The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relation between the teaching of Chinese syntax and the acquisition process by adult learners based on multitheoretical and multimethodological approaches. Through a brief review of the features of Chinese syntax and a comparative study of three different syntactic analytic systems, a Chinese linguistic background is provided. A further study of pedagogical Chinese syntax was conducted by investigating the teaching materials and methods introduced in three commonly used Chinese textbooks. Based on the Chinese linguistic and pedagogical background, the surveys were designed to probe the learners' acquisition process of Chinese syntax. The studies involved a total of 73 subjects who are native English speakers learning Chinese at different universities. It has been found that: (1) adult learners' acquisition order and rate are closely related to their cognitive skills; (2) the scope of acquisition in adults is subject to time limitations; (3) analysis & analogy are the main methods used by adult learners in the acquisition of syntax; (4) the learning environment & the knowledge of the target syntax by adult learners are not required to be situationally linked; (5) the process of syntactic transfer is incomplete among adult learners due to the lack of target language input; (6) the general failure rate in L2 acquisition partially associates with the lack of the fully functional innate language faculty; (7) the adult learners' common mistakes in syntactic acquisition process are predictable due to syntactic transfer and the influences from L1; (8) different teaching methods result in different strengths in students; (9) there is a gap between grammatical competence & communicative competence in the adult learners' acquisition process. According to those features, I proposed nine pedagogical principles for the Chinese syntax teaching, and a case study of teaching Chinese structures with three post-verbal complements was conducted in order to have a field-test. The discussion in this dissertation has partially confirmed the claim made by psycho-linguistic researchers that learning a second language is a complex process. There is a hierarchical order in acquiring language competence, and the acquisition of hierarchically ordered skills requires integrated approaches.

This dissertation presents a partial grammar of the Guipuzkoan dialect of Basque, and develops a theory of how to capture the syntactic and morphological relationships between arguments and argument-categorizing-elements (ACEs) in simple sentences. I assume the background of the theory outlined in A Syntax of Luiseno (Steele in prep.). Starting with the assumption that an ACE and an aux(iliary) particle sequence form together the sentential nucleus and represent the minimal requirement for sentencehood, I focus on the representation of the relations between the ACE-argument-structure and the morphological make-up of the aux form, that is, the aux-structure. I argue for a principle which determines whether the aux-structure satisfies the argument requirement of the ACE. In order to characterize overt case-marked constituents, I consider various syntactic phenomena. Then, I introduce and discuss (i) a rule which co-indexes directly an overt constituent with an argument-slot in the ACE-argument-structure, and (ii) a checking device which associates, on the basis of case-matching, an overt constituent with a morpheme (understood as a form plus meaning combination) in the aux-structure. Finally, I investigate the linear distribution of overt case-marked constituents. Special attention is given to the issue of focus in positive and negative simple sentences.

One of the most striking features of Saramaccan syntax is the almost categorically finite status of its sentential complements and serial verbs. In fact, a study of these constituents in the language is to primarily observe how characteristics of finite sentential structures are beginning to be lost in certain instances. The first three chapters are largely preliminary in nature. Chapter I briefly introduces Saramaccan, discusses the Government and Binding grammatical model and outlines why it is superior to competing approaches. This chapter also defines many of the pertinent concepts needed for the analyses. Chapter II looks at tense, modality and aspect markers and determines when a +Tense value is possible for a clause. In this context, we find that the complements of perception verbs are finite. The remainder of Chapter II and all of Chapter III determine the dislocation patterns and identifying parameters of various categories. The next three chapters investigate serial structures. In Chapter IV, it is found among other things that complementizer-like fu (from for) and taa 'say, that' are main verbs. Chapter V analyzes the Instrumental, Benefactive and Dative serials. We conclude that the Instrumental and Benefactive are contained within finite clauses, while the Dative serial verb is either an infinitive or has been deleted. Finally in Chapter VI, the many serials discussed exhibit a wide range of features which lead us to believe that some are fully finite, others are infinitives, and one has reanalyzed to another category. It is claimed in the last chapter, based on the evidence, that there is really no difference between sentential complements and serial structures; both are or were finite clauses. In addition, based on the nature of serials reported in the literature for West African languages, Saramaccan appears to be significantly different. This leads to the conclusion that serials spontaneously emerged in Saramaccan during the creolization process rather than being a continuation of such structures from West African languages.

