{"title":"TOWARD A UNITARY ACCOUNT OF DIVERSE SHI CONSTRUCTIONS IN MANDARIN CHINESE","authors":"Wenshan Li","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).4","url":null,"abstract":"The morpheme "shi" (the fourth tone) in Mandarin has four major uses: as a copula verb, a verum focus marker and an associate of argument/adjunct focus, and it is also involved in elliptical sentences. These uses have been well-observed in the literature, and many previous attempts have been made to provide a unitary theoretical characterization of these uses. In this paper, a revisit is paid to these uses of "shi" and it is argued that some of the latest unitary theoretical accounts of this morpheme are problematic. A novel unitary theoretical account of these uses is formulated from a parsing perspective in the framework of Dynamic Syntax, wherein sentences are viewed as left-to-right word-by-word monotonic processes of constructing propositions. It is proposed that "shi" always contributes a predicate of identity relation which combines with a corresponding formula of some logical type. Whether the presence of "shi" in a sentence gives rise to pragmatic effects or not depends on "shi" and the syntactic properties of the expression following "shi".","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"14 1","pages":"120-160"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SYNTACTIC DEPENDENCIES AND PHASE EXTENSION: VERB MOVEMENT IN STANDARD ARABIC","authors":"Feras Saeed","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines verb movement in Standard Arabic and provides a new analysis to account for this obligatory movement in terms of C/T-v syntactic dependencies. I recast the proposal put forth by Biberauer and Roberts (2010) where they claim that verb movement is an instance of a reprojective movement (See also Koenemean 2000; Suranyi 2005; Donati 2006; among others). However, I provide a different motivation for this movement in terms of locality and last resort. This approach is coupled with Gallego's (2010) analysis of phase extension where he argues that verb movement is triggered by the need to minimize the search domain of the C probe. I adopt the same mechanism, but differ with Gallego in the type of feature the head C needs to check. I argue that the feature in question is finiteness [Fin], an interpretable unvalued feature on C, which has a valued instance on v. Therefore, v moves to the left of T, as a last resort, in order to circumvent the intervention effect caused by the head T and to be in the local domain of C; thus, preserving the locality of the probe and extending the vP phase boundary.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"14 1","pages":"29-66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Analysis of Chinese Tag Questions with a Cross-Linguistic Comparison to English Tags","authors":"Ai-li C. Hsin","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2016.14(1).3","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyzes Chinese tag questions in contrast to English tag questions. Whereas English tags are syntax-based, Chinese tags are more discourse-based and the choice of tag verbs is decided mainly according to the speaker's discourse intentions, such as asking for an agreement of the host proposition, seeking consent of an invitation, making a refutation, etc. The Chinese tag question comprises a tag verb in the interrogative form, namely V-not-V, V-particle, or Neg-V-particle, and a null "pro" of CP, which is identical with the host sentence. The various interrogative forms of the tag verb display varied degrees of presupposition from the speaker. Tag verbs include mostly the declarative tags of "dui", "shi", "you", etc. and imperative tags of "hao", "xing", "keyi". Some epistemic modals such as "yinggai", "keneng" and some discourse commentary verbs such as "guai", "zan", "ku", "sheng", etc. can also be tag verbs, though in relatively low frequency. From the cross-linguistic comparison, it is concluded that English tags might be harder for Chinese EFL learners to acquire than Chinese tags for English CFL learners due to the syntactic complexity of canonical tags and irregularity in formation in non-canonical tags.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"14 1","pages":"69-119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Force in Mandarin Verbs of Cutting","authors":"S. Hsiao","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).1","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores the semantic meaning of verbs of cutting in Mandarin; it also investigates whether the semantic component FORCE should be included in the denotation for distinguishing the fine-grained meanings among Mandarin verbs, including "diāo, qiē, xue(xiāo), duo, gē, kǎn, kē, jiǎn, pī and pǒ", broadly subsumed under the category of the CUT action events in English. To probe this issue, an on-line questionnaire was used along with a corpus-based analysis of cutting verbs with the following results. Firstly, the most commonly-used implicit categories that Mandarin native speakers use are INSTRUMENT, FORCE, DELICATENESS, and RESULT (SEPARATION). Secondly, based on the frequency of the participants' chosen words on FORCE-related items, kǎn (100%), duo (89%) and pī (86%) are the top three verbs used with respect to the semantic feature of FORCE. Lastly, the corpus analysis supports the hypothesis of V-C complementary distribution in native speakers' usage. The preliminary findings support the usage-based view of language (Barlow and Kemmer 2000) and can shed light on the cognitive constraint that implicitly and regularly appears in speakers' resultative compound usages.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"1-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"DIRECT AND INDIRECT CONDITIONALS: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF CHINESE YAOSHI AND YAOBUSHI IN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN DISCOURSE *","authors":"Hsun-Ming Hsu, Yu-Fang Wang, Kaibao Hu","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).2","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores Mandarin Chinese yaoshi and yaobushi constructions in both spoken and written discourse from the perspective of grammaticalization. Although the conditional markers yaoshi and yaobuhsi seem antonymous, there are some asymmetries between them in conditional constructions. Adopting a synchronic approach, this study discusses the semantic-pragmatic uses of yaoshi and yaobushi. In addition, we also show their semantic development from the propositional domain, to the textual domain, and from there to the expressive domain, viz. a semantic development whereby the meanings of the lexical items change from less to more situated in the speaker's mental belief and attitude. By investigating the development of yaoshi and yaobushi, we can describe more accurately their various usages in contemporary Chinese and explain the asymmetries between their uses in conditionals. It is concluded in this study that the differences in their grammaticalization, subjectification and intersubjectification included, influence not only their occurrences in conditionals but also their pragmatic functions in discourse.