Cover not available
Article published In:
Diachronica
Vol. 32:3 (2015) ► pp.293–330

On syntactic intervention in Chinese denominal verbs

A diachronic perspective

| South China Normal University
The derivation of Chinese denominal verbs has undergone a diachronic shift from freedom in Archaic Chinese to restriction in Post-Archaic Chinese. While denominal verbs in Archaic Chinese can be conveniently accommodated in a pragmatic account, those in Post-Archaic Chinese only yield to a syntactic account. The diachronic shift has arguably resulted from syntactic intervention: only those denominal verbs in Archaic Chinese that can possibly be derived in syntax have survived into Post-Archaic Chinese. In support of this hypothesis is the fact that the prefix *s- and qù shēng bié yì (“falling tone for sense distinction”), responsible for verbalization of nouns in Archaic Chinese, have ceased to operate and given way to zero categories in Post-Archaic Chinese, and the denominal verbs in Post-Archaic Chinese exhibit transparent semantic structures. These findings support the general view about the lexicon-syntax interface that word formation should not be reduced to either the lexicon or syntax alone.
Keywords: Chinese, syntax, zero category, denominal verb, morphology
Published online: 10 December 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.32.3.01che
References (69)
Arad, Maya. 2003a. Locality constraints on the interpretation of roots: The case of Hebrew denominal verbs. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21(4). 737–778. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2003b. Why syntax matters. Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes 321. 83–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Mark. 1988. Incorporation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
. 1997. Thematic roles and syntactic structure. In Liliane Haegeman (ed.), Elements of grammar, 73–137. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baxter, William H. & Laurent Sagart. 1998. Word formation in Old Chinese. In Jerome L. Packard (ed.), New approaches to Chinese word-formation: Morphology, phonology, lexicon in Modern and Ancient Chinese, 35–76. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borer, Hagit. 2005a. Structuring sense, vol I: In name only. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. 2005b. Structuring sense, vol II: The normal course of events. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chan, Marjorie K.M. & James H-Y. Tai. 1995. From nouns to verbs: Verbalization in Chinese dialects and East Asian languages. NACCL [North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics] 6(2). 49–74.Google Scholar
Cheng, Jie & Howard Lasnik. Manuscript. Parametric variations in English and Mandarin denominal verb derivation.
Chomsky, Noam. 1970. Remarks on nominalization. In Roderick A. Jacobs & Peter S. Rosenbaum (eds.), Readings in English transformational grammar, 184–221. Waltham, MA: Ginn and Co.Google Scholar
. 1981. Lectures on government and binding: The Pisa lectures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 1995. The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Clark, Eve V. & Herbert H. Clark. 1979. When nouns surface as verbs. Language 511. 767–811. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Deng, Ming. 2011. Cong fangfalun de shijiao lun gu hanyu “cilei huoyong” shuo de pianwu [A methodological perspective on the problems in the view of free word-class shift in Ancient Chinese]. Yuwen Yanjiu [Chinese Studies] 21. 35–39.Google Scholar
Di Sciullo, Anna Maria & Edwin Williams. 1987. On the definition of word. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Don, Jan. 2005. Roots, deverbal nouns and denominal verbs. In Geert Booij, Emiliano Guevara, Angela Ralli, Salvatore Sgroi & Sergio Scalise (eds.), Morphology and linguistic typology: On-line Proceedings of Mediterranean Morphology Meeting 41, 91–104. Bologna: University of Bologna. [URL].Google Scholar
Dong, Xiufang. 2002. Cihuihua: Hanyu shuangyinzi de yansheng he fazhan [Lexicalization: Genesis and development of disyllabic words in Chinese]. Chengdu, China: Sichuan Renmin Chubanshe [Sichuan People’s Press].Google Scholar
Dowty, David. 1979. Word meaning and Montague grammar. Dordrecht: Reidel. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Feng, Shengli. 1998. Prosodic structure and compound words in Classical Chinese. In Jerome L. Packard (ed.), New approaches to Chinese word-formation: Morphology, phonology, lexicon in Modern and Ancient Chinese, 197–260. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2005. Qing dongci yiwei yu gujin hanyu de dongbin guanxi [Light-verb movement in Modern and Classical Chinese]. Yuyan Kexue [Linguistic Science] 11. 3–16.Google Scholar
