A Cartographical Approach To PSPO Structure In Modern Chinese Within The Framework Of The Minimalist Program

Within the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky1995), especiallyDerivation by Phase (Chomsky2001), this thesis is devoted to exploring the syntacticand semantic characteristics and generation mechanism of Chinese PSPO(Possessor-Subject-Possessum-Object) structure as exemplified by Wang Mian silefuqin and Gongchang daole yimian qiang from a cartographical approach.In this thesis, we favor a topicalization approach to PSPO structure and proposethat the sentence-initial possessor is a moved topic. Within DP2Wang Mian fuqin, thepossessor DP1Wang Mian possesses a [+TOP] feature, which triggers its movementfrom the Poss to spec-DP2. The EF on the head Top and the EPP feature on the head Teach probe and attract a copy of the possessor from the larger projection following theunaccusative verb to spec-Top and spec-T position respectively to check their EF andEPP feature. Minimalist considerations allow for the overt spell-out of only thehighest copy, resulting in the final PSPO structure such as Wang Mian sile fuqin andGongchang daole yimian qiang. In this thesis, we also investigate the derivation oftwo semantically related structures Wang Mian fuqin sile and Wang Mian de fuqin sile.We argue that the former is also a topical sentence deriving from the same underlyingstructure as that of PSPO structure, except that the spec-T constituent probed andattracted is the larger projection after the predicate instead of the possessor alone. Aswith the latter, we regard it as a phenomenon denoting surface unaccusativity with apreposed argument.