat : pro cat : smr

sem : sem : sem : s3 agent_ sem: +V _ e fnc : arg : he fnc : 1

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _

When the particle “所 (suo, SUO)” is read in, the substitute value “#” is copied to the “fnc” slot in the last ss proplet, i.e. the pronoun proplet. The nw proplet is not copied into output. ______d 6. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 人 sur : 被o______sur : 他 sur : 杀 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ren pyn : beio______pyn : ta pyn : sha 3 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) d 4 cancel(SS.2.adj) 2 e d noun: person adj : by 4 noun: he verb: kill 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) EE ggg sy d E ggg 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) E e e gggg sy E 7 10 gg s d cat : nrE cat : prepo______catggg : pro ycat : s’ p’ tv 7 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) E gggg s d E 5 ggg s y 8 acopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) e E gggg s sem : 9 semgEgg : 8 o______sem : s3 agenty sem : d sgggg E" s y| 9 acopy(patient SS.sem) 6 s '&%$ !"# d '&%$ !"# 12 10 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) fnc : 11 arg : he fncs : # arg : d s 11 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) s d s 12 ecopy(nw.verb SS.3.fnc) mdr : one_ mdd: s _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ys _mdd : _ 3

230 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS

In step 6, the verb” proplet absorbs the preposition proplet. The core value from the verb proplet is copied to the two “fnc” slots in the two noun proplets. The functor-argument relation is presented.

Derivation result:

______sur : 人 sur : 杀 sur : 他 pyn : ren pyn : sha pyn : ta noun: person verb: kill noun: he cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : pro sem : patient sem : sem : s3 agent fnc : kill arg : he person fnc : kill mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) kill b) V ?? ?? ? ? he person N N

If the preposition “被 (bei, by)” is replaced by another word with the same function, such as “为 (wei, by)”, the pattern of the construction is the same. For example:

Example 144. 他们为歌声所吸引。(They are all attracted by the song.)

surface: 他们为歌声所吸引 pinyin: ta men wei gesheng suo xiyin English: he - by song - attract

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 们 sur : 为 sur : 歌声 sur : 所 sur : 吸引 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn: men pyn : wei pyn : gesheng pyn: suo pyn : xiyin cat : mark noun: he adj : MEN adj : by noun: song adj : SUO verb: attract_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : pmr cat : prep cat : cn cat : smr cat : s’ p’ tv sem : s3_ sem: pl_ sem : sem : _sem: +V_ sem : fnc : arg : fnc : arg :

_mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ The derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 吸引 sur : 歌声 pyn : ta pyn : xiyin pyn : gesheng noun: he verb: attract noun: song cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : pl patient sem : sem : agent fnc : attract arg : song he fnc : attract

_mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

231 13.2. BA AND BEI CONSTRUCTIONS CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

• N1+bei+N2+gei+VP

Example 145. 一个人被他给杀了。(A man was murdered by him.)

surface: 一个人被他给杀了 pinyin: yi ge ren bei ta gei sha le English: one - person by he - kill -

“给 (gei)”is a word with three diﬀerent meanings. It is stored in the lexicon as three independent entries. ______sur : 给 sur : 给 sur : 给 pyn : gei pyn: gei pyn : gei verb: give adj : GEI adj : by cat : s’ i’ d’ tv cat : smr cat : prep sem : unaccusative _sem: +V_ sem : arg : arg :

_mdr: _ _mdd: _ Here, it is used as a structure auxiliary, which is similar to the particle “所 (suo, SUO)”. The derivation process is also similar to that of the above example sentence.

Here are the two steps in the syntactic-semantic analysis, when the particle “给 (gei, GEI)” is involved:

(Step 0-4 are the same with the above examples.) ______d 5. sur : 人 sur : 被 sur : 他 sur : 给 1 acopy(”#” SS.fnc) pyn : ren pyn : bei pyn : ta pyn: gei noun: person adj : by noun: he adj : GEI cat : nr cat : prep cat : pro cat : smr

sem : sem : sem : s3 agent_ sem: +V_ e fnc : arg : he fnc : 1

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _

In step 5, only “#” is added to the “fnc” slot in the ss proplet. ______d 6. 1 ecopy(nw.sur SS.2.sur) sur : 人 sur : 被o______sur : 他 sur : 杀 d 2 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.2.pyn) 1 d pyn : ren pyn : beio______pyn : ta pyn : sha 3 ecopy(nw.verb SS.2.verb) d 4 cancel(SS.2.adj) 2 e d noun: person adj : by 4 noun: he verb: kill 5 ecopy(nw.cat SS.2.cat) EE ggg sy d E ggg 6 ecopy(nw.sem SS.2.sem) E e e gggg sy E 7 10 gg s d cat : nrE cat : prepo______catggg : pro ycat : s’ p’ tv 7 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) E gggg s d E 5 ggg s y 8 acopy(SS.noun SS.2.arg) e E gggg s sem : 9 semgEgg : 8 o______sem : s3 agenty sem : d sgggg E" s y| 9 acopy(patient SS.sem) 6 s '&%$ !"# d '&%$ !"# 12 10 cancel(SS.2.cat.1) fnc : 11 arg : he fncs : # arg : d s 11 acopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) s d s 12 ecopy(nw.verb SS.3.fnc) mdr : one_ mdd: s _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ ys _mdd : _ 3

232 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES

In step 6, the preposition proplet is absorbed.

