Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese

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Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese (12) a. *wo xihuan mao bi gou (Li and Thompson 1981) I like cat COM dog ‘I like dogs better than cats.’ b. *wo gou bi mao xihuan I dog COM cat like ‘Same as (a).’ c. *gou bi mao wo xihuan dog COM cat I like ‘Same as (a).’ Secondly, coverb phrases cannot be compared. Again, sentences comparing such phrases is not acceptable. (13) * wo xihuan zai chizi li bi zai hai li youyong I like at pool in COM at ocean in swim Thirdly, while the comparative relationship between the terms X and Y is not directly specfified, must be inferred. In (14a), we know that X– wo ‘I’ and Y– zuotian ‘yesterday’ are not able to be compared; instead, wo jintian and wo zuotian in (14b) are the compared X and Y. Speaker of Mandarin must sometimes infer what makes sense from a comparative sentence in which X and Y are not directly comparable. (14) wo bi zuotian shufu I COM yesterday comfortable ‘I feel better than I did yesterday.’ 10 中正大學 e-Thesys (94 學年度)
Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese This analysis gives a general description of the Mandarin comparative sentences. However, Tsao (1989 points out the inadequacies of Li and Thompson’s generalization and rules above, which will be examed in the next section. 2.2.1.2 A Topic-Comment Approach (Tsao 1989) Tsao (1989) takes the Topic-Comment approach in analyzing CC in MC. In this work, he starts out by examining Li and Thompson’s analysis and then finds out some counterexamples to their generalization. First of all, in contrast to Li and Thompson’s analysis, Tsao points out that direct objects seems to be comparable in sentences like (15) (Tsao 1989:154). (15) ta lanqiu bi paiqiu da-de hao S/He basketball COM valleyball play-DE well ‘S/HE plays basketball better than s/he does valleyball.’ Second, Li and Thompson’s generalization implies that coverb phrases cannot be compared. However, Tsao finds many examples in which the compared items are coverb phrases (Tsao 1989:155). (16) a. ta dui ni bi dui wo hao (Tsao 1989:155) he to you COM to I well ‘He is nicer to you than to me.’ b. yong shou bi yong kuaizi chi fangbian (Tsao 1989:155) with hand COM with chopstick eat convenient ‘It is more convenient to eat with hands than with chopsticks.’ 11 中正大學 e-Thesys (94 學年度)
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Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese

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