Chinese relative clauses: restrictive, descriptive or appositive? - Lear

FRANCESCA DEL GOBBO
(37) [Mei-ge xuesheng]i dou yuanliang (na-ge)[RC cengjing shanghai-guo
every-CL student all forgives that-CL formerly insult-GUO
tai de] Lisi.
him DE Lisi
lit. ‘Every student forgives Lisi who insulted him.’
(38) [Mei-ge laoshi]i dou jiaoxun [RC meiyou zunzhong tai de] women.
every-CL professor all scold not respect him DE us
lit. ‘Every professor scolded us who disrespected him.’
Moreover, the insertion of a sentential adverb of modification yields
ungrammaticality:
(39) *[Shunbian-yi-sheng xihuan yinyue de] Zhangsan changchang qu
by-the-way-one-voice like music DE Zhangsan often go
yinyuehui.
concert
lit. ‘Zhangsan, who by the way likes music, often goes to concerts.’
Finally, Giorgi (1984), on the basis of the behavior of the long-distance
anaphor proprio, ‘self’, in Italian, observes that if the long-distance anaphor
is inside an appositive relative clause, it can only be bound by the ‘head’ of
the relative clause. If instead it is inside a restrictive relative clause, it can be
bound both by the ‘head’ of the relative and by the matrix subject:
(40) Giannii pensa che Marioj, che tj ama la propriaj/*i moglie,
Gianni thinks that Mario that loves the own wife
sia intelligente.
is smart
‘Gianni thinks that Mario, who loves his own wife, is smart.’
In Chinese, the long-distance anaphora ziji, ‘self’, can be bound both by the
‘head’ of the relative and by the matrix subject:
(41) Zhangsani renwei [RC ai zijij/i de qizi de] Lisij hen congming.
Zhangsan thinks love own DE wife DE Lisi very smart
‘Zhangsan thinks that the Lisi who loves his own wife is smart.’
(42) Zhangsani renwei [RC ai zijij/i de qizi de] taj hen congming.
Zhangsan think love himself DE wife DE him very smart
‘Zhangsan thinks that he who loves his own wife is smart.’
300