A Minimalist Study On Chinese Empty Subject

Empty Category refers to the element that exists in the expression of semantics and syntax but it has no phonological matrix in the phonological expression. In other words, Empty Category is the element that has syntactic and semantical functions in sentences without phonetic form. It is a concept of Generative Grammar, which was put forward by Chomsky in the 1980s, and it still remains a hot topic in the research field of Generative Grammar. The core property of Generative Grammar is to establish a set of grammatical mechanism called Universal Grammar that is suitable for all the languages of human beings. From the perspective of Minimalist Programme, the essay focuses on the study of Chinese Empty Subject based on the relevant theories like Larson's VP Internal Subject Hypothesis and vp shell, Hornstein's Minimanilst Approach to Control as well as Hu Bo's assumption of [Tense] and [Modal]. It aims to explain the phenomenon of Chinese Empty Subject, to find out the covert features of Chinese and to prove the universality of Generative Grammar.Based on Hu's assumption of [Tense] and [Modal], the thesis probes into the distinction between Chinese finite and non-finite clauses with a sufficient analysis of different views from C.-T.James, Huang (1982,1987,1989), Xu Liejiong (1985,1986,1991,1994), Charles, Li (1985,1990) and Hu Jianhua (1997). And it obtains the following criterion of distinguishing Chinese finite from non-finite clauses:when the functional category of the clause is characterized by [+Time,+Modal], the clause is finite; and only when the functional head of the clause is featured by [+Time,-Modal] or [-Time,+Modal] or [-Time,-Modal], it is non-finite one.After analyzing the standard of distinguishing Chinese finite from non-finite clauses, the thesis also makes a detailed analysis on'pro'and'PRO'of Chinese Empty Subject and it draws the following licensing conditions of PRO and pro: For X°[αT, pModal]∈{I°,C°…}: a. pro-→[+R],iffα=p='+' b. PRO-→[-R], iffα=p='-' or a≠βThe thesis also analyzes the syntactic generation of Chinese Empty Subject according to Checking Theory and Uniformity Theta Assignment Theory. It proves the syntactic motivation of Chinese Empty Subject and testifies the universality of Generative Grammar to some extent.The reference of Chinese Empty Subject is another important aspect in this study. In the light of Hornstein's Minimalist Approach to Control, the essay makes researches on the reference of Chinese Empty Subject and draws the following conclusion:the reference of Chinese 'pro' and 'PRO' is intrasentential, i.e. the antecedent of Chinese null subject must be in the sentence.To sum up, on the basis of some relevant theories of Minimalist Framework, this essay explores a series of problems of Chinese Empty Subject, such as the criterion of distinguishing Chinese finite and non-finite clauses, the classification of Chinese Empty Subject, the licensing conditions of Chinese PRO and pro etc. and it draws some distinctive conclusions in chapter seven. The research is helpful to understand the nature of Chinese Empty Category, and it has theoretical meaning and practical value in finding out the covert features of Chinese.