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This thesis examines constructions known as resultative constructions. In addition to the well-known adjectival resultative construction in English, I investigate the resultative V-V compound, found in Japanese, and the resultative serial verb construction, found in Edo. / I propose a new classification of these constructions, which focuses on the argument structure of the construction. In Japanese resultative V-V compounds, the argument structure of a compound reflects the argument structure of the second verb only, while in Edo, the argument structure of the construction reflects the argument structure of both verbs involved. With this criterion, English resultative constructions are divided into two classes---a resultative construction containing an intransitive verb is classified with Japanese resultative V-V compounds, and a resultative construction containing an object-selecting verb is classified with Edo resultative serial verb constructions. / Based on the classification provided here, I investigate two types of syntactic operations which license the concatenation of the predicates in resultative constructions. I argue that English intransitive resultative constructions and Japanese resultative V-V compounds are formed by adjoining one of the predicates on the other. The adjunction structure is then interpreted as conjunction called event identification. In contrast, English transitive resultative constructions and Edo resultative serial verb constructions are licensed by treating one of the predicates as a causative predicate. I argue that one of the predicates in these constructions undergoes lexical coercion, and acquires a causative meaning. The newly-formed causative verb takes the other predicate of the construction as its complement. This structure is then interpreted with function-application. I hence argue that the structural difference between the two types of resultative constructions also mirrors the difference in the type of semantic operations used to interpret these constructions.

Wang Lidi. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-244). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Natural languages are systems of forms and meanings; language understanding and language production are processes of establishing mappings between linguistic forms and meanings. The principles and rules governing the mapping between semantic roles and syntactic positions have long been a fundamental topic in contemporary linguistics. Such a mapping is usually called argument realization, argument mapping or argument linking. On the basis of the previous language specific and cross linguistic researches on this issue, this thesis picks out two tasks. One is the empirical task of the investigating the principles and rules governing the mapping between semantic roles and linear syntactic positions in Mandarin Chinese. The other is the theoretical task of the exploration of how argument realization principles and rules play their roles in the live temporal linear comprehension and production of sentences. On the empirical side, this thesis mainly investigates the phenomenon of argument alternation, that is, the non-one-to-one mapping between semantic roles and syntactic forms (linear positions) in Mandarin and argues that alternative syntactic forms in which semantic roles are realized are not arbitrary but semantically motivated. More specifically, it proposes that alternative patterns of argument realization encode different types of events. This thesis concentrates on three major cases of argument alternation. The first is the argument alternation in the resultative verb construction (RVC) that involves two verbs and expresses a complex event consisting of a first (activity) subevent and a second (resultative) subevent. The arguments of the two verbs are mapped onto the subject and the object alternatively and the argument sharing between the verbs results from syntactically constrained pragmatic inference. The argument realization principles and rules of RVC are used to account for two puzzling cases of argument alternation in Mandarin, i.e. the locative alternation and the agentive alternation. This account of inverse argument realizations has the implication that argument alternations are semantically motivated rather than the result of arbitrary syntactic operation. To facilitate the discussion of how different semantic representations arise in different process of comprehension, I adopt Dynamic Syntax (Kempson et al 2001; Cann et al 2005) which provides a package of working hypotheses about human language grammars and the formal tools for representing how grammars work. It is hypothesized in Dynamic Syntax that the grammar of a natural language is a set of constraints over language comprehension; sentences are understood and produced in context through left-to-right word-by-word parsing processes. Parsing processes are driven by the axiomatic requirement of establishing complete logical forms that can be enriched to full propositions. Such processes have the characteristic of semantic underspecification, including underspecified semantic relationships and underspecified semantic contents; semantic underspecification can and must be updated through non-demonstrative inference implemented in linguistic and nonlinguistic contexts. Using the framework I hypothesize that in RVC constructions the first verb provides a condition on the sort of event expressed by the second verb, encoding this in terms of event semantics. It is argued that only the argument of the latter are required to be realized in the string (or be contextually strongly determined) through pro-drop. Those of the activity predicate, however, are inferred through pragmatic means given the arguments that are realized. This directly accounts for the attested patterns of argument realization in RVC and explain the apparent gaps. This analysis is extended to locative and agentive inversion constructions where it is hypothesized that there is null resultative predicate that explains why a non-agent can be realized as subject, even in the presence of a more agentive noun phrase in the string. This thesis thus maintains the hypothesis that the mapping between semantic roles and syntactic positions is direct though not one-to-one. Although there is no one-toone mapping between syntactic forms, the argument mapping rules can ensure efficient comprehension and production when they are applied in context. This thesis provides a uniform account of different argument alternation phenomena that have been seen as unrelated to each other in the literature. The successful uniform explanation of the ‘unrelated’ phenomena of argument alternation can be generalized as a methodology: a thorough semantic analysis of various alternative syntactic constructions can reveal the subtle semantic differences between them and the importance of these subtle semantic difference for a theorectic account of argumenty alternation has been largely underestimated in the literature. This constitutes the foundation of a uniform explanation of syntactic phenomena that seem to be unrelated to each other. This success lights the hope of seeking semantics-based uniform accounts of other different kinds of syntactic phenomena in a single language and across languages in future research.