Derivation result:

______sur : 人 sur : 杀 sur : 他 pyn : ren pyn : sha pyn : ta noun: person verb: kill noun: he cat : nr cat : tv mark cat : pro sem : patient sem : perf sem : s3 agent fnc : kill arg : he person fnc : kill

mdr : one_ mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdd : _ The SRG and the signature presentation: a) kill b) V ?? ?? ? ? he person N N

13.3 Analysis of Conjunctives

According to Halliday and Hasan [1976], conjunctions are not the core elements of sentences, but used to transmit information as a reminder of the relation between conjuncts. Based on Halliday’s classiﬁcation of complex sentences, the semantic meaning of various conjunctions may be similar, dissimilar, alternative, adversative, causal-purpose, conditional or temporal. English conjunctions are generally used alone while Chinese conjunctions are more often used in pairs. Here are some examples:

Table 13.1: Conjunctions in Chinese samples-in-Chinese counterparts-in-English

similar 不但 (bu-dan)... 而且 (erqie)... not only...but also... dissimilar 而 (er)... 则 (ze)... but alternative 不是 (bu-shi)... 而是 (ershi)... not...but... adversative 虽然 (suiran)... 但是 (danshi) though/but cause/purpose 因为 (yinwei)... 所以 (suoyi)... because/so conditional 除非 (chufei)... 否则 (fouze)... unless temporal 首先 (shou-xian)... 然后 (ranhou)... ﬁrst...then

As stated in 800 Words in Modern Chinese (Lv [1980]), there are all together 97 conjunctions in Chinese. Lu [1983] increases the number to 120, among which 90 are more frequently used. Generally, all these conjunctions share some common features: they are bounded to the conjuncts; they are not modiﬁed; they are not used in combination if from the same category (e.g. both are conditional); and they can be put before or after the subject. Take “因为 (yinwei, because)... 所以 (suoyi, so)...” as an example.

233 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

Example 146. 因为他没来所以错过了机会。(Because he didn’t come, he missed the chance.)

surface: 因为他没来所以错过了机会 pinyin: yinwei ta mei lai suoyi cuoguo le jihui English: because he not come so miss - chance

In this example, the conjunction “因为 (yinwei, because)” starts the sentence, followed by the subject.

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 因为 sur : 他 sur : 没 sur : 来 sur : 所以 sur : 错过 sur : 了 sur : 机会 sur : 。 pyn : yinwei pyn : ta pyn : meiyou pyn : lai pyn : suoyi pyn : cuoguo pyn: le pyn : jihui cat : mark

adj : because noun: he adj : not verb: come adj : so verb: miss adj : LE noun: chance_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : conj cat : pro cat : adv cat : s’ vq cat : conj cat : s’ p’ tv cat : asp cat : cn

sem : clausal sem : s3 sem : neg sem : spt sem : clausal sem : _sem: perf_ sem : arg : fnc :_ mdd: _ arg : arg : arg : fnc : _mdd: _ _mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdd: _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ 1. sur : 因为 sur : 他 pyn : yinwei pyn : ta adj : because noun: he cat : conj cat : pro sem : clausal sem : s3 arg : fnc :

_mdd: _ _mdr : _

In this step, the pronoun is read in and copied into output.

______d 2. sur : 因为 sur : 他 sur : 没 1 ecopy(nw.adj SS.mdr) pyn : yinwei pyn : ta pyn : meiyou adj : because noun: he adj : not v v cat : conj cat : prov cat : adv v sem : clausal sem :v s3 sem : neg v v arg : vfnc :_ mdd: _ v _mdd: v _ _mdr : _ {v 1

In step 2, the adverb “没 (mei, not)” is read in. The core value from the nw proplet is copied to the “mdr” slot in the conjunctive proplet. This prepares for the absorption of the conjunctive

234 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES proplet. Then two proplets are copied into output, becoming the sentence start for next step.

______d 3. 1 acopy(nw.verb SS.2.fnc) sur : 因为o______sur : 他 sur : 来 d 2 ecopy(SS.adj SS.sem) 3 d pyn : yinweio______pyn : ta pyn : lai 3 ecopy(nw.sur SS.sur) d 4 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.pyn) 4 e d adj : because 5 noun: he verb: come 5 cancel(SS.adj) z z d e zz z 6 ecopy(nw.verb SS.verb) cat : conjo______11 zcat : pro cat : s’ vq d z 7 ecopy(nw.cat SS.cat) 2 z z 7 z d z ze 8 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) sem : clausalo z sem :z s3 10 sem : spt d z| z 9 acopy(SS.2.noun SS.arg) 8 d 9 z 1 10 acopy(agent SS.2.sem) arg : fncz : arg : d z 11 cancel(SS.cat.1) mdr : not z mdr : mdr: z _ _ _ _ _mdd: z _ }z 6

In step 3, the input of the verb “来 (lai, come)” activates a variation of the rule of S+V. The functor-argument relation between the pronoun and the verb is represented as the values of the “arg” and “fnc” attributed in related proplets. Moreover, the conjunctive proplet is absorbed. The “adj” value of the conjunctive is appended to the “mdr” attribute.

______d 4. sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 所以 1 ecopy(”#” SS.nc) pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : suoyi verb: come noun: he adj : so cat : vq cat : pro cat : conj sem : because spt sem : s3 agent sem : clausal arg : he fnc : come arg :

mdr : not _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdd: _ e 1

In step 4, the conjunctive “所以 (suoyi, so)” is read in and simply copied into output.

______d 5. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.nc) sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 所以o____ sur : 错过 d 2 ecopy(SS.verb nw.pc) 5 d pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : suoyio____ pyn : cuoguo 3 ecopy(SS.3.adj SS.3.sem) d 4 ecopy(SS.3.adj SS.3.mdr) 6 e d verb: come noun: he adj : so 7 verb: miss 5 ecopy(nw.sur SS.3.sur) Q Q o d o Ø 6 ecopy(nw.pyn SS.3.pyn) Q Q eo cat : vq cat : pro cat : conjo____11 catØ : s’ p’ tv d Q Q o 7 cancel(SS.3.adj) Q '&%$ !"# 3o Ø d Q o10 8 ecopy(nw.verb SS.3.verb) sem : because spt sem : s3 agentQ semo : clausalØ sem : d Q o 9 ecopy(”#” SS.3.arg) oQ Q Ø d o Q e 10 ecopy(nw.cat SS.3.cat) arg : he fnc : comeo arg :Q 9 Ø arg : d o Q 11 cancel(SS.3.cat.1) o QØ o Q mdr : not _mdro : _ _mdd: Ø _ Q_mdr: _ o Q Q2 o ÔØ4 ( mdd: o 8 wo _nc : # 1 _

In this step, the second verb is read in. The “nc” value in the first ss proplet is replaced by the core value from the nw proplet. The core value from the first ss proplet is copied as the “pc” value in the nw proplet. Thus the coordination relation is represented. The conjunctive proplet, i.e. the third ss proplet is absorbed by the nw proplet, with its core value becoming an “mdr” value. “#” is copied as the first “arg” value in the verb proplet, and the first “cat” value is accordingly

