This thesis focuses on the syntax of the structures with the particle le in Mandarin Chinese. The particle le has two uses: verbal le and sentential le. I will argue the verbal le in Mandarin has a dual function: it is used primarily as a quantity marker and secondarily as a perfectivity marker. This leads to a result that most of the cases with le are both telic and perfective. Others, with the lack of (im)perfectivity, only extend a quantity reading. Meanwhile, I assume the perfective reading in Mandarin solely depends on verbal le, except in negative and interrogative situations. This means in a sentence with a perfective viewpoint, even if le occurs after the object at the end of the clause, it should also be a verbal le. I argue that such a structure is result of VP-fronting. On the other hand, a real sentential le is not directly related to perfectivity. I propose that sentential le is a focus marker that scopes high in the hierarchy and yields flexible readings depending on which structure enters the focus domain under different contexts. In this sense, the configuration with both verbal and sentential le extends an assertion of a perfective event, which, I propose, functionally corresponds to the perfect aspect in English. In short, although there are two uses of the particle le in Mandarin, they should be distinguished by their grammatical functions instead of their linear positions.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-139).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.

Emergence of accuracy is a first step toward acquiring adult-like phonological abilities. Mandarin Chinese is a tone language where speakers employ both tonal and segmental properties to code lexical meanings. Study of this dual-level complexity of tone and segment enables a broader view of how phonology is acquired than the view afforded by study of Indo-European languages. Understanding the interaction between phonatory properties for tone and articulatory adjustments for segments in emergence of early words helps to understand more generally the first steps toward the complex system embodied in phonology. The present study investigated tone acquisition in relation to segmental and lexical development in Mandarin-speaking children in the earliest word stages. Spontaneous speech samples were collected longitudinally from 12 to 24 months from four Mandarin-speaking children. The relationships between tone accuracy, segmental accuracy, and word-level variables were examined quantitatively over time. Results indicated that tone accuracy is not always higher than segmental accuracy. The relationship between these two seems to be influenced by the physiological complexity of tonal shapes and children’s developmental age. Autonomy of control over phonatory adjustments for tone and articulatory adjustments for segments was already apparent. Children were not sensitive to the contrastivity (characterized by Productive Tone Neighborhood Density) involved in tonal categories with a vocabulary of less than 50 words. Associations between production accuracy and word-level variables (articulatory complexity, neighborhood density and word frequency) established based on later developmental periods were not found in younger Mandarin-speaking children. Findings suggest that tonal acquisition at the onset of speech development is not a passive process where innate phonological knowledge is revealed solely through children’s maturation. Rather, phonological knowledge is established on the basis of children’s pre-linguistic motor capacities in concert with cognitive learning occurring via the expansion of their lexicon. Tones and segments may be produced as holistic entities in early words. Tone acquisition at the onset of word learning is more child-centered in that availability of tonal forms to the child’s production system underlies accuracy. Influences from lexical properties of word would only be apparent when phonological knowledge of tonal categories is established with vocabulary expansion. / text

Hong Kong Chinese and Mandarin are two different varieties of the Chinese Language in terms of lexicology. For over three decades, new words from Hong Kong Chinese have swarmed into Mandarin and related researches also flourished. Yet the reverse is a trend somehow going about more or less unnoticed, which is perhaps mostly due to the scantiness of amount of words involved as a contrast. However, its importance has surfaced along with a growing number of Putonghua words imported into Hong Kong Chinese in the early twenty-first century, as a result of the increasing interaction between Mainland China and Hong Kong. Therefore, the thesis sets to examine the phenomenon of language migration to the South by investigating the use of Putonghua words in Hong Kong written Chinese, so as to better observe the language exchange between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The main body of this paper comprises three parts. First it seeks to identify a body of such Putonghua words entering Hong Kong in a vast corpus of formal publications and web publications and look into the lexicological significance of such words. A total number of 359 words have been collected and semantic categories have been identified based on selected Hong Kong texts. Meanwhile, the semantic meaning, pragmatic meaning and contexts of the words collected have been analysed. Second, this paper examines this body of borrowed Putonghua words from a wide span of aspects in lexicology, including its syntactic and pragmatic features, its different levels of being accepted in Hong Kong, its significance and migration incentives. Meanwhile, The thesis also conducts a diachronic comparison study of this body of loanwords centered on last decade. Third, This paper carries out a synchronic comparison of borrowed words in both directions (Hong Kong Chinese to Mandarin and Mandarin to Hong Kong Chinese), to map out possible similarities and differences that reflect linguistic exchange. It is found that the northward language migration prevails over its southward counterparts regarding time, number, impact and other aspects. Theories and research methods from social linguistics are widely employed in this paper, in hopes of studying the language migration to the south in a scientific and systematic way. It is found that southward migration of words into Hong Kong will be a long-term and slow process, and that the bilateral language exchange between Hong Kong and Mainland China will last continuously, thus allowing Mandarin and Hong Kong Chinese share greater similarities while preserving differences. / published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis mainly discusses a lexical category known by the name “classifier” or “measure” in Mandarin Chinese. According to Chinese descriptive grammars, which are followed in this thesis, there are at least two types of classifiers, nominal ones (classifiers for nouns) and verbal/ adverbial ones (classifiers for verbs). Within the category of classifiers, there is a subclass that is made of body part terms. Some of them are used for nouns (i.e., NCLs), some of them are used for verbs (i.e., VCLs), and many for both. The correlations between NCLs and VCLs are discussed in this thesis, especially the idea of how both types of classifier can provide delimitation to events. The semantic properties of VCLs and NCLs are explored in this thesis. The [Num+ CL+ N] construction is considered to be a NCLP (nominal classifier phrase) in this thesis and the [V+ [Num+CL]] construction is considered to be a VCLP. I will discuss VCLPs with respect to transitivity of verbs.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii, 1968. / Bibliography: leaves [190]-191. / v, 191 l

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-42).

Thesis (doctoral)--Leiden University. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [110]-120) and index.