Intersective And Non-intersective Ambiguity In Chinese Adjectival Modification

Based on the previous analyses, this thesis aims to explain the ambiguity resulting from Chinese adjectival modifications from the perspectives of syntax and semantics. A new classification of Chinese adjectives which identifies the existence of intersective and non-intersective adjectives is first presented and then characteristics of Chinese adjectival ambiguity are analyzed and reasonable explanations are provided further.Chinese adjectival modifications are mainly characterized by the absence or presence of de. This thesis argues that the existence of de does not restrain the adjective from having a non-intersective reading. The main factor resulting in the adjectival ambiguity is the distance between the adjective and the noun it modifies. De-modification and de-less modification are analyzed respectively in this thesis. Evidence is given from extensive studies that a de-less adjective does not give rise to ambiguity when modifying a noun but may lead to either an intersective or a non-intersective reading according to the position it appears in the syntactic structure. As to the de-modification, a context variable which originates from the context theory and the head primacy principle is introduced to account for its three different types of ambiguities. Detailed tree diagrams are also provided. It is observed that these three kinds of ambiguities are controlled by different variables.The first type of ambiguity is controlled by a task variable implied by the head noun, the second one is controlled by a context variable which is newly introduced in this thesis and the third one is caused by both a task variable and a context variable. Ambiguity resulting from multiple adjectival modifications is also examined in this thesis. When more than one adjective modify a noun, the adjective closest to the noun always has a non-intersective reading while those far from the noun have intersective readings.