| The present thesis studies a perennial problem in Chinese linguistics--the ba sentence. Three types of commonly found ba sentences are identified to belong to the Ba Resultative Construction (BRC), in which ba is argued to have developed an abstract meaning of 'bringing about a resultative state'. Ba is consequently proposed to be the main verb of the periphrastic resultative construction. The complexity of the ba problem is elucidated with a complex structure in semantic, pragmatic, and syntactic studies of BRC. Semantically, a ba sentence in BRC is complex in that it typically involves an underlying action and a resultative state. With ba as a verb, a complex structure is inevitable in the syntactic analysis of BRC. Interestingly, ba sentences in BRC also possess a pragmatically complex structure: an embedded topic structure.; As a comprehensive study, the thesis adopts a multi-faceted approach. Following an introduction of the ba problem in Chapter 1, the constructional meaning of BRC is investigated in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 tackles the syntactic structure of BRC within the Government-Binding Theory while Chapter 4 focuses on the pragmatic features of BRC. After an examination of the construction in these three major linguistic areas, a lexical study of ba itself is pursued in Chapter 5. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Chapter 6, and the thesis ends with suggestion of feasible future research on BRC. |
