A Study On Mandarin Resultative Verb Compounds: An LMT Approach

Mandarin resultative verb compounds (RVCs) are formed by two parts: Vcaus and Cres, with the former indicating the causing action or event, and the latter the resulting state or event. In contrast to simplex verbs, RVCs have complicated theta structures (θ-structures), since each of the two components has its own thematic roles. Therefore, the mapping from the θ-structure to the syntax is also complicated. The dissertation carries out a discussion on this kind of mapping within the framework of Lexical Mapping Theory (LMT), which is about the syntactic realization of the arguments of a predicate. LMT maps from a semantic/conceptual representation of thematic roles, henceforth θ-structure, to a syntactic representation of grammatical functions, f-structure, via an intermediate lexical representation called a-structure. This dissertation studies how the θ-structures of RVCs map to a-structures, and ultimately to f-structures.The dissertation first discusses what a RVC is and what the current studies on it are. This is followed by an introduction to LMT, the theoretical framework of the thesis. To study the mapping concerning RVCs, we have to make clear what the θ-structures are like first. So the dissertation makes an analysis on them before examining in detail the mapping. Two occurrences are noted when dealing with this: ambiguity and causation. Ambiguous readings of some RVC constructions are observed to be connected with the merging of different thematic roles. The causative roles causer and causee are also associated to the thematic roles by the rules of assignment. Then the dissertation begins to examine the mapping in RVC constructions from θ-structures to f-structures. The standard LMT principles would confront difficulties in constraining the mapping, especially when composite roles, RVC passivization, suppression of roles, RVC inversion and RVC locative inversion are concerned. The dissertation therefore works out a series of special rules for the RVC mapping under the guidance of LMT. These rules, together with the standard LMT principles, are adequate to explain the mapping process or "path" in RVC constructions and correctly predict the mapping result. They are tested by and applied to some case studies in the end of the dissertation.