The Semantic Types Of De And Adjectives In Chinese Adjectival Modification

In Chinese,the structure of adjectives modifying nouns is very complex due to the overt and covert use of de.Most researchers study function of de from the perspective of syntax or cognitive linguistics,but few study on this topic from formal semantics.Huang(2001,2006)believes that simple adjectives(SA)and complex adjectives(CA)have different semantic types because of their complementary distribution.Based on type theory and property theory,she comes out type matching constraint on nominal modification to analyze the combination of two nominal elements.Starting from Huang's studies,this thesis discusses the semantic types of de and Chinese adjectives in [A de N] structure(A refers to adjectives.).Through discussion,this thesis reaches following conclusions: first,both simple adjectives and complex adjectives are of type <e,t>,and de is a type shifter which is of type <<e,t>,e>;second,type matching constraint on nominal modification works better in the combination of [A de N] structure than in [SA N];third,this paper supports Paul's argument(2010)that de-less adjectives denote the defining property of nouns and adjectives with de denote the accessory property of nouns;fourth,[AN] expressions is structurally ambiguous between a compound and a phrase;in semantic features,[AN] phrases are intersective and [AN] compounds are non-intersective.This thesis makes up for the deficiencies of Huang's hypothesizes,and enriches the studies on Chinese adjectival modification.Besides,this paper provides theoretical reference for teaching Chinese as foreign language.