City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 How to ask questions in Mandarin Chinese Woan-Jen Liing Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/445 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE BY WOAN-JEN LIING A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 WOAN-JEN LIING All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has Been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Robert W. Fiengo __________________________ __________________________________________________ Date Chair of EXamining Committee Gita Martohardjono __________________________ __________________________________________________ Date Executive Officer William McClure Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE WOAN-JEN LIING DISSERTATION ADVISOR: ROBERT W. FIENGO This thesis re-examines the four main question-types in Mandarin Chinese, namely, particle questions, háishì questions, A-not-A questions and wh-questions, whose previous accounts are argued to be unsatisfactory due to various faulty assumptions about questions, particularly the stipulation of ‘Q’. Each of the four Mandarin Chinese question-types is re-accounted based on the view that questions are speech-acts, whose performance are done by way of speakers’ subconscious choice of sentence-types that mirror their ignorance-types, as proposed in Fiengo (2007). It is further demonstrated that viewing questions as speech-acts instead of a structurally marked sentence-type allows a simpler and more intuitive account for expressions that occur in them. Two expressions are re-evaluated for that matter: the sentential adverb dàodǐ in Mandarin Chinese and wh-the-hell in English. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writing of my dissertation has been a journey for me not only academically but also introspectively. The things I have learned through the process have gone far Beyond the linguistics lectures at the Graduate Center and the long afternoons spent at the Mina Rees liBrary. On train rides home, the frequent coffee runs to StarBucks, long showers, and numerous sleepless nights, my thoughts have frequently Been overrun with a myriad of possible solutions to the proBlems I was trying to address. Sometimes they were fruitful but most of the time they left me frustrated. Through all this, it has Been my dissertation advisor, RoBert Fiengo, who has kept a cool mind when I did not and provided clear guidance when I was lost. Even though he does not speak Mandarin Chinese, he would still always ask the most precise questions, and that has proven to be very crucial to the construction of my thesis. The ideas of many sections in my thesis originated as answers to his questions, and I could always rely on him for honest opinions, useful feedBack and for pointing me in the right direction to find answers. It has Been an honor to work with him and I truly could not have achieved this without him. I am also very grateful to the other two Professors on my dissertation committee, William McClure and Gita Martohardjono, for the hours and effors they have dedicated to my thesis. William has Been my academic advisor, who guided me through my first exam and provided me a teaching position at Queens College that lasted for many years. Gita is the chair of our department and is also the person who gave me the opportunity to Be part of the PhD program in linguistics at the Graduate Center. It is a journey that is accompanied By warm friendships: Shukhan Ng, Li Ma and many others in the program. Not only did they help me in navigating the field of linguistics But also with growing to who I am today. To them I am very thankful. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, Yan-Mei Chiang, and my husBand, Michael Wu, who, though, having very little idea aBout what I have been working on (and might still Be wondering why), have unconditionally given their love and support aBove and Beyond. For that, I am forever in their deBt. v TABLE OF CONTENTS: ABSTRACTS ........................................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: A FRESH LOOK AT QUESTIONS 1.1 WHAT ARE ‘QUESTIONS’? A CASE AGAINST ‘Q’ ........................................................... 1 1.2 QUESTIONS ARE INCOMPLETE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER............................................. 3 1.3 OUTLINE OF WHAT FOLLOWS .................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER II THE FOUR TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE 2.1 PARTICLE QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE ........................................................... 15 2.1.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................... 16 2.1.2 THE POSITION OF MANDARIN CHINESE PARTICLES .......................................... 21 2.1.2.1 SYBESMA (1999): C0-COMPLEMENT TO [SPEC, CP] MOVEMENT.............. 22 2.1.2.2 ALDRIDGE (2011): THE DISJUNCTION ACCOUNT ................................... 25 2.1.3 RECOUNT: SYNCHRONIC MANDARIN CHINESE PARTICLES: MA, BA AND NE ........ 35 2.1.3.1 PRESUPPOSITION PARTICLES .............................................................. 36 2.1.3.1.1 MA ............................................................................ 36 2.1.3.1.2 BA ............................................................................. 37 2.1.3.1.3 NE ............................................................................. 42 2.1.3.2 BARE QUESTIONS .............................................................................. 45 2.2 HÁISHÌ QUESTIONS .................................................................................................. 47 2.2.1 WHAT ARE HÁISHÌ QUESTIONS? .................................................................... 47 2.2.2 THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF DISJUNCTIVE QUESTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE .................................................................................................................... 48 2.2.3 PREVIOUS ACCOUNTS .................................................................................... 49 2.2.3.1 HUANG (1982A&B, 1991) & HUANG ET AL. (2009): LF MOVEMENT ACCOUNT .................................................................................................................... 49 2.2.3.2 ERLEWINE (2012): NO MOVEMENT: FOCUS-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS ............ 53 vi 2.2.4 MY ACCOUNT ............................................................................................... 63 2.2.4.1 DEFINING DISJUNCTIVE QUESTIONS ..................................................... 63 2.2.4.2 NEITHER INCLUSIVE NOR EXCLUSIVE .................................................... 66 2.2.4.3 DISJUNCTIVE QUESTIONS AND ISLAND EFFECTS ..................................... 68 2.3 A-NOT-A QUESTIONS ............................................................................................... 71 2.3.1 WHAT ARE A-NOT-A QUESTIONS? ................................................................... 71 2.3.2 PREVIOUS ACCOUNTS .................................................................................... 74 2.3.2.1 HUANG (1991) & HUANG ET AL. (2009): THE MODULAR SYNTACTIC ACCOUNT ......................................................................................................... 74 2.3.2.2 GASDE (2004): THE MORPHO-SYNTACTIC ACCOUNT ............................... 85 2.3.3 MY ACCOUNT ............................................................................................... 90 2.3.3.1 THE INCOMPLETENESS OF A-NOT-A QUESTIONS .................................... 90 2.3.3.2 ‘NEGATIVE’ A-NOT-A QUESTIONS AND ‘NEGATED’ A-NOT-A QUESTIONS .. 91 2.3.3.3 EMBEDDED A-NOT-A QUESTIONS ......................................................... 92 2.4 WH-QUESTIONS ....................................................................................................... 96 2.4.1 WHAT IS A WH-QUESTION? ............................................................................ 96 2.4.2 PREVIOUS STUDIES ........................................................................................ 99 2.4.2.1 THE MOVEMENT ............................................................................... 101 2.4.2.1.1 PROPOSED EVIDENCE FOR THE MOVEMENT ACCOUNT ... 102 2.4.2.1.2 ECP, SUBJACENCY AND CONDITIONS ON EXTRACTION DOMAIN ................................................................................. 107 2.4.2.2 THE NON-MOVEMENT ....................................................................... 112 2.4.3 SPLITTING THE POWERS – AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW TO EXPLAIN WH-EXPRESSIONS .................................................................................................................. 121 2.4.4 SPLITTING AND UNSPLITTING IN MANDARIN CHINESE WH-QUESTIONS ............. 122 2.4.5 THE INCOMPLETENESS IN MANDARIN