235 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

removed. ______d 6. sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 错过 sur : 了 1 acopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : cuoguo pyn: le verb: come noun: he verb: miss adj : LE cat : vq cat : pro cat : p’ tv cat : asp sem : because spt sem : s3 agent sem : soo sem: perf _ _ 1 arg : he fnc : come arg : #

mdr : not _mdr : _ mdr : so mdd: _mdd: _ _nc : miss _

This step starts the rule of W+ASP. ______d 7. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 错过 sur : 机会 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : cuoguo pyn : jihui 3 cancel(SS.cat.1) d 4 acopy(patient nw.sem) verb: come noun: he verb: miss noun: chance DD z DDe zz cat : vq cat : pro cat : p’ tv 3D catz : cn DzDz zz DD e sem : because spt sem : s3 agent sem : so perfz semD : 4 z D1 z| " arg : he fnc : come arg : # 2 fnc :

mdr : not _mdr : _ mdr : so _mdr : _ mdd: _mdd: _ _nc : miss _

In step 7, the rule of V+N is activated. ______d 8. sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 错过 sur : 机会 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat)

pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : cuoguo pyn : jihuig cat : mark gggg gggg verb: come noun: he verb: miss noun:gggg chance sem: v’ decl sgggg _ _ cat : vq cat : pro cat : tv 1 cat : cn sem : because spt sem : s3 agent sem : so perf sem : patient arg : he fnc : come arg : # chance fnc : miss

mdr : not _mdr : _ mdr : so _mdr : _ mdd: _mdd: _ _nc : miss _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 来 sur : 他 sur : 错过 sur : 机会 pyn : lai pyn : ta pyn : cuoguo pyn : jihui verb: come noun: he verb: miss noun: chance cat : vq cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : because spt sem : s3 agent sem : so perf sem : patient arg : he fnc : come arg : # chance fnc : miss

mdr : not _mdr : _ mdr : so _mdr : _ mdd: _mdd: _ _nc : miss _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

236 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES

This example sentence can also be reorganized as

Example 147. 他因为没来所以错过了机会。(Because he didn’t come, he missed the chance.)

surface: 他因为没来所以错过了机会 pinyin: ta yinwei mei lai suoyi cuoguo le jihui English: he because not come so miss - chance

The semantic meaning doesn’t change with reorganization of the structure. The syntactic-semantic analysis is slightly diﬀerent and the derivation result is composed of the same group of proplets.

The derivation result of “他因为没来所以错过了机会。”

______sur : 他 sur : 来 sur : 错过 sur : 机会 pyn : ta pyn : lai pyn : cuoguo pyn : jihui noun: he verb: come verb: miss noun: chance cat : pro cat : vq cat : tv mark cat : cn sem : s3 agent sem : because sem : so perf sem : patient fnc : come arg : he arg : # chance fnc : miss

_mdr : _ mdr : not mdr : _mdr : _ mdd: _mdd: _ _nc : miss _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

Conjunctives are not only used for complex sentences. Some conjunctives, including “和 (he, and)”, “与 (yu, and)”, “及 (ji, and)”, “以及 (yiji, and)”, “且 (qie, and)”, “或 (huo, or)” and “或者 (huozhe, or)”, are observed to connect words or phrases from the same category to form one element of a simple sentence. For example:

Example 148. 他们比身高及体重。(They compare height and weight.)

surface: 他们比身高及体重 pinyin: ta men bi shengao ji tizhong English: he - compare height and weight

237 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

Lexical lookup:

______sur : 他 sur : 们 sur : 比 sur : 身高 sur : 及 sur : 体重 sur : 。 pyn : ta pyn: men pyn : bi pyn : shengao pyn : ji pyn : tizhong cat : mark

noun: he adj : MEN verb: compare noun: height adj : and noun: weight_ sem: v’ decl_ cat : pro cat : pmr cat : s’ p’ tv cat : cn cat : conj cat : cn

sem : s3_ sem: pl_ sem : non-action sem : sem : sem : fnc : arg : fnc : arg : fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _ _mdr : _

Syntactic-semantic analysis:

_ _ _ _ d 1. sur : 他 sur : 们 1 ecopy(nw.sem SS.sem) pyn : ta pyn: men noun: he adj : MEN cat : pro cat : pmr sem :o___ s3 sem: pl _ _ 1 fnc : _mdr : _

In this step, the input of “们 (men, MEN)” starts the rule of W+MR.

_ _ _ _ d 2. 1 ecopy(nw.verb SS.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 比 d 2 acopy(SS.noun nw.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : bi 3 cancel(nw.cat.1) noun: he verb: compare DD z DD z e cat : proDD catz : s’ p’ tv 3 z DD z DD sem : pl sem :D non-action2 }z ! fnc :1 arg :

_mdr :_ _ mdr: _

The rule of S+V is activated when the verb is read in. The “arg” slot and the “fnc” slot in the two proplets are respectively ﬁlled with the “noun” and “verb” values. The ﬁrst “cat” value in the verb proplet is canceled and the value of “agent” is appended to the “sem” attribute in the ss proplet.