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"31-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"L3 Initial State: Typological Primacy Driven, L2 Factor Determinded, or L1 Feature Oriented?","authors":"江丕賢, S. Kong","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(2).3","url":null,"abstract":"The present study investigates the interpretation of null subject and object pronouns in matrix and embedded clauses by twenty-five adult Chinese speakers of advanced L2 English acquiring L3 French in the initial stage and twenty-three participants of the same L1/L2 background acquiring L3 Spanish in the initial stage. It tests predictions made by three theories in L3 acquisition: the Typological Primacy Model of Rothman (2011), the L2 Status Factor of Bardel and Falk (2007) and Falk and Bardel (2011), and the Interpretability Hypothesis of Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou (2007). Asymmetries displayed in learners' interpretation of null matrix subjects and null embedded subjects as well as in null matrix subjects and null matrix and embedded objects suggest not only subjects and objects but also matrix and embedded clauses are treated differently by L1 Chinese/L2 English speakers of L3 French and L3 Spanish. The observed behaviour can be explained following Kong (2005) that adult learners have no access to uninterpretable syntactic features.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"79-116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO FUNCTIONAL CORPUS CONSTRUCTION","authors":"Hengbin Yan, J. Webster","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).3","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we present our recent experience in constructing a first-of-its-kind functional corpus based on the theoretical framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Annotated on selected texts from the Penn Treebank, the corpus was built by a collaborative team on a web-based annotation platform with several advanced features. After a discussion on the background and motivation of the project, we present our solutions to some of the challenges encountered in the collaborative annotation process. With fine-grained annotations of an initial corpus now available, the corpus can serve as a valuable linguistic resource that complements existing semantically annotated corpora and aids in the development of a larger-scale resource crucial for automated systems for analysis of linguistic function.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"53-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Comparative Study of the Sound Profiles of Sites of Initiation in French and Mandarin Recycling Repair","authors":"Helen Kai-Yun Chen","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).4","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the sound profiles of sites of initiation in French and Mandarin recycling repair. Instances of recycling repair were extracted from comparative speech corpora of naturally occurring, face-to-face Mandarin and French interaction. By the interactional prosody approach plus impressionistic judgments, each repair was annotated for its prosodic realization, including relative pitch height, duration, silent pauses and other sound cues for initiating the repair. Through comparing results of acoustic measurements, the discussion focuses on the similarities and differences in the sound realization while initiating and accomplishing recycling repair in both languages. It is suggested that interlocutors of the two languages may orient to rather different methods of initiating the repair in that French speakers tend to incorporate lengthening at the repair initiating sites plus optional filled pauses, while Mandarin speakers employ quick cut-offs for repair initiation, followed by immediate repair.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"79-110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Special Issue: Selected Papers from the 27th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information, and Computation (Paclic), November 22-24, 2013","authors":"Shih-ping Wang, Siaw-Fong Chung","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).I","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).I","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
徐嘉慧, 葉相林, Kawai Chui, Hsiang-Lin Yeh, Wen-Chun La, Yu-Han Che
{"title":"CLAUSAL-PACKAGING OF PATH OF MOTION IN MANDARIN LEARNERS’ ACQUISITION OF RUSSIAN AND SPANISH","authors":"徐嘉慧, 葉相林, Kawai Chui, Hsiang-Lin Yeh, Wen-Chun La, Yu-Han Che","doi":"10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6519/TJL.2015.13(1).1","url":null,"abstract":"Given that Mandarin is a verb-serializing language, Russian a satellite-framed language, and Spanish a verb-framed language, the current study examines Mandarin college students’ acquisition of Russian and of Spanish to understand the strength of preferences for expression of Path in Mandarin on learners’ foreign language acquisition in Taiwan, and whether there is any cross-linguistic difference between the acquisition of the two foreign languages. Utilizing data from oral narratives, the study focuses on the morphosyntactic and concatenation preferences in Mandarin, Russian and Spanish. First, Russian majors’ morphosyntactic preferences demonstrate that Mandarin affects students’ acquisition of Russian at the elementary level. However, learners’ first language does not hold strength in the acquisition of Spanish. Second, deviations from learners’ Mandarin were found and appear to be language-specific, in that elementary learners of Russian produced a lot more one-path-element clauses, and learners of Spanish rather preferred two-path-element clauses. The findings as a whole provide a deeper understanding of the various degrees of crosslinguistic transfer on Mandarin learners’ acquisition of two typologically different foreign languages at two levels of proficiency.","PeriodicalId":41000,"journal":{"name":"Taiwan Journal of Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71326662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}