The Finite And Non-finite Distinction In Modern Chinese

This dissertation is a study of the finite and non-finite distinction in Modern Chinese.According to traditional grammar,the general opposition in finiteness is manifested by verb morphology:finite verbs are inflected for person,number,mood or tense,while non-finite verbs lack the features mentioned above.Within the framework of generative grammar,it is the element that INFL takes that determines the distinction between finiteness and non-finiteness:finite clauses are realized by[+Tense]and[+AGR]while non-finite clauses are marked by[-Tense]and[-AGR].Different from English and other languages which are rich in morphological inflections,Modern Chinese does not have overt morphological inflections and it is still controversial whether it is a tensed language.Hence,the two criteria of finiteness mentioned above lack universality and they cannot explain whether amorphous languages,such as Modern Chinese,have the finite versus non-finite distinctionAs is suggested in this dissertation,whether Modern Chinese has such a distinction should be considered at semantic,phonological and syntactic levels.Through the analysis of the semantic meaning,phonological feature and syntactic position of sentence-final "le₂",the present study reported in this dissertation comes to the conclusion that Modern Chinese has the finite and non-finite distinction.Moreover,such a distinction can be represented by the interaction between sentence-final "le₂"and different kinds of modal auxiliary verbs.Firstly,semantic analysis of the constituent "le" indicates that Modern Chinese has the function of expressing relative tense.Diachronically speaking,from being a verb to an auxiliary,"le" in Modern Chinese has undergone the diachronic evolutionary process of grammaticalization and split into verb-final "le₁" and sentence-final "le₂".During this process,the semantic functions of "le₁" and "le₂" have both changed:"le₁" has become a dual function marker of aspect and tense,while "le₂" has become a tense marker and a marginal member of the modal particle category.Moreover,one thing in common is that both of them have evolved the semantic function of expressing relative tense.To be more specific,"le₁" serves the semantic function of expressing relative past tense and "le₂" performs the semantic function of expressing relative(past/future)tense.The identical tense function that "le₁" and "le₂" have is that both of them can express relative past tense.Besides,dialect research indicates that Modern Chinese,phonologically,is a language of supra-segmental inflection which serves certain syntactic functions Specifically,one type of changed rhyme D in Boshan dialect in Shandong province has the syntactic function of expressing past tense by prolonging the length of the main verb.What's more important,the rhyme-changing verb and "le₂" exhibit complimentary distribution which indicates that both of them have the same grammatical function.It can be considered to be a significant piece of evidence to prove that "le₂",as well as "le₁" can express tense semanticallySecondly,syntactic analysis indicates that Modern Chinese is not only a language with T-node,but also a language which has specific marker(Fin)of finiteness Syntactically speaking,as a mixed marker of tense and aspect,the syntactic position of"le₁" is the head of AspP and it is experiencing the diachronic process of moving to the higher position of T."Le2" is not only a tense marker but also a marginal member of the modal particle category.Therefore,it is proposed in this dissertation that the syntactic position of "le₂" is the head of FinP within the framework of Rizzi's CP-split hypothesis and the syntactic function of "le₂" is defined as the marker of finiteness in Modern Chinese.As a marginal member of the modal particle category,"le₂" can violate the restriction of the FOFC hypothesis and its sentence-final feature can be fulfilled by IP-raising in order to realize sentential intonationThirdly,the finite and non-finite distinction in Modern Chinese can be represented syntactically when different kinds of modal auxiliary verbs co-occur with "le₂".The reason that the finite and non-finite distinction can only be observed when different kinds of modal auxiliary verbs co-occur with "le₂" is that,though Modern Chinese is a tensed language,the tense system in this language is quite deficient.It is proposed in this dissertation that the "V+le₁+O+le₂" structure can be employed as the distinctive syntactic environment to identify the types of clauses that different modal auxiliary verbs take.That is to say,epistemic modal auxiliary verbs("keneng","yinggai1" and the marked "hui1" which can co-occur with the specific syntactic structure take CP clauses and all root modal auxiliary verbs take TP clauses since they cannot co-occur with the specific syntactic structure.Therefore,among the epistemic modal auxiliary verbs which can license the appearance of the "V+le₁+O+le₂" structure in their subordinate clauses,the syntactic position of "le₂" is the head of FinP of the clause.In other words,it indicates that,when some epistemic modal auxiliary verbs co-occur with"le₂",they take finite clauses.The root modal auxiliary verbs cannot license the appearance of this structure in their subordinate clauses,and therefore,when they co-occur with "le₂",the syntactic position of "le₂" is the head of FinP of the main clause and the clauses they take are non-finite ones.Hence,when different kinds of modal auxiliary verbs co-occur with "le₂",the finite and non-finite distinction can be observed in Modern Chinese.