Mandarin resultatives have been a focus of active research for decades because of their remarkably flexible argument realisation patterns.
(1)
陶陶追累了友友.
Táotáo zhuī-lèi-le Yǒuyǒu.
Taotao chase-tired-PFV Youyou
(a) ‘Taotao chased Youyou and Youyou got tired.’
(b) ‘Taotao chased Youyou and Taotao got tired.’
(c) ‘Youyou chased Taotao and Youyou got tired.’
(Li 1995)
There are two types of resultative expressions in Mandarin Chinese: V-V resultatives and V-de resultatives.
What are V-V resultatives in Mandarin Chinese?
V-V resultatives are compounds made up of two verbs, V1 and V2. V1 describes the manner in which a change was brought about, while V2 describes the result of that change.
V-V resultatives are also called resultative compounds or resultative verb compounds (RVCs). They are sometimes referred to as complements of result, result complements or resultative complements, terms that directly translate jiéguǒ bǔyǔ (结果补语) in Chinese.
V-V resultative:
(2)
宝宝哭醒了妈妈。
Bǎobao kū-xǐng-le māma.
baby cry-awake-PFV mother
‘The baby cried Mother awake.’
What are V-de resultatives in Mandarin Chinese?
Unlike V-V resultatives, V-de resultatives are not compounds. V1 describes one event which culminates in another event that is described by a de-phrase that follows V1.
V-de resultative:
(3)
宝宝哭得妈妈醒了。
Bǎobao kū de [māma xǐng-le].
baby cry DE mother awake-PFV
‘The baby cried and as a result Mother became awake.’
What is the difference between V-V and V-de resultatives?
It has been claimed that both V-V and V-de resultatives have the same degree of flexibility in their argument realisation possibilities. For example, the first verb, or V1, can omit its external argument in both V-V and V-de resultatives.
V-V resultative:
(4)
衣服洗干净了。
Yīfú xǐ-gānjìng-le.
clothes wash-clean-PFV
‘The clothes got clean from washing [i.e. being washed].’ (Williams 2005)
V-de resultative:
(5)
?衣服洗得干净了。
?Yīfú xǐ de gānjìng-le.
clothes wash DE clean-PFV
‘The clothes got clean from washing [i.e. being washed].’
The dominant view in the literature is that both V-V and V-de resultatives have the same basic underlying structure in which the result component V2 is the complement of the manner component V1 (Williams 2005; Huang 2006).
However, such a view fails to explain why a V-de resultative like (7) with:
- an obligatorily transitive V1 (e.g. rǎn ‘dye’) and
- a postverbal DP (“DP2”) that is interpreted as the internal argument of V1
is degraded compared to its V-V counterpart in (6).
V-V resultative:
(6)
玛丽染红了头发。
Mǎlì rǎn-hóng-le tóufa.
Mary dye-red-PFV hair
‘Mary dyed her hair red.’
V-de resultative:
(7)
*玛丽染得头发红了。
*Mǎlì rǎn de [tóufa hóng-le].
Mary dye DE hair red-PFV
Intended: ‘Mary dyed her hair red.’
(adapted from X. Zhang 2020)
The contrast between (6) and (7) suggests that V-V and V-de resultatives cannot have the same underlying structure.
What is the structure of a V-V resultative in Mandarin Chinese?
I propose that a Mandarin V-V resultative like rǎn-hóng ‘dye-red’ contains a null affix ∅.
(8)
In general, affixes can add or suppress arguments in the argument structure of their hosts.
I propose that the null affix in a Mandarin V-V resultative inherits all the arguments of V2 but none of the arguments of V1.
Consequently, the arguments of the null affix – and by extension, those of the V-V resultative – can, but need not, be interpreted as arguments of V1.
This explains why Mandarin V-V resultatives have such flexible argument structures.
What is the structure of a V-de resultative in Mandarin Chinese?
I propose that the de-phrase in a Mandarin V-de resultative is an adjunct of V1.
Since the de-phrase is adjoined to V1 in syntax, the de-phrase cannot suppress the arguments of V1. Consequently, V1 in a V-de resultative must realise its obligatory arguments.
According to my proposal, a V-de resultative like (7) has the structure in (9).
(9)
In this structure, V1 realises its obligatory internal argument as a phonologically null pro. This structure is degraded in an out-of-the-blue context because pro cannot depend on DP2 to its right as its antecedent.
How can I find out more?
You can read more about my work here:
Presentations:
- Wenkai Tay. Compound vs phrasal resultatives: the view from Mandarin Chinese. LF Reading Group, MIT, 18 Sep 2024. [abstract] [handout]
- Wenkai Tay. Compound vs phrasal resultatives: the view from Mandarin Chinese. Syntax & Semantics Reading Group, Queen Mary University of London, 6 Dec 2023. [handout]
- Wenkai Tay. Compound vs phrasal resultatives: the view from Mandarin Chinese. 2023 Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (LAGB), Anglia Ruskin University, 29 Aug-1 Sep 2023. [abstract] [handout]
- Wenkai Tay. On the flexibility of argument realisation in Mandarin V-V resultatives. Resultatives: new approaches and renewed perspectives, National University of Singapore, 20-22 Mar 2023. [abstract] [handout]
References:
- Huang, C.-T. James. 2006. Resultatives and unaccusatives: A parametric view.
Bulletin of the Chinese Linguistic Society of Japan 2006:1–43. - Li, Yafei. 1995. The thematic hierarchy and causativity. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 13:255–282.
- Williams, Alexander. 2005. Complex causatives and verbal valence. Doctoral
dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. - Zhang, Xiaowen. 2020. The possibility of weak V-DE-(NP)-A constructions in
Chinese. Journal of Language Teaching and Research 11:86–100.