______d 3. 1 acopy(SS.verb nw.fnc) sur : 他 sur : 比 sur : 身高 d 2 acopy(nw.noun SS.arg) d pyn : ta pyn : bi pyn : shengao 3 cancel(SS.cat.1)

noun: he verb: compareG noun: height GG ww e G w cat : pro cat : p’ tv 3 G catw : cn GGww ww GG sem : pl sem : non-actionw semGG : ww G1 w{ # fnc : compare arg : he 2 fnc :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _

In step 3, the rule of V+N is activated by the input of the noun “身高 (shengao, height)”. Another

238 CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES

“cat” value is canceled from the verb proplet with the addition of another “arg” value. ______d 4. sur : 他 sur : 比 sur : 身高 sur : 及 1 ecopy(”#” SS.nc) pyn : ta pyn : bi pyn : shengao pyn : ji noun: he verb: compare noun: height adj : and cat : pro cat : tv cat : cn cat : conj sem : pl sem : non-action sem : sem : fnc : compare arg : he height fnc : compare arg :

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ _mdr : _ _mdd: _ e 1

When the conjunctive is read in, an additional attribute, i.e. “nc”, is created in the proplet of “身高 (shengao, height)”. The temporary value “#” is provided. ______d 5. 1 ecopy(nw.noun SS.nc) sur : 他 sur : 比 sur : 身高 sur : 体重 d 2 ecopy(SS.noun nw.pc) d pyn : ta pyn : bi pyn : shengao pyn : tizhong 3 acopy(SS.fnc nw.fnc)

noun: he verb: compare noun: height8 noun: weight 8 Ö cat : pro cat : tv cat : cn 8 catÖ : cn 8 Ö sem : pl sem : non-action sem : Ösem : 8 3 Ö 8 / fnc : compare arg : he height fnc : compareÖ fnc8 : Ö 8 _mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : _mdr : _ ÒÖ 8 2 1 _nc : # _

In step 6, another common noun is read in. The temporary value “#” is replaced by the core value from the nw proplet. An additional attribute, i.e. “pc”, is created in the nw proplet and provided with the core value from the proplet “身高 (shengao, height)”. ______d 6. sur : 他 sur : 比 sur : 身高 sur : 体重 sur : 。 1 acopy(nw.cat SS.cat)

pyn : ta pyn : bi pyn : shengao pyn : tizhongddddd cat : mark ddddddd ddddddd noun: he verb: compare noun:dd heightddddd noun: weight sem: v’ decl rdddddd _ _ cat : pro cat : tv 1 cat : cn cat : cn sem : pl sem : non-action sem : sem : fnc : compare arg : he height fnc : compare fnc : compare

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : mdr : _nc : weight_ _ pc : height _

When the full stop is read in, the analysis comes to the end.

Derivation result:

______sur : 他 sur : 比 sur : 身高 sur : 体重 pyn : ta pyn : bi pyn : shengao pyn : tizhong noun: he verb: compare noun: height noun: weight cat : pro cat : tv mark cat : cn cat : cn sem : pl sem : non-action sem : sem : fnc : compare arg : he height fnc : compare fnc : compare

_mdr : _ _mdr: _ mdr : mdr : _nc : weight_ _ pc : height _ The SRG and the signature presentation:

239 13.3. ANALYSIS OF CONJUNCTIVES CHAPTER 13. PREPOSITIONS

240 Summary of Part III

Adjectives are mainly used as attributives, adverbials and predicators. In whatever usage, adjectives maintain their basic forms. When used as predicators, they have similarities with verbs in that they are often followed by aspect markers, take objects and appear in repetition. The rules for adjective analysis are therefore similar to those for verbs. However, additional operations are necessary to provide adjectives the attribute of “arg” and the semantic value of “av”. Adverbs belong to a relatively closed class. They usually occur before the words they modify, such as adjectives or verbs. In this dissertation, the ﬁrst nine most frequent patterns of adverb application are listed and analyzed with examples. Among all the adverbs, “很 (hen, very)” and “极 (ji, extremely)” are also found as complement, which makes them outstanding and deserves special attention. Prepositions never occur independently. They requires arguments to form prepositional phrases. Generally, the argument proplets are absorbed into the preceding preposition proplet. When prepositions are followed by aspect markers, the rules applied resemble those for verbs in combination with aspect markers. Ba and Bei constructions, as exceptions of the preposition application, require diﬀerent treatments from other prepositional constructions. The analysis of object-fronting is introduced in the part of Ba construction. The formal passive voice in Chinese is introduced in the part of Bei construction. Conjunctives may occur either on the phrase level or the sentence level. They are analyzed as in coordination structures.

241 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Part IV

Conclusion and Prospects

243

Chapter 14

Discussion and Conclusion

This research tries to cover the most basic and frequent phrase and sentence patterns in Chinese. The syntactic-semantic analysis is counted as complete if the derivation goes on successfully till the last input of the sentence, i.e. the full stop that activates the rule of S+IP. Otherwise it is automatically rejected and the derivation stops where the error occurs. The sentences that are analyzed as complete are checked manually for accuracy and then further divided into two groups: accurately parsed and inaccurately parsed. The test result is evaluated by precision, recall and F-measure.

The formula for calculating precision is:

Number−of−Accurately−P arsed precision = Number−of−Completely−Analyzed . 100%

The formula for calculating recall is:

Number−Of−Accurately−P arsed recall = T otal−of−T est−Sentences . 100%

The formula for calculating F-measure is:

precision.recall F = 2 . precision+recall . 100%

After several rounds of evaluation and improvement, the best test result is as follows:

precision recall F-measure result 91.5% 90.6% 91.1%

Now, let us compare LAG with other Grammars in a systematic way:

245 CHAPTER 14. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

PSG CG DG LAG

top-down bottom-up Tomita left-corner CKY classic Montague

1. time-linearity - + + - + - - - +

2. low lexical ambiguity + + + + + - + + -

3. syntactic structure + + + + + + - + +

4. semantic structure ------+ - +

5. ambiguity reduction + - + + - - + + +

6. computation eﬃciency - - - - + - + + +

7. Chinese application + + + + + - + + +

Though the number of ambiguous results is a little bit high in the first several tests, it is finally reduced by improving the algorithm with more information from the lexicon and more detailed definition of the rule patterns. The evaluation of all the eight properties of LAG prove positive, as shown in the above table, which makes the conclusion direct: LAG, supported by the language theory of SLIM, is unique, efficient and competitive in the syntactic-semantic analysis of Chinese.

Generally speaking, two main syntactic structures, namely the functor-argument structure and the coordination structure, are represented in this Chinese parsing process. In addition, the modifier- modified relation is illustrated. Since semantic relation speaks even louder than syntactic relation in Chinese, semantic information, such as the semantic meaning of the word and its semantic role in the sentence, is provided as well. The technology of absorption is applied to function words, such as determiners, aspect markers or other structural markers, adverbs, special prepositions, conjunctives, etc. It is also applied when a nominal structure is used as an adnominal modifier, such as a cardinal-quantifier (cdn-q) construction. If there is any gapping, since omission is not rare in Chinese, a gap is left and indicated by “#” in the derivation result.

