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COMMON NOUNS, CLASSIFIERS, and QUANTIFICATION in CHINESE by RONG YANG a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunsw

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COMMON NOUNS, CLASSIFIERS, and QUANTIFICATION in CHINESE by RONG YANG a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunsw COMMON NOUNS, CLASSIFIERS, AND QUANTIFICATION IN CHINESE by RONG YANG A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Linguistics written under the direction of Professor Veneeta Dayal and approved by _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May, 2001 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Common Nouns, Classifiers, and Quantification in Chinese by RONG YANG Dissertation Director: Veneeta Dayal This dissertation investigates the internal composition of Chinese noun phrases from the perspective of syntax-semantics interface, as an inquiry into the nature of quantification in Chinese. In particular, we examine the meanings of Chinese common nouns, classifiers and quantificational determiners, bringing to light their contributions to the interpretation and quantificational structure of noun phrases as a whole. Chapter 1 introduces theoretical assumptions and outlines the organization of the dissertation. Chapter 2 investigates the semantics of Chinese common nouns, and provides empirical support to the Neocarlsonian approach from a cross-linguistic perspective. We argue that Chinese common nouns should be analyzed as basic kind- denoting terms, on a par with English bare nominals. For two well-known differences in interpretation between Chinese and English bare nominals, we show that they are best analyzed as consequences of well-attested cross-linguistic variations between the two languages, and thus do not constitute arguments against the Neocarlsonian approach. In particular, an extra definite reading observed on Chinese bare nominals in object-level contexts is derived from a type-lifting operation that is available for determinerless languages including Chinese. The apparent lack of an indefinite reading on a preverbal ii Chinese bare nominal is argued to follow from Chinese-particular factors concerning pro- drop and topic-prominence. In Chapter 3, we examine the syntax and semantics of numeral classifiers, as well as their function in object quantification within Chinese NPs. As Chinese common nouns are all kind-denoting mass nouns that do not correspond to sets of atoms, numeral classifiers are needed to individuate a level for counting and to identify the units out of which quantificational or numeric expressions can be built. This semantic function is captured by the introduction of a meaning definition for the numeral classifier, based on a formal theory proposed in Krifka 1995. Empirical data from Chinese are examined extensively, and syntactic motivations are presented for the semantic account. Chapter 4 studies characteristics of Chinese quantified NPs that are distinct from those of standard quantifiers. We suggest an analysis of Chinese quantified NPs as generalized quantifiers built up of plural individuals, and develop a compositional approach, with quantifiers contributing quantificational force and distributive operators introducing distributivity. We also show that numeral classifiers continue to play a crucial role in determining the behavior of Chinese quantified NPs with respect to distributivity and domain of quantification. Chapter 5 extends the scope of investigation to the domain of event quantification. We propose a new three-way typology of natural language common nouns, and claim that common nouns should be distinguished semantically in terms of the sort of entities they denote lexically. Cross-linguistic evidence is presented from two typologically distinct languages, including the distribution of nominal and verbal classifiers in Chinese and the selectional restrictions of a variety of predicates in English. We also claim that in a iii classifier language like Chinese, while the nominal classifier is needed to count individuals, the verbal classifier is used to count events, and that the complementary functions of the two classifiers impose a semantic restriction on the sort of entities they each can take as arguments. This is shown to be the key to explaining the distinctive distributions of nominal and verbal classifiers in Chinese. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work embodies the generous support and contributions of many people, and I am particularly indebted to the four members of my dissertation committee. Veneeta Dayal is both my thesis advisor and my first professor in semantics, who introduced me to the beauty of lambda conversion through her elegant way of teaching, and taught me so much about linguistics and life. She has guided me through every phase of this work, and has had a profound influence on the ideas developed here. Her constant support and inspiring guidance were instrumental in allowing me to write something I could be proud of. Maria Bittner has been extremely helpful in bringing many of my ideas into shape. I always came out of my meetings with her very excited and refreshed with new ideas. Her willingness to listen and get down to details, together with her exceptional insights into cross-linguistic semantics, were critical to the development of numerous ideas that made into the dissertation. Roger Schwarzschild has offered invaluable advice on many aspects of this thesis. He was very thorough in reading my notes and dissertation drafts, and gave insightful comments that have helped clarify my thought and led to dramatic improvements in the contents of the dissertation. Jim Huang has been more than kind to me, for consenting to be on my committee, providing constant encouragement, and sharing his many works with me. Having to read a long draft at a very short notice did not prevent him from providing penetrating criticisms and constructive suggestions. Needless to say, the profound influence his work has had on me goes beyond this thesis. His elegant and insightful work on Chinese syntax and syntax-semantics interface continues to be a source of inspiration to me. v I am also grateful to the linguistics community at Rutgers – faculty, staff and my fellow students – for providing an excellent and productive environment for research, communication and idea exchange, and for helping make my stay at Rutgers a rewarding experience. I owe much of what I know about linguistics to my professors at Rutgers, and I would like to thank Akin Akinlabi, Mark Baker, Viviane Deprez, Jane Grimshaw, Alan Prince, Ken Safir, Bruce Tesar and Karina Wilkinson for their enlightening lectures and seminars, generous support and encouragement. I have had the good fortune of sharing my time at Rutgers with many fellow students, and would like to thank Christine Brisson, Masaaki Fuji, Brenda Kennelly, Bruce Hall, Brett Hyde, Hong Feng, and particularly, Yoko Futagi, Takeo Kurafuji and Susanne Preuss for their kind suggestions, judgements, friendship and support. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their love and unwavering support, for giving me the desire for knowledge and bringing me up with values. I thank my husband Robert for being the pillar behind my strength and my daughter Annie for always bringing sunshine on my gloomy days. vi Table of Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................vii Chapter I: Introduction ................................................................................................1 Chapter II: Semantics of Chinese Common Nouns ...................................................12 2.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................12 2.2 Analysis of English bare nominals ...........................................................................13 2.3 Semantics of Chinese bare nominals ........................................................................20 2.3.1 The semantic parallel between Chinese and English bare nominals....................20 2.3.2 A problem with the Ambiguity approach...........................................................25 2.3.3 Two challenges for the Neocarlsonian approach................................................29 2.4 Defending the Neocarlsonian Approach...................................................................31 2.4.1 The definite reading of Chinese bare nominals ..................................................31 2.4.2 Evidence for indefinite readings in subject position...........................................32 2.4.3 Accounting for the saliency difference ..............................................................34 2.4.4 Predictions of the suggested account .................................................................36 2.4.5 Topics, interpretations & anaphora: a cross-linguistic perspective .....................37 2.4.6 Chinese as a topic-prominent language..............................................................41 2.5 An alternative approach...........................................................................................45 2.5.1 Li 1997 .............................................................................................................45 2.5.2 Problems
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