A Minimalist Approach To The Double Object Construction In Modern Chinese

This thesis aims to research modern Chinese double object construction (DOC) within the framework of Minimalist Program. I intend to analyze the differences between Chinese DOC and other related constructions. I also examine the linguistic characteristics of them in a typological way. In the end, I hope to obtain some meaningful outcomes.This thesis is divided into five chapters. In chapter one, I review the research on modern Chinese DOC from traditional grammar theory to generative grammar. On the basis of this, I introduce the content and method of the thesis.In chapter two, I explain that the DOC and ditransitive construction (DC) are different concepts. DC refers to a head that has two complements; on the other hand, DOC is a subcategory of DC, and it should fulfill several conditions. I also compare the features of ’giving type’and’taking type’constructions and argue that they have different syntactic structures. Therefore, it should be reconsidered that there are more than two types of DOC in modern Chinese. My claim is that the DOC in Chinese only indicates the’giving type’ DOC.In chapter three, I point out the way to explain’ giving type’and ’taking type’ in modern Chinese DOC without having to set the parameters. I analyze the differences between Chinese DOC and other related constructions within the framework of Minimalist Program, and claim that the so-called ’taking type’ construction belongs to ’multi-objective case phenomenon (MOCP)’. In the process of case-checking, after the Possessor DP is separated from Possession DP, it moves to the Spec-VP to check its case feature. As it is derived from single object construction, the Possessor DP produces the MOCP.’Taking type’ construction is not a type of DOC, and, for this reason, I call it ’taking type’ multi-objective case construction (MOCC). In addition, there are two ways to produce the MOCP:one is a V directly merges with2DPs, which is generally known as DOC, and Chinese’giving type’ DOC is one example of it; another is a structure which has non-finite clauses, such as the Chinese Pivotal sentence.In chapter four, I compare Chinese with other languages in a typological way and find out localized similarities among them. I claim that the MOCP is not a unique feature in Chinese but rather a reflection of the universality in human languages.In chapter five, I summarize the results of this research and suggest further research topics.