Valence, as an important term in LAG, refers to the number of arguments a verb can have. But in Chinese, a noun or an adjective may also be a predicator. It is not possible to provide every noun or adjective with valence, because it either increases lexical ambiguity or contradict with other applications of the word.

In addition, because of the ﬂexible correspondence between a word class and a syntactic role, there are more varieties of intrapropositional and extrapropositional relations in Chinese than in English.

According to Hausser [2011a], two connected nodes in a signature are called an elementary signature. Among the 36 possible intrapropositional elementary signatures, only 11 are found in English.

246 CHAPTER 14. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

No. E-signature English Chinese

1 N/N ++

2 N/V + ++

3 N/A ++

4 N\N

5 N\V + ++

6 N\A ++

7 N|N + ++

8 N|V ++

9 N|A ++

10 N-N +

11 N-V +

12 N-A +

13 V/N

14 V/V + +

15 V/A ++

16 V\N

17 V\V + ++

18 V\A

19 V|N + ++

20 V|V ++

21 V|A ++

22 V-N +

23 V-V + ++

24 V-A ++

25 A/N

26 A/V +

27 A/A +

28 A\N

29 A\V + ++

30 A\A

31 A|N + ++

32 A|V + ++

33 A|A

34 A-N +

35 A-V +

36 A-A + +

As demonstrated in the above table, only 11 are marked with “+” in the column for English. But, 18 elementary signatures are marked with “++” and 10 are marked with “+” in the column for Chinese. “+” means the marked signature is found in the corpus. “++” means the marked signature, found in the corpus, are also shown up in this dissertation.

247 CHAPTER 14. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

If “/” represents the subject/verb relation in English, it means more in Chinese. Probably it is safe to say that it indicates the subject argument-functor relation in Chinese, since the role of a functor may be played by a verb, a noun or an adjective. It is similar to “\”. In this analysis of Chinese, it indicates the object argument-functor relation.

Compared with English, Chinese is much more ﬂexible in syntax. Semantic relations are signiﬁcant in the process and result of Chinese parsing. LAG, as a time-linear algorithm, is well applied to the modern Chinese analysis for the DBS content representation.

248 Chapter 15

Future Prospects

The improved Left-Associative Grammar, as in the SLIM theory of language and Database Se- mantics, can be put into large-scale parsing of Chinese. The following work can help to go further on the basis of this research:

• to build up a larger tailored lexicon and introduce machine learning for its scalability

• to improve the rules with more syntactic and semantic information extracted through statis- tic methods from well-developed corpus

• to apply in a larger system, e.g. as a module in a machine translation system

In addition, language production can be experimented on the basis of this research. Left-Associative Grammar, with the three variations of LA-hear, LA-think and LA-speak, can be transformed into a complete machine translation system. The numbered arcs graph (NAG) shows the activation order of the content, which will lead directly to the surface realization. With proper post processing, the Chinese sentences or texts, i.e. the input of LAG-parsing, can be automatically translated into English.

249 This page intentionally contains only this sentence. Chapter 16

Summary

In this dissertation, Left-Associative Grammar is applied and tailored for the syntactic-semantic analysis of modern Chinese. The analysis follows the principle of time-linearity and description. Left-Associative Grammar is one of the two bases of Database Semantics. The DBS graphs of semantic relations, which can be automatically generated from the LAG derivation result, provide a more explicit view of the content of a sentence. The part of speech signature, as a more abstract presentation, helps to generalize the sentence patterns in Chinese with a clearer view of the deep semantic relations.

To meet the requirements of automatic LAG syntactic-semantic analysis and ensure its efficiency, a bilingual dictionary is built up. Lexical items in this dictionary are stored as non-recursive feature structures called proplets. It is also supposed to help on the lexical level to reduce ambiguity caused by polysemy and temporary shift of part of speech. NOUN, VERB and ADJECTIVE are the three word classes in the LAG-Chinese dictionary. This word classification is different from that in the traditional Chinese grammar. The class of NOUN includes noun in a narrow sense as in traditional grammar, and pronoun, numeral, quantifier as well. The class of VERB includes common verbs with one, two or three valences, causative verbs, modal verbs, directional verbs, etc.. The Class of ADJECTIVE includes adjective in a narrow sense, adverb, preposition, conjunctive, auxiliary, etc.. Each word has its attribute-value pairs with its grammatical and semantic information.

Based on the study of modern Chinese grammar, various basic usages of NOUNs, VERBs and ADJECTIVEs are analyzed. Rules, operations and graphical representation of the analysis result are provided. According to the demand of semantic analysis, adding values for the semantic attribute is proposed to note semantic roles and pragmatic functions, such as agent, patient, experiencer, and so on. The derivation result is meant to represent the content and deep semantic relations of the sentence. From the perspective of the fundamental usage of nouns, verbs and adjectives, the structures of subject-predicator, coordination, predicator-object, etc, are studied and analyzed, as well as the variants of these basic structures, including object-fronting, semantic passive, formal passive, element omission and so on.

251 CHAPTER 16. SUMMARY

With respect to the analysis of a function word, the algorithm of conditional absorption is proposed as an improvement of Left-Associative Grammar. In the absorption of a function word by a content word, the core value and/or the semantic value of the function word is maintained under certain conditions, which helps to avoid possible back-tracing to a large extent in later language production and machine translation. In all the 36 possible fundamental intra-propositional part of speech signatures, 29 are found in modern Chinese. It demonstrates the ﬂexibility of Chinese sentence patterns. That all the 29 relations are correctly analyzed shows the adaptability of the algorithm adopted and proposed in this research. In the future, the approach of automatic syntactic and semantic analysis based on improved Left-Associative Grammar can be applied to other large-scale Chinese corpus. Language production and machine translation based on this research may also be a focus of the following-up study.