Deng, Xiangjun. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-184). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.ix / List of Figures --- p.x / Abbreviations --- p.xi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Resultatives and the resultative verb compound in Mandarin --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Compositionality and event structure --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Compositionality --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Event structure --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Linguistic representation of the Mandarin RVC --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4 --- Issues of language acquisition --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Acquisition of the resultatives and complex morphological forms --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Issues addressed by previous studies on the acquisition of Mandarin RVCs --- p.14 / Chapter 1.5 --- Objectives of the present study --- p.16 / Chapter 1.6 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- The Resultative Verb Compound in Mandarin and Acquisition Issues --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1 --- RVC typology --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The result-state RVC --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The directional RVC --- p.24 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- The completive RVC --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2 --- The lexicalist approach to the RVC --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The syntactic vs. lexicalist approaches --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- In defense of the lexicalist analysis of RVCs --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Lexical formation rules and acquisition --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3 --- Compositionality and event structure --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Compositionality --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- "Event structure, aspect and headedness" --- p.55 / Chapter 2.4 --- Issues in the acquisition of Mandarin RVC --- p.68 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Rule-based vs. usage-based learning --- p.68 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Event structure and aspect --- p.73 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Predictions --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- RVCs in the Naturalistic Speech of Two Mandarin-speaking Children --- p.78 / Chapter 3.1 --- Methodology --- p.78 / Chapter 3.2 --- Overview of the results --- p.83 / Chapter 3.3 --- Types of RVCs used by children --- p.84 / Chapter 3.4 --- Compositionality --- p.89 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- ZTX's data --- p.90 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- CY's data --- p.95 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Discussion --- p.98 / Chapter 3.5 --- Event structure and aspect --- p.109 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Children's use of aspect markers --- p.109 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Children's use of the RVC with le --- p.113 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- V1-only uses --- p.120 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Children's Comprehension and Production of Novel RVCs --- p.124 / Chapter 4.1 --- Methodology --- p.124 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Rationale --- p.124 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Subjects --- p.125 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Materials --- p.126 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Testing procedure --- p.130 / Chapter 4.1.5 --- Data analysis --- p.135 / Chapter 4.2 --- Experimental results --- p.138 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Child performance on novel RVCs --- p.138 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Adult performance on novel RVCs --- p.140 / Chapter 4.3 --- Error analysis --- p.142 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Errors in children's comprehension and use of RVCs --- p.142 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Errors in adults' comprehension and use of RVCs --- p.145 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary of findings --- p.147 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussion and Conclusions --- p.152 / Chapter 5.1 --- "Children's use of RVCs: productivity, compositionality and event structure" --- p.152 / Chapter 5.2 --- Theoretical implications --- p.155 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- The lexicalist vs. syntactic approaches --- p.155 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- The rule-based vs. usage-based accounts --- p.156 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Compositionality and event structure --- p.160 / Chapter 5.3 --- Conclusions --- p.162 / Appendices --- p.166 / Appendix 1 Subjects of the experiment --- p.166 / Appendix 2 Test items in the experiment --- p.168 / Appendix 3 Compositional and non-compositional RVCs used by children --- p.171 / References --- p.179

