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On modification with whole/zheng in English and Chinese and the uniformity of syntax

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Abstract

Through a comparative study of English whole and Chinese zheng, I argue that in English, when the part-related reading is obtained, whole actually modifies a silent functional projection, which can be identified with the classifier projection in Chinese. Such an analysis provides a clue to the puzzling behavior of English whole, which does not modify plural nouns under the part-related reading (e.g. *The whole apples are large). Theoretically, I argue for a unified analysis of whole/zheng that combines the semantic analysis in Moltmann (Parts and wholes in semantics, 1997; Synthese 116:75–111, 1998; Linguist Philos 28:599–641, 2005, which suggests that the part-related reading of whole is related to situated mass interpretation, and the syntactic proposals in Kayne (Movement and silence, 2005; Lingua 117:832–858, 2007; in: R. Freidin (ed.) Foundational issues in linguistic theory: essays in honor of Jean-Roger Vergnaud, 2008) and Borer (In name only. Structuring sense, 2005a), which argue for the uniform classifier projection at syntax in both classifier and non-classifier languages. The analysis not only sheds light on the cross-linguistic syntax of nominal expressions, but it also provides empirical support for the Uniformity Principle in Universal Grammar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, 128, Section 2, Academia Road, Taipei, 115, Taiwan

    Wei-wen Roger Liao

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Liao, Ww.R. On modification with whole/zheng in English and Chinese and the uniformity of syntax. J East Asian Linguist 24, 53–74 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-014-9122-x

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