Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mandarin transitive comparatives and the grammar of measurement

  • Published:
Journal of East Asian Linguistics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mandarin Chinese has two strategies for forming comparatives of superiority: one in which the standard of comparison is introduced by the morpheme bi, and one that resembles a transitive verb construction, in which the standard of comparison directly follows a gradable adjective. The ‘transitive comparative’ exhibits two special restrictions: the predicate must be one that accepts differential measure phrases, and the measure phrase must be overt. We argue that these facts support an analysis of the syntax of the adjectival projection in which gradable adjectives do not project degree arguments, as typically assumed, but do so only in combination with a covert morpheme μ. Building on the proposal that argument DPs in Mandarin require Case, we hypothesize that there are (at least) two case assigners for standards of comparison in Mandarin: the overt morpheme bi and the covert morpheme μ found in transitive comparatives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abney, Steven P. 1987. The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. Ph.D. diss., Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Ansaldo, Umberto. 1999. Comparative constructions in Sinitic: Areal typology and patterns of grammaticalization. Ph.D. diss., Stockholm University.

  • Bale Alan. (2009) A universal scale of comparison. Linguistics and Philosophy 31(1): 1–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartsch , Renate , Theo Vennemann. (1973) Semantic structures: A study in the relation between syntax and semantics. Athäenum Verlag, Frankfurt

    Google Scholar 

  • Barwise , Jon , Robin Cooper. (1981) Generalized quantifiers and natural language. Linguistics and Philosophy 4: 159–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatt, Rajesh, and Shoichi Takahashi. 2007. Direct comparisons: Resurrecting the direct analysis of phrasal comparatives. In Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 17, ed. M. Gibson and T. Friedman, 19–36. New York: CLC Publications.

  • Bierwisch, Manfred. 1989. The semantics of gradation. In Dimensional adjectives, ed. Manfred Bierwisch and Ewald Lang, 71–261. Berlin: Springer.

  • Bresnan Joan. (1973) Syntax of the comparative clause construction in English. Linguistic Inquiry 4: 275–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao Y.R. (1968) A grammar of spoken Chinese. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Corver, Norbert. 1990. The syntax of left branch extractions. Ph.D. diss., Tilburg University.

  • Corver Norbert. (1997) Much-support as a last resort. Linguistic Inquiry 28: 119–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, M.J. 1977. The semantics of degree. In Montague grammar, ed. Barbara Partee, 261-292. New York: Academic Press.

  • Diesing Molly. (1992) Indefinites. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Doetjes, Jenny. 1997. Quantifiers and selection. Ph.D. diss., Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.

  • Endresen Øyalf. (1985) E a mang, klokka?. Maal og Minne 3(4): 249–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Erlewine, Michael. 2007. A new syntax-semantics for the Mandarin bi comparative. M.A. Thesis, University of Chicago.

  • Faller, Martina. 2000. Dimensional adjectives and measure phrases in vector space semantics. In Formalizing the dynamics of information, eds. Martina Faller, Stefan Kaufmann, and Marc Pauly, 151–170. Stanford: CSLI Publications.

  • Francis , Elaine , Stephen Matthews. (2005) A multi-dimensional approach to the category ‘verb’ in Cantonese. Journal of Linguistics 41: 269–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grano, Thomas. 2012. Mandarin hen and universal markedness in gradable adjectives. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. doi:10.1007/s11049-011-9161-1.

  • Grimshaw, Jane. 1991. Extended projection. ms., Brandeis University.

  • Gu, Yang. 2008. Shitai, shizhi lilun yu hanyu shijian canzhao [Studies of tense, aspect and Chinese time reference]. In Dangdai yuyanxue lilun he hanyu yanjiu [Contemporary linguistic theories and related studies of Chinese], ed. Shen Yang and Feng Shengli, 97–119. Beijing: Commerce Press.

  • Hankamer, Jorge. 1973. Why there are two ‘than’s in English. In Proceedings of the 9th annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, ed. C. Corum, T.C. Smith-Stark, and A. Weiser. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.

  • Heim, Irene. 1985. Notes on comparatives and related matters. ms., University of Texas at Austin.

  • Heim, Irene. 2006. little. In Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 16, ed. M. Gibson and J. Howell, 17–34. New york: CLC Publications.

  • Heim , Irene , Angelika Kratzer. (1998) Semantics in generative grammar. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoeksema Jack. (1983) Negative polarity and the comparative. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 1: 403–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang C.T. James (1984) On the distribution and reference of empty pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry 15: 531–574

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C.T. James. 1989. Pro-drop in Chinese: A generalized control theory. In The null subject parameter, ed. Osvaldo Jaeggli and Kenneth Safir, 185–214. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

  • Huang , James C.T., Audrey Li Y.H., Yafei Li. (2009) The syntax of Chinese. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Shi-Zhe. (2006) Property theory, adjectives, and modification in Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 15: 343–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Christopher. 1999. Projecting the adjective: The syntax and semantics of gradability and comparison. New York: Garland (1997 UCSC Ph.D. dissertation).

