Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese
Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese
Syntax of the Bi Comparative Construction in Mandarin Chinese
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<strong>Syntax</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bi</strong> <strong>Comparative</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>in</strong> Mandar<strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese<br />
2.2.3.3 Adjunctional Structure <strong>in</strong> VP (Hs<strong>in</strong>g 2003)<br />
To study <strong>the</strong> syntax <strong>of</strong> BCC <strong>in</strong> MC, Hs<strong>in</strong>g (2003) beg<strong>in</strong>s his analysis on <strong>the</strong><br />
syntactic properties <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bi word, by which he fur<strong>the</strong>r approves <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> adjunction<br />
analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> syntactic structure <strong>of</strong> BCC. In discuss<strong>in</strong>g BCC, Hs<strong>in</strong>g considers three<br />
k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> BCC sentences- simple common predicate (49a), common predicate with<br />
adjunctional adverb (49b), and common predicate with a complementational object<br />
(49c).<br />
(49) a. Zhangsan bi Lisi gao. (Hs<strong>in</strong>g 2003: 31)<br />
Zhangsan COM Lisi tall<br />
‘Zhangsan is taller than Lisi (is).’<br />
b. Zhangsan bi Lisi dazi kuai.<br />
Zhangsan COM Lisi type fast<br />
‘Zhangsan types faster than Lisi (does).’<br />
c. Zhangsan bi Lisi xihuan paobu<br />
Zhangsan COM Lisi like jogg<strong>in</strong>g<br />
‘Zhangsan likes jogg<strong>in</strong>g more than Lisi (does).’<br />
To exam<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong> syntactic categories <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bi word, Hs<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>ts out that bi<br />
shares some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> syntactic properties <strong>of</strong> conjunctions, prepositions, verbs, and<br />
complementizer. However, to classify bi as any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se categories leaves some<br />
different defects and unsolved problems. First <strong>of</strong> all, if bi is a conjunction, <strong>the</strong><br />
reflexive pronoun ziji <strong>in</strong> (50) can go across Lisi and refers to Zhangsan, yet cannot<br />
refer to both Zhangsan and Lisi at <strong>the</strong> same time, which is not <strong>the</strong> character <strong>of</strong> a<br />
conjunction.<br />
28<br />
中正大學 e-Thesys (94 學年度)
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