A Syntactic Study Of Chinese Dou Quantification

This thesis is a study of the syntax of the Chinese dou quantification within the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1993; 1995). It is made up of four chapters. In Chapter One, with a view to rendering an overall picture of dou-quantification, the basic terms of dou -quantification are introduced and a classification of different types of dou-quantified elements is made.Chapter two focuses on the study of dou's syntactic position. We discuss this issue from two aspects: dou's syntactic position in relation to dou -quantified elements, and its syntactic position in relation to the predicate. Based on the observation of Chinese dou sentences, we can arrive at the conclusion that dou can appear either to the left or to the right of dou-quantified elements. We have also observed that in a great majority of cases the predicate immediately follows dou, but given the special DE-structure, this cannot be an obligatory requirement.In Chapter Three we take another look at the directionality of dou. Both Dong's (2002) and Jiang's (1998) analyses are introduced in this chapter. Comparatively speaking, Jiang's analysis is more comprehensive and convincing. Jiang (1998) argues that there does not exist rightward dou-quantification, which abides by the syntactic spirit of uniformity.According to Jiang's theory, the dou-quantified element does not necessarily exist in overt form in the dou sentence. Sometimes it may be presupposed or be mentioned in the previous context. So in Chapter Four we try to explore the general feature of dou -quantifiable elements. Previous studies, most of which focus on dou-quantified NPs, are introduced. We find that all the dou-quantified elements must be plural in meaning, and name this requirement Plural Constraint. We also notice that the principles of 'measurability' and 'repeatability' suit both dou-quantified NPs and the other dou-quantified elements.This thesis focuses on generalizing Chinese dou-quantification. We have made a detailed classification of dou-quantified elements, explained the nature of leftward dou-quantification, and reached the conclusion that dou-quantification is exclusively rightward. We have also studied the common features of dou-quantified elements and concluded that all of them are plural in meaning.