  • Kennedy Christopher. (2001) Polar opposition and the ontology of ‘degrees’. Linguistics and Philosophy 24: 33–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Christopher. 2007a. Modes of comparison. In Papers from the 43rd annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society volume 1: The main session, ed. M. Elliott, J. Kirby, O. Sawada, E. Staraki, and S. Yoon, 139–163. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.

  • Kennedy Christopher. (2007b) Vagueness and grammar: The semantics of relative and absolute gradable predicates. Linguistics and Philosophy 30(1): 1–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Christopher, and Beth Levin. 2008. Measure of change: The adjectival core of degree achievements. In Adjectives and adverbs: Syntax, semantics and discourse, ed. Louise McNally and Christopher Kennedy, 156–182. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Kennedy , Christopher , Louise McNally. (2005a) Scale structure and the semantic typology of gradable predicates. Language 81(2): 345–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Christopher, and Louise McNally. 2005b. The syntax and semantics of multiple degree modification in English. In The proceedings of the 12th international conference on head-driven phrase structure grammar, ed. S. Müller, 178–191. Stanford: CSLI Publications.

  • Koopman Hilda. (1984) The syntax of verbs: From verb movement in the Kru languages to Universal Grammar. Foris, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Kratzer, Angelika. 1996. Severing the external argument from the verb. In Phrase structure and the lexicon, ed. J. Rooryck and L. Zaring, 109–137. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

  • Landman, Fred. (eds) (1991) Structures for semantics. Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, Richard. 1991. The projection of DP and DegP. ms., SUNY Stony Book.

  • Larson Richard K. (1988) On the double object construction. Linguistic Inquiry 19(3): 335–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Yen-Hui Audrey. (1990) Order and constituency in Mandarin Chinese. Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Y.H. Audrey. 2008. Case, 20 years later. In Proceedings of the 20th North American conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-20), volume 1, ed. Marjorie K. M. Chan and Hana Kang, 41–68. Columbus: The Ohio State University.

  • Lin Jo-Wang. (2009) Chinese comparatives and their implicational parameters. Natural Language Semantics 17: 1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Chen-Sheng Luther. (1996) A note on Chinese comparatives. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 26: 215–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Chen-Sheng Luther. (2007) The weak comparative morpheme in Mandarin Chinese. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 33: 53–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Chen-Sheng Luther. (2010a) The Chinese geng clausal comparative. Lingua 120: 1579–1606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Chen-Sheng Luther. (2010b) The positive morphene in Chinese and the adjectival structure. Lingua 120: 1010–1056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCawley James. (1992) Justifying part-of-speech assignments in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 20: 211–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Merchant Jason. (2009) Phrasal and clausal comparatives in Greek and the abstractness of syntax. Journal of Greek Linguistics 9: 134–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Mok, Sui-Sang. 1998. Cantonese exceed comparatives. Ph.D. diss., University of California.

  • Morev Lev N. (1998) Expressing comparison in the Tai languages. Mon-Khmer Studies 28: 91–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Neeleman, Ad, Hans van de Koot, and Jenny Doetjes. 2004. Degree expressions. The Linguistic Review 21: 1–66.

  • Paul Waltraud. (2005) Adjective modification in Mandarin Chinese and related issues. Linguistics 43: 757–793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul, Waltraud. 2010. Adjectives in Mandarin Chinese: The rehabilitation of a much ostracized category. In Adjectives: Formal analyses in syntax and semantics, ed. Patricia Cabredo Hofherr and Ora Matushansky, 115–151. Amsterdam: John Benjamins B.V.

  • Rizzi Luigi. (1990) Relativized minimality. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sassoon Galit Weidman. (2010) The degree functions of negative adjectives. Natural Language Semantics 18(2): 141–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawada , Osamu , Thomas Grano. (2011) Scale structure, coercion, and the interpretation of measure phrases in Japanese. Natural Language Semantics 19: 191–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzschild Roger. (2005) Measure phrases as modifiers of adjectives. Recherches Linguistiques de Vincennes 35: 207–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzschild , Roger , Karina Wilkinson. (2002) Quantifiers in comparatives: A semantics of degree based on intervals. Natural Language Semantics 10: 1–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seuren, Pieter A.M. 1978. The structure and selection of positive and negative gradable adjectives. In Papers from the parasession on the lexicon, Chicago Linguistic Society, ed. D. Farkas, W.M. Jacobsen, and K.W. Todrys, 336–346. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.

  • Svenonius, Peter, and Christopher Kennedy. 2006. Northern Norwegian degree questions and the syntax of measurement. In Phases of interpretation, ed. Mara Frascarelli. Vol. 91 of Studies in generative grammar, 133–161. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

  • Sybesma Rynt. (1999) The Mandarin VP. Kluwer, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Travis, Lisa. 