252 CHAPTER 16. SUMMARY

Zusammenfassung

In dieser Dissertation werden linksassoziative Grammatiken auf die syntaktisch-semantische Anal- yse des modernen Chinesisch angewendet bzw. anpasst. Die Analyse folgt den Prinzipien der Zeit- linearität und Beschreibbarkeit. Die linksassoziative Grammatik ist eine der beiden Grundpfeiler der Datenbank Semantik. Die DBS Graphen semantischer Relationen, die automatisch aus dem LAG Ableitungsergebnis erzeugt werden können, bieten eine ausdrücklichere Sicht auf den Satzin- halt. Wortklassen-Signaturen, eine abstraktere Repräsentation, helfen die Satzmuster im Chine- sischen mit einem deutlicheren Blick auf die tieferen semantischen Relationen zu verallgemeinern.

Um die Anforderungen der automatischen LAG syntaktsich-semantischen Analyse zu erfüllen und ihre Effizienz sicherzustellen, wurde ein bilinguales Wörterbuch erstellt. Lexikalische Einträge werden in diesem Wörterbuch als nicht- rekursive Eigenschaftenstrukturen, genannt Proplets, gespeichert. Sie sollen auf lexikalischer Ebene helfen, Ambiguitäten zu reduzieren, die durch Polysemie und lokale Wortklassenverschiebung. NOUN, VERB und ADJECTIVE sind die drei Wortklassen im LAG-Chinesisch Wörterbuch. Diese Wordklassifikation ist verschieden von der im traditionellen Chinesisch. Die NOUN Klasse umfasst Hauptwörter im engeren Sinn wie in der traditionellen Grammatik, sowie Pronomen, Numerale und Quantifizierer. Die VERB Klasse beinhaltet gewöhnliche Verben mit ein, zwei oder drei Valenzen, Kausativa, Modalverben, direk- tionale Verben usw. Die ADJECTIVE Klasse beinhaltet Adjektive im engeren Sinn, Adverbien, Präpositionen, Konjunktionen, Auxiliarverben usw. Jedes Wort besitzt seine Attribut-Wert Paare mit seinen grammatikalischen und semantischen Informationen.

Basierend auf der Studie der modernen chinesischen Grammatik wurden verschiedene grundle- gende Verwendungen von NOUNs, VERBs und ADJECTIVEs analysiert. Regeln, Operationen und graphische Repräsentation der Analyseergebnisse werden zur Verfügung gestellt. Gemäß den Anforderungen der semantischen Analyse wird das Hinzufügen von Werten für die semantische Analyse empfohlen, um die semantischen Rollen und pragmatischen Funktionen zu markieren, wie zum Beispiel Agenten, Patienten, Handlungsteilnehmer usw. Das Ableitungsergebnis wird für die Repräsentation des Inhalts und der tiefen semantischen Relationen des Satzes verwendet. Aus Sicht der grundlegenden Nutzung von Nomen, Verben und Adjektiven werden die Strukturen von Subjekt- Prädikator, Koordination, Prädikator-Objekt usw. studiert und analysiert, ebenso wie die Varianten dieser Grundstrukturen, einschließlich Objekt- Vorziehen, semantisches Passiv, formales Passiv, Elementunterdrückung und so weiter.

In Hinblick auf die Analyse eines Funktionsworts, wird der Algorithmus der bedingten Absorption als Verbesserung der linksassoziativen Grammatik empfohlen. Bei der Absorption eines Funk- tionsworts durch ein Inhaltswort wird der Grundwert und/oder der semantische Wert des Funk- tionsworts unter bestimmten Bedingungen aufrecht erhalten, was das mögliche Back-Tracking in einem großen Teil der späteren Sprachproduktion und MAschinenübersetzung zu vermeiden hilft. Von den 36 möglichen grundlegenden intra-propositionalen Wortklassen Signaturen treten im modernen Chinesisch 29 auf. Dies zeigt die Flexibilität chinesischer Satzmuster. Das all diese 29 Relationen korrekt analysiert werden, zeigt die Anpassbarkeit des Algorithmus, der in

253 CHAPTER 16. SUMMARY dieser Arbeit verwendet und vorgeschlagen wird. Auf Grund der Vielfalt chinesischer Texte sollte der Ansatz automatischer syntaktischer und semantischer Analyse basierend auf linksas- soziativer Grammatik auch auf andere umfassendere chinesische Korpus angewendet werden, um seine Eﬃzienz zu überprüfen. Zusätzlich stellt die Sprachproduktion und maschinelle Übersetzung basierend auf dieser Forschung eine Möglichkeit für Folgestudien dar.

254 Part V

Appendix

255

Proplet Attributes

Attribute Full Name Value(s) adj adjective English translation of the adjective represented by the surface arg argument noun, verb or adjective belonging to the main predicator cat category category segments specifying combinatorial properties fnc functor noun, verb or adjective belonging to another word mdd modified noun, verb or adjective modified by another word mdr modifier noun, verb or adjective modifying another word nc next conjunct another word in coordination which comes later noun noun English translation of the noun represented by the surface pc previous conjunct another word in coordination which comes earlier prn proposition number an integer holding the proplets of a proposition together pyn pinyin Chinese pronunciation of the word sem semantics semantic segments specifying non-combinatorial properties sur surface surface of a word form verb verb English translation of the verb represented by the surface wrn word number an integer for numbering word proplets

257 Proplet Values

Value Explanation Attribute adj adjective cat of an adjective adv adverb cat of an adverb cdn cardinal cat of a numeral cn common noun cat of a noun conj conjunctive cat of an adjective nr noun referring to human being cat of a noun prep preposition cat of a preposition pro personal pronoun cat of a pronoun dpro demonstrative pronoun cat of a pronoun det determiner cat of a determiner nquan adnominal quantifier cat of a quantifier vquan adverbial quantifier cat of a quantifier nmr noun marker cat of an auxiliary omr ordinal marker cat of an auxiliary cmr complement marker cat of an auxiliary pmr plural marker cat of an auxiliary smr structure auxiliary cat of an auxiliary tmr temporal noun marker cat of an auxiliary vmr adverbial marker cat of an auxiliary amr adjective marker cat of an auxiliary nm personal name cat of a noun nd country name cat of a noun nl location noun cat of a noun nt temporal noun cat of a noun +N to modify a noun sem of a quantifier or an adverb +man to modify a noun referring to human being sem of a quantifier +V to modify a verb sem of a quantifier or an auxiliary object object sem of a noun abstract abstract sem of a noun tense tense sem of an adverb pl plural sem of an auxiliary neg negative sem of an auxiliary odn ordinal sem of an adjective individual individual sem of an auxiliary clausal clausal sem of a conjunctive

