On The Syntax Of The Object In Ba Construction

Ba construction is a common sentence pattern in modern Chinese.There are many controversial points and different views on this construction.Functionally,word “ba” is regarded as different roles such as: verb,preposition,case marker,central word and functional category.Semantically,accoding to the meaning of the Ba construction,opinions towards Ba construction can be divided into different streams such as: disposal structure,leading structure,consequence Theory and Influence Theory.Although many investigations have been done on the Ba construction so far,but little concentration has been put on the object of Ba construction.Based on the former studies of Ba construction,this thesis investigates the syntactic features of NPBA and its derivation in different structures,and studies the syntax of NPBA under the MP framework.The object in Ba construction refers to the nominal phrase which follows the word ‘ba',it can not only be the patient but also the theme of the main verb,and it has the characteristics of a subtopic of the whole sentence.NPBA is a definite,affected object,and plays a key role in the delimited resultative event.Its theta role could be patient,or theme,or instrument,or location,or target,which can be inherited from the empty category of the following VP,or be assigned a theta role by the whole phrase.Based on these,this thesis mainly investigates the derivation of NPBA in the objective Ba construction,the locative and instrumental Ba construction and the causative Ba construction.In the derivation,word “ba” is selected from the Lexcial Array(LA)and merges with vP.The subtopic feature of “ba” requires a patient or a theme move to the Spec position in order to form a BaP.Then,BaP merges with T,the centural word of “ba” moves under the T.The EPP feature of T will check the word by moving the agent or inserting a causer.Only the patient can take the Spec position and received the feature of subtopic,therefore the agent is eliminated.When there is a complement in Ba construction,the main verb always merges with the complement and then goes to the NPBA,the complement receives a inner case according to the Maximal Matching Effect.In causative Ba construction,there is a CAUSE light verb which can assign case to the logical object.