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Li, Haoze. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-163). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.v / Table of Contents --- p.vii / List of Abbreviations --- p.x / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- What are focus intervention effects --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Theoretical framework --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Minimalist Program --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Classification of features --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Agree --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- Previous studies of Mandarin wh-questions --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- wh-nominals --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- wh-adverbials --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Literature review --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1 --- Two types of intervention effects --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2 --- LF movement blocking --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- Separation Principle --- p.26 / Chapter 2.4 --- Agree blocking --- p.36 / Chapter 2.5 --- Competition effect --- p.39 / Chapter 2.6 --- Summary --- p.43 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Mandarin contrastive focus particles --- p.44 / Chapter 3.1 --- Focus --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2 --- Information focus vs. contrastive focus --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Semantic interpretation --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Syntactic distribution --- p.50 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Syntactic association --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3 --- Mandarin contrastive focus particles --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Semantic Properties --- p.53 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Syntactic Distributions --- p.58 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Association with focused constituents --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- "Inner focus, Outer focus and Agree" --- p.70 / Chapter 3.4 --- Summary --- p.73 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Focus intervention effects --- p.75 / Chapter 4.1 --- Focus intervention effects in wh-questions with wh-nominals --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2 --- Focus intervention effects in wh-questions with wh-adverbials --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3 --- F-XP association and F-Wh association --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4 --- Weakening or canceling contexts --- p.98 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Embedded contexts --- p.99 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- D-linking contexts --- p.102 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- wh-fronting contexts --- p.105 / Chapter 4.5 --- Summary --- p.108 / Chapter Chapter Five --- The syntactic analysis of focus intervention effects --- p.110 / Chapter 5.1 --- Inadequacies of previous proposals --- p.110 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Soh's (2005) Separation principle --- p.111 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Kim's (2006) Agree blocking analysis --- p.112 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Yang's (2008) Competition effect --- p.114 / Chapter 5.2 --- Interrogative wh-words and focus --- p.115 / Chapter 5.3 --- The syntactic mechanism of focus intervention effects --- p.117 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Proposal --- p.117 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Configurations with focus intervention effects --- p.119 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Configurations without focus intervention effects --- p.121 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Interim summary --- p.123 / Chapter 5.4 --- Alternative analysis and residual issues --- p.123 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Focus conflict --- p.123 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Residual issues --- p.126 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.133 / Chapter Chapter Six --- Conclusion --- p.136 / Chapter 6.1 --- Summary --- p.136 / Chapter 6.2 --- Contributions of the current study --- p.138 / Chapter 6.3 --- Residual issues --- p.139 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Individual feature matching vs. feature matrix matching --- p.140 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- LF movement of contrastive focus --- p.143 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Multiple wh-questions and LF unselective binding --- p.145 / Chapter 6.3.4 --- Focus intervention effects are not related to LF representations --- p.148 / Bibliography --- p.157

Chin Kin-Chung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-201). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abbreviations and Symbols --- p.vi / Abstract (English) --- p.vii / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter One --- Characteristics of Compounds: An Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.0 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- General Properties of Compounds --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Lexical Properties --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Phrasal Properties --- p.12 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Complexity of the Status of Compounds --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2 --- Relation between Morphology and Syntax --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Lexicalist Approach --- p.18 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Syntactic Approach --- p.19 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Parallel Approach --- p.20 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- A Note on the Lexicon --- p.21 / Chapter 1.3 --- Research Objectives --- p.24 / Chapter 1.4 --- Summary and Organization of the Thesis --- p.29 / Chapter Chapter Two --- "Notions of Word, Compound and Phrase" --- p.31 / Chapter 2.0 --- Introduction --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1 --- Criteria of Wordhood --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2 --- Distinction between Compounds and Phrases --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Introduction --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Syntactic Aspect --- p.43 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Semantic Aspect --- p.45 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Morphological and Phonological Aspects --- p.48 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Summary --- p.50 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Lexical Integrity Hypothesis (LIH) --- p.52 / Chapter 2.4 --- Further Consideration on the Nature of Compound --- p.60 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Compounding and Other Combinatory Processes --- p.60 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Status of the Constituents --- p.62 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Degree of Separability --- p.64 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Definitions of Compounds --- p.66 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.69 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Issues on Cantonese Verb-Object Compounds (VOCs) --- p.70 / Chapter 3.0 --- Introduction --- p.70 / Chapter 3.1 --- General Properties of Cantonese VOCs --- p.74 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Meaning --- p.75 / Chapter 3.1.1.1 --- Compositionality of Meaning --- p.75 / Chapter 3.1.1.2 --- Anaphoric Reference --- p.79 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Movement --- p.80 / Chapter 3.1.2.1 --- Topicalization --- p.80 / Chapter 3.1.2.2 --- Passivization --- p.83 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Separability --- p.84 / Chapter 3.1.3.1 --- Semantic Object --- p.85 / Chapter 3.1.3.2 --- Aspect Markers --- p.88 / Chapter 3.1.3.3 --- Duration and Frequency Adverbials --- p.91 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Status of the Cantonese VOCs --- p.94 / Chapter 3.2 --- Analyses of VOCs --- p.96 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- S.-F. Huang (1984) --- p.96 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- C.-T. Huang (1984) --- p.99 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Paul (1988) --- p.103 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Wang (1994) --- p.105 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Her (1997) --- p.110 / Chapter 3.3 --- Existence of Two Types of VOCs in Cantonese --- p.113 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Distinction between Lexical and Phrasal VOCs --- p.113 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Diagnostic Tests for the Lexical-Phrasal VOC Distinction --- p.117 / Chapter 3.4 --- Summary --- p.120 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Nature and Formation of Cantonese VOCs --- p.121 / Chapter 4.0 --- Introduction --- p.121 / Chapter 4.1 --- Theoretical Assumptions --- p.123 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Parallel Morphology --- p.123 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Lexical-Semantic and Lexical-Syntactic Representations --- p.134 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Lexical Syntax --- p.139 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- VP Shell --- p.141 / Chapter 4.2 --- Levels of Formation of Cantonese VOCs --- p.143 / Chapter 4.3 --- Mechanism of the Formation Processes --- p.147 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Issue of Transitivity --- p.147 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Formation of Lexical VOCs --- p.154 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Formation of Phrasal VOCs --- p.158 / Chapter 4.4 --- Phenomena in Relation to Cantonese VOCs --- p.161 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Separation of Constituents of Phrasal VOCs --- p.161 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Positions of Aspect Markers --- p.168 / Chapter 4.5 --- Summary and Theoretical Consequences --- p.172 / Chapter Chapter Five --- Concluding Remarks --- p.176 / Endnotes --- p.181 / References --- p.191

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Note: In the print original, page 38 appears to be missing, and there are two different page 272s.

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abstract / Linguistics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy