Research On Verb-object Detachable Words In Chinese From The Perspective Of Theta-theory

Detachable words in Chinese have long been studied and drawn much attention in terms of structure,derivation,and meaning.However,few agreements have been reached in terms of its classification,formation,and detachability.In the framework of generative grammar,particularly theta-theory,this paper studies verb-object(VN)detachable words in terms of syntactic derivation,argument inclusion,and detachability.First,the researcher classifies VN detachable words into canonical ones and noncanonical ones according to whether there is a definite semantic relation between V and N followed.It is shown that,for the canonical ones,V assigns to N a thematic role before it undergoes upward movement,whereas for non-canonical ones,V tends to be pied-piped by N in upward movement.Therefore,it is argued that canonical VN datable words are syntactic structure while noncanonical ones obey morphological rules to a larger degree.Second,in order to explain why some VN detachable words take objects,it is proposed that the object following VN is an adjunct.Since N gets its thematic role from V,the newly added object seems fail to get a thematic role,thus violating theta-criteria.In addition,it was found that VN detachable words may be constrained to take an object in case of aspect marker such as zhe and le occurs between V and N.Third,the researcher studies the detachability of VN detachable words.It was found that the thematic hierarchy of N assigned by V may play a role in the detachability.That is,the lower N is in hierarchy,the harder for V to be split from VN.One noticeable result is that VN tends to be in full detachability,when N bears a theme role.