 This thesis focuses on a special type of construction in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese long discussed in the literature, namely resultative constructions. The interest of the study lies in the fact that resultative constructions involve an interesting mismatch phenomenon of the mapping of grammatical functions and semantic roles. Since grammatical functions and semantic roles are the building blocks of syntax and semantics, the mapping between grammatical functions and semantic roles is considered a manifestation of the syntactic and semantic interface and it is believed that the study of the mapping between them will shed light on the form and meaning association found inhuman language. However, while an adequate mapping theory can reflect how human experience or meaning is expressed in language, the mapping between grammatical functions and semantic roles is neither linear nor mutually correspondent on a one-to-one basis, rendering the nature of its mechanism obscure. In this thesis, the interface between the semantic and syntactic realizations of resultative constructions in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese will be investigated. The goal is to seek an optimal approach which can provide a more satisfactory account in handling mapping of Mandarin and Cantonese resultatives and explaining the special properties of the V-V structures involved in Mandarin and Cantonese resultative constructions. Drawing from the insights of previous accounts and the properties of resultative constructions, a working definition for resultatives is proposed. Through reviewing some current mapping accounts and revealing their inadequacies and limitations in handling grammatical functions and semantic roles mapping in resultative constructions in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, I am going to argue that Jackendoff’s (1990) conceptual semantics approach provides an optimal structure for the representation of resultative compounds in particular and the resultative constructions in general in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. I also want to argue that the investigation of the resultative constructions in Mandarin and Cantonese not only sheds light on the prospect of applying Jackendoff’s (1990) conceptual semantics approach to understanding other types of constructions and special phenomena in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, but also indicates a new direction of study in the possible multiple sense involved in Mandarin and Cantonese compounds. / published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis concerns infinitives of result in English, examples of which are given under (a-c). (a) John designed a battery to operate at high temperatures. (b) John designed a battery to win a prize. (c) John designed a battery for the competition, only to discover that he was ineligible. The infinitive in (a) is called a Purpose Clause; the infinitive in (b) is called a Rationale Clause; and the infinitive in (c) is called a Telic Clause. These infinitives are optional modifiers of the verbs with which they occur. I argue, however, that important characteristics of their form and interpretation follow naturally if the infinitives are assumed to have argument structures which must be incorporated into the argument structure of the verb they modify. In Chapter 1, I introduce the constructions and offer a general discussion of the problems posed by modifiers in a study of natural language semantics, arguing that these problems are best addressed by viewing modifiers as predicates of a standard sort. This establishes a central hypothesis of this thesis, namely that the syntax and semantics of modification should be incorporated into the theory of argument structure, or "theta theory". In Chapter 2, I offer a summary of key works in the literature in two areas: theories of argument projection by Williams and Higginbotham and studies of infinitives of result by Faraci, Bach, Chierchia, and Jones. In Chapter 3, I apply a range of syntactic tests to establish the structural relation of the infinitives to the sentences they modify. I argue that the infinitives are embedded at an increasing distance from the modified verb, from which important characteristics of their distribution follow. In Chapter 4, I turn to the internal syntax of the constructions and consider the nature and distribution of the gaps that occur within each infinitive and the manner in which those gaps are interpreted. I relate key characteristics of the infinitives to the nature of their argument grids. I also address constraints on interpretation introduced by pronominal binding in the infinitives. In Chapter 5, I discuss a variety of problems on the syntax-semantics interface involving argument structure and control. The issues raised move from the relatively syntactic (phrase structure accounts of Purpose Clause antecedence and the possibility of event control for the Rationale and Telic Clauses) to the philosophical semantic (causal efficacy and the nature of resultant states in the interpretation of the Purpose Clause). I then offer a full sample analysis of a sentence modified by all three infinitives of result. My conclusion points again to the importance of argument structure in an analysis of infinitives of result in particular and of modification in general.

This dissertation provides a syntactic representation of Motion Predicates (MPs) expressed by series of verbs known as Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in Southern Tati –an Indo-European language spoken mainly in the Northwestern parts of Iran. This study addresses the sub-eventive decomposition of MPs by following the theoretical framework established by generative-constructivists like Borer (2005) and Ramchand (2008), as implemented for MPs in Benedicto and Salomon (2014).This dissertation also contributes to the documentation of Southern Tati, which iscategorized by UNESCO as ‘definitely’endangered.<br>

This study aims to explore how English-speaking learners of Chinese acquire Resultative Verb Compounds (RVC). The specific research questions are: Do learners think that change of state is achieved by using an RVC? Do learners assign resultative meaning to V₁-le uniformly or only in certain types of situations depending on how result is expressed in their L1? Lastly, do learners realize that RVCs are a highly productive construction? This thesis provides linguistic analysis that can account for differences in how change of state is expressed in Chinese and English. It also presents a second language acquisition study informed primarily by the sentence acceptability judgement task. In English, result is typically expressed by a monomorphemic verb or by a resultative construction. In Mandarin, the most typical way to convey result is to use RVCs. In addition to differences in such phenomena as event conflation, strength of implicature and the incompleteness effect also constitute key differences between English and Mandarin. It is claimed that the major factor in determining the effect of L1 transfer from English to Mandarin is how change-of-state situations are expressed in English. In response, two experiments were conducted. The subjects were 47 learners and 26 native speakers of Chinese. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) was applied in evaluating outcomes of the experiments. The results show that learners understand that RVCs must be used to describe change-of-state situations. However, learners do not habitually take the aspect marker–le as a resultative marker. Instead, the outcomes of the data analysis are compatible with the interpretation of–le as a past tense marker. The analysis also shows that how change-of-state situations with respect to event conflation are expressed in English has some effect on their understanding of RVC-le vs. V₁-le combinations. Lastly, while learners do not reject the idea that more than one RVC can describe a change-of-state event, they do not have full understanding of this phenomenon.