258 Rules

Rule Name Paraphrase ADJ+ADJ combination of two ADJECTIVES in an arbitrary order ADJ+N an ADJECTIVE plus a NOUN AN+N a nominal modifier plus a NOUN AN+NV a nominal modifier plus a nominal predicate DET+N a determiner plus a NOUN DQ+N a determiner-quantifier phrase plus a NOUN MR+ROOT a marker plus a root word N+ADJ a NOUN plus an ADJECTIVE N+N a NOUN plus a NOUN NQ+NOUN a cardinal-quantifier phrase plus a NOUN NUM+QUAN a numeral plus a quantifier PREP+O a preposition plus an object S+AV a subject plus an adjective predicate S+IP a sentence plus a punctuation mark S+NV a subject plus a nominal predicate S+V a subject plus a verb S+VX a subject plus a link verb V+COMP a VERB plus a complement V+N a VERB plus a NOUN V+V a VERB plus a VERB V+VO a VERB plus a verbal object VS+ADJ a verbal subject plus an adverb VX+P a link verb plus a predicative W+ASP a word plus as aspect marker W+CONJ a word plus a conjunctive W+MR a NOUN/VERB/ADJECTIVE plus a marker X+X a combination of two words from the same category

259 Rule Operations

acopy(a b) to copy the value of “a” and append it to “b” cancel(a) to cancel a value or an attribute concat(a b) to attach the value of “a” to the value of “b” copy(a) to copy a proplet into output ecopy(a b) to replace the value of “b” by the value of “a” If the attribute “b” does not exist, then create the attribute ﬁrst. nattr(a b) to create a new attribute in proplet “b” sappend(a1, a2, a3... b) to combine a number of values as the new value of “b” If the attribute “b” does not exist, then create the attribute ﬁrst.

260 List of Examples

1 他们来了三个月。(They have been here for three months.) ...... 41 2 他来了两次。(He has come twice.) ...... 43 3 他一口吞了巧克力。(He swallowed the chocolate at once.) ...... 45 4 我初三来。(I will come on the third day.) ...... 52 5 初三我来。(I will come on the third day.) ...... 54 6 件件漂亮。(Every one is pretty.) ...... 56 7 他件件洗。(He washes every one.) ...... 57 8 他一件件数。(He count one by one.) ...... 60 9 我笑。(I laugh.) ...... 64 10 母亲爱我。(Mother loves me.) ...... 65 11 书是我的。(The book is mine.) ...... 67 12 这是车。(This is a car.) ...... 69 13 这使我难过。(This makes me sad.) ...... 69 14 我来这。(I come here) ...... 69 15 我在这工作。(I work here.) ...... 70 16 这里是办公室。(Here is the oﬃce.) ...... 71 17 我喜欢这里。(I like here.) ...... 72 18 这里的楼房高。(The buildings here are high.) ...... 72 19 这些可以运行。(These can run.) ...... 73 20 我喜欢这些。(I like these.) ...... 73 21 他这样工作。(He works this way.) ...... 74 22 他这样年轻。(He is so young.) ...... 75 23 房间里净书。(There are only books in the room.) ...... 82 24 他更阿 Q。(He is more Ah-Q.) ...... 84 25 明天星期六。(Tomorrow is Saturday.) ...... 86 26 李明上海人。(Ming Li is from Shanghai.) ...... 86 27 明天又星期六。(It is again Saturday tomorrow.) ...... 88 28 李明大概上海人。(Ming Li is probably from Shanghai.) ...... 89 29 我有油。(I have oil.) ...... 89 30 他太油。(He is too oily. /He is a really sleazy person.) ...... 90 31 我喜欢艺术。(I like art.) ...... 90 32 这件衣服挺艺术。(This coat is very artistic.) ...... 90 33 他有本事。(He has the ability.) ...... 90

261 LIST OF EXAMPLES LIST OF EXAMPLES

34 他真本事。(He is really capable.) ...... 90 35 她的思想特传统。(Her thinking is very traditional.) ...... 93 36 她特淑女。(She is a lady.) ...... 93 37 这个人特青春。(She is very vigorous.) ...... 93 38 他特绅士地打开了门。(He opened the door like a gentleman.) ...... 94 39 他长得非常中国。(He looks very Chinese.) ...... 96 40 她的穿戴很时髦。(Her clothes are fashionable.) ...... 98 41 她的穿戴特香港。(Her clothes are fashionable.) ...... 98 42 他是一个很吝啬的人。(He is very mean.) ...... 98 43 他是一个特葛朗台的人。(He is very mean, like Grandet.) ...... 98 44 人们欢迎李明。(People welcome Ming Li.) ...... 101 45 我不同意你的意见。(I don’t agree to your opinion.) ...... 102 46 他从北京来。(He comes from Peking.) ...... 102 47 我和老师讨论问题。(I discussed with the teacher.) ...... 103 48 她有一辆车。(She has a car.) ...... 104 49 两个人成了朋友。(The two persons became friends.) ...... 105 50 我喜欢星期天。(I like Sundays.) ...... 106 51 这件事发生在星期天。(It happened on Sunday.) ...... 107 52 我喜欢星期天的早晨。(I like Sunday morning.) ...... 107 53 星期天是明天。(Sunday is tomorrow.) ...... 108 54 星期天异常寒冷。(It was unusually cold on Sunday.) ...... 109 55 星期天去上海了。(X went to Shanghai on Sunday.) ...... 110 56 李明住在前面。(Ming Li lives in front.) ...... 113 57 李明住在学校前面。(Ming Li lives in front of the school.) ...... 114 58 李明住在学校以东。(Ming Li lives to the east of the school.) ...... 115 59 李明出现在我之前。(Ming Li appears in front of me.) ...... 115 60 李明住附近。(Ming Li lives in the neighborhood.) ...... 116 61 附近住着李明。(Ming Li lives in the neighborhood.) ...... 118 62 后面落下几个人。(Several persons lagged behind.) ...... 119 63 前边建了一座楼房。(A building has been built up in front.) ...... 120 64 外面相当冷。(It is rather cold outside.) ...... 121 65 李明有一把椅子。(Ming Li has a chair.) ...... 122 66 旁边有一把椅子。(There is a chair nearby.) ...... 122 67 他总躺着。(He is always lying.) ...... 132 68 他学了德语。(He has learnt German.) ...... 132 69 他学过吉他。(He has learnt playing Guitar.) ...... 133 70 我走走。(I walk a bit.) ...... 134 71 他们说说笑笑。(They talk and laugh.) ...... 134 72 我们讨论讨论这个方案。(Let’s discuss a bit about this program.) ...... 134 73 我走一走。(I walk a bit.) ...... 136 74 我走了走。(I walked a bit.) ...... 136