. 2014. Historical syntax of Chinese. In C.-T. James Huang, Y.-H. Audrey Li & Andrew Simpson (eds.), The handbook of Chinese linguistics, 537–575. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fodor, Jerry & Ernie Lepore. 1999. Impossible words? Linguistic Inquiry 30(3). 445–453. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Folli, Raffaella & Heidi Harley. 2006. On the licensing of causatives of directed motion: Waltzing Matilda all over. Studia Linguistica 60(2). 121–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1984. Syntax: A functional-typological introduction I. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hale, Kenneth & S. Jay Keyser. 1993. On argument structure and lexical expression of syntactic relations. In Kenneth Hale & S. Jay Keyser (eds.), The view from Building 20: Essays in linguistics in honor of Sylvain Bromberger, 53–109. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
. 1997. On the complex nature of simple predicators. In Alex Alsina, Joan Bresnan & Peter Sells (eds.), Complex predicates, 29–65. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
. 1999. A response to Fodor and Lepore, ‘Impossible words?’ Linguistic Inquiry 30(3). 453–466. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2002. Prolegomenon to a theory of argument structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harley, Heidi. 2005. How do verbs get their names? Denominal verbs, manner incorporation and the ontology of verb roots in English. In Nomi Erteschik-Shir & Tova Rapoport (eds.), The syntax of aspect, 42–64. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. Compounding in distributed morphology. In Rochelle Lieber & Pavel Stekauer (eds.), The Oxford handbook of compounding, 129–144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James. 1997. On lexical structure and syntactic projection. Chinese Languages and Linguistics 31. 45–89.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray S. 1972. Semantic interpretation in generative grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Jin, Haiqiang. 2011. Gu jin hanyu mingci dongyong bijiao yanjiao [The comparative study of denominal verbs in Ancient and Modern Chinese]. Yanbian, China: Yanbian University MA thesis.Google Scholar
Jin, Wen. 2011. A statistical argument for the homophony avoidance approach to the disyllabification of Chinese. NACCL [North American Conference on Chinese Linguistic] 23(1). 35–50.Google Scholar
Lapointe, Steven G. 1980. A theory of grammatical agreement. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar
Larson, Richard. 1988. On double object constructions. Linguistic Inquiry 19(3). 335–391.Google Scholar
Levin, Beth & Malka Rappaport Hovav. 2005. Thematic hierarchies in argument realization. In Beth Levin & Malka Rappaport Hovav (eds.), Argument realization, 154–185. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Zuofeng. 2005. Gudai hanyu yufa xue [A grammar of Old Chinese]. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan [Commercial Press].Google Scholar
Lieber, Rochelle. 1992. Deconstructing morphology: Word formation in syntactic theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lin, T.-H. Jonah. 2001. Light verb syntax and the theory of phrase structure. Irvine, CA: University of California Irvine doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar
Marantz, Alec. 1997. No escape from syntax: Don’t try morphological analysis in the privacy of your own lexicon. In Alexis Dimitriadis, Laura Siegel, Clarissa Surek-Clark & Alexander Williams (eds.), UPenn working papers in Linguistics [UPWPL] 4(2). 201–225.Google Scholar
Mateu, Jaume & Gemma Rigau. 2002. A Minimalist account of conflation processes: Parametric variation at the lexicon-syntax interface. In Artemis Alexiadou (ed.), Theoretical approaches to universals, 211–236. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mei, Tsu-lin. 1980. Sisheng bieyi zhong de shijian cengci [The temporal aspect of the use of tones for semantic distinction]. Zhongguo Yuwen [Chinese Language] 61. 427–443.Google Scholar
. 1989. The causative and denominative functions of the *s-prefix in Old Chinese. In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology, 33–51. Taipei: Academia Sinica.
. 2008. Shanggu Hanyu dongci zhuo qing bieyi de laiyuan [The origin of voicing alternations in Old Chinese verbs]. Minzu Yuwen [Minority Languages of China] 31. 3–20.Google Scholar
. 2012. The causative *s- and nominalizing *-s in Old Chinese and related matters in Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Language and Linguistics 13(1). 1–28.Google Scholar
Pesetsky, David. 1995. Zero syntax: Experiencers and cascades. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Peyraube, A. 1996. Recent issues in Chinese historical syntax. In C.-T. James Huang & Y.-H. Audrey Li (eds.), New horizons in Chinese linguistics, 161–213. New York: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reinhart, Tanya & Tal Siloni. 2005. The lexicon-syntax parameter: Reflexivization and other arity operations. Linguistic Inquiry 36(3). 389–436. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, Susan. 2004. Structuring events: A study in the semantics of lexical aspect. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sagart, Laurent. 1999. The roots of Old Chinese. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sagart, Laurent & William H. Baxter. 2012. Reconstructing the *s- prefix in Old Chinese. Language and Linguistics (13)11. 29–59.Google Scholar
Sanders, Gerald. 1988. Zero derivation and the overt analogue criterion. In Michael ­Hammond & Michael Noonan (eds.), Theoretical morphology, 155–175. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Schuessler, Axel. 2007. ABC etymological dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Selkirk, Elizabeth O. 1982. The syntax of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Shen, Jiaxuan. 2010. Cong “yanyuan shi ge dongci” shuoqi–mingci dongyong he dongci mingyong de buduicheng [Starting from “an actor is a verb”: On the asymmetry between denominal verbs and deverbal nouns]. Dangdai Xiuci Xue [Contemporary Rhetoric] 11. 1–12.Google Scholar
Shen, Li. 2004. Aspect agreement and light verbs in Chinese: A comparison with Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 131. 141–179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shu, Zhiwu. 2002. Cong sisheng bieyi kan hanyu shengdiao de fazhan [On the development of Chinese tones in the perspective of tones distinguishing meaning]. Yuyan Yanjiu [Language Studies] 41. 54–57.Google Scholar
Song, Yuwen. 1992. Lüe lun sisheng bieyi yu zhonggu kouyu zhijian de guanxi [On the relationship between tones distinguishing meaning and Medieval Chinese speech]. Hubei Daxue Xuebao [Journal of Hubei University] 61. 75–82.Google Scholar
Speas, Margaret J. 1990. Phrase structure in natural language. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tai, James H–Y. 1983. On the absence of denominal verbs in Chinese. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America . Minneapolis, MN. Dec. 28th.
. 1997. Category shifts and word-formation redundancy rules in Chinese. Chinese Languages and Linguistics 31. 435–468.Google Scholar
Travis, Lisa. 1984. Parameters and effects of word order variation. Cambridge, MA: MIT doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar
Vendler, Zeno. 1967. Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, Kezhong. 1989. Gu hanyu cilei huoyong [Free word class shift in Ancient Chinese]. Changsha: Hunan Renmin Chubanshe [Hunan People’s Press].Google Scholar
Wang, Li. 1981. Gudai hanyu [Ancient Chinese]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju [China Book Company].Google Scholar
Wei, Pei-chuan. 2003. Shanggu hanyu dao zhonggu hanyu yufa de zhongyao fazhan [Important grammatical developments from Archaic to Medieval Chinese]. In Da’an He (ed.), Gujin tongse: Hanyu de lishi yu fazhan [The history and development of Chinese language], 75–106. Taipei: Academia Sinica.Google Scholar
Zhao, Zongyi. 1995. Gu hanyu ‘cilei huoyong’ shuo xianyi [Questioning the view of ‘free word-class shift’ in Archaic Chinese]. Beifang Luncong [The Northern Forum] 51. 82–86.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Mattiola, Simone & Andrea Sansò
2024. A typology of denominal verb formation strategies. Language and Linguistics Compass 18:3 DOI logo
Cheng, Jie & Howard Lasnik
2016. Parametric variations in Mandarin and English denominal verb derivation. Lingua 180 ► pp. 25 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.