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Multiple-modal constructions in Mandarin Chinese and their finiteness properties1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2011

T.-H. JONAH LIN
T.-H. JONAH LIN*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
*
Author's address: Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwanjonahlin@mx.nthu.edu.tw
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Abstract

This work examines multiple-modal constructions in Mandarin Chinese. It is shown that modals in Mandarin Chinese are ordered in specific ways, and, while a number of factors contribute to the determination of the hierarchical order of modals, the finiteness of the complement clauses that the modals take plays a particularly important role. A generalization proposed in this paper is that (i) if a modal takes a finite clause as complement, then the modal itself can only occur in a finite context; and (ii) if a modal takes a nonfinite clause as complement, then it can occur in a nonfinite context too. This generalization is shown to account for some ordering phenomena of modals in Mandarin Chinese that would otherwise remain mysterious.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 151 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Footnotes

[1]

Parts of the material reported in this paper were presented in colloquia and seminars at Nanzan University, National Chung Cheng University, and National Tsing Hua University. I am grateful to the audiences, in particular Mamoru Saito, Keiko Murasugi, Yasuaki Abe, Ian Roberts, Yuji Takano, and Niina Zhang for helpful comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to the two anonymous JL referees for their comments and questions. Special thanks go to C.-T. James Huang; my interests in the phenomena reported in this paper were inspired in personal discussions with him. I alone am responsible for all errors. This research is supported, in part, by National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC 96-2411-H-007 -029).

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