262 LIST OF EXAMPLES LIST OF EXAMPLES

75 我看一看书。(I read a bit.) ...... 136 76 我看了看书。(I read a bit.) ...... 136 77 我听故事。(I listen to stories.) ...... 138 78 说更难。(It is more difficult to speak.) ...... 139 79 她能忍受孩子的闹。(She can stand the noise from the child.) ...... 140 80 她读小说解闷。(She read novels to kill time.) ...... 142 81 流动资产包括现金。(Current assets include cash.) ...... 143 82 上午来找我的是我的父亲。(The person who came for me in the morning is my father.) 145 83 他会跑。He will/can run...... 149 84 他很会弹吉他。(He can play guitar very well.) ...... 150 85 他应该而且会来。(He should and will come.) ...... 152 86 他应该会来。(He is probably coming.) ...... 154 87 他应该会愿意来。(He is probably willing to come.) ...... 157 88 他来了。(He has come.) ...... 160 89 眼泪要掉下来了。(Tears are going to drop down.) ...... 160 90 他笑了起来。(He has started laughing.) ...... 161 91 眼泪掉下来过。(Tears dropped down once.) ...... 162 92 两个主要政党已经联合起来组成政府。(Two main parties have united to organize a goverment.) ...... 163 93 她的脸红起来。(Her face is becoming red.) ...... 163 94 我会吩咐她准备咖啡。(I will order her to prepare coffee.) ...... 166 95 他给了我一本书。(He gave me a book.) ...... 169 96 他抢了我一本书。(He robbed me of a book.) ...... 172 97 我听了他两堂课。(I attended to two of his lessons.) ...... 172 98 他是一个聪明孩子。(He is a clever boy.) ...... 181 99 他是一个聪明的孩子。(He is a clever boy.) ...... 183 100 他是一个很聪明的孩子。(He is a very clever boy.) ...... 184 101 他平安地回来了。(He came back safe.) ...... 185 102 他平安回来了。(He came back safe.) ...... 185 103 他聪明。(He is clever.) ...... 186 104 他很聪明。(He is very clever.) ...... 187 105 这台电脑坏了。(This computer has broken down.) ...... 188 106 这台电脑坏过。(This computer was broken before.) ...... 189 107 这台电脑还坏着。(This computer is still broken.) ...... 190 108 这项工程方便了生活。(This project made life convenient.) ...... 191 109 我们应该稳定情绪。(We should make our mood stable.) ...... 191 110 他热心公益。(He is keen on public benefits.) ...... 194 111 我可怜他。(I have pity on him.) ...... 194 112 她的脸红红的。(Her face is red.) ...... 195 113 他有一双冰冷冰冷的手。(He has a pair of ice-cold hands.) ...... 197 114 他慢慢走着。(He is walking slowly.) ...... 199

263 LIST OF EXAMPLES LIST OF EXAMPLES

115 他慢慢地走着。(He is walking slowly.) ...... 199 116 他只惦记钱。(He is only concerned about money.) ...... 201 117 方法很重要。(The method is important.) ...... 202 118 我们真应该学习英语。(We should learn English.) ...... 202 119 她不十分了解他。(She does not know him very well.) ...... 203 120 头发几乎全白了。(The hair is almost all white.) ...... 203 121 她很快振作起来。(She recovered soon.) ...... 204 122 他肯定会格外生气。(He will certainly be extremely angry.) ...... 204 123 医生又来探视。(The doctor pays a visit again.) ...... 205 124 他正经由丝绸之路去巴基斯坦。(He is going to Pakistan through the Silk Road.) . . . 205 125 他就没按照要求去做。(He didn’t follow the requirement.) ...... 206 126 他永远也不会理解。(He will never understand.) ...... 206 127 我开心得很。(I am very happy.) ...... 207 128 我开心极了。(I am very happy.) ...... 209 129 我感动极了。(I am deeply moved.) ...... 210 130 他们又说又笑。(They talk and laugh.) ...... 211 131 他越走越累。(The more he walks, the more he gets tired.) ...... 211 132 在北京的人是他。(It is him who is in Beijing.) ...... 215 133 他出差到北京。(He goes on a business trip to Beijing.) ...... 217 134 他朝着汽车跑。(He runs towards the car.) ...... 219 135 他出差到过北京。(He has been in Beijing for a business trip.) ...... 219 136 他已经睡在了床上。(He is already sleeping in the bed.) ...... 219 137 我把书借他了。(I lent the book to him.) ...... 222 138 我想把门打开。(I want to open the door.) ...... 224 139 你别把我当孩子。(Don’t take me as a child.) ...... 225 140 我把衣服洗干净了。(I have washed the clothes clean.) ...... 226 141 一个人被他谋杀了。(A man was murdered by him.) ...... 227 142 一个人被谋杀了。(A man was murdered.) ...... 229 143 一个人被他所杀。(A man was murdered by him.) ...... 230 144 他们为歌声所吸引。(They are all attracted by the song.) ...... 231 145 一个人被他给杀了。(A man was murdered by him.) ...... 232 146 因为他没来所以错过了机会。(Because he didn’t come, he missed the chance.) . . . . 234 147 他因为没来所以错过了机会。(Because he didn’t come, he missed the chance.) . . . . 237 148 他们比身高及体重。(They compare height and weight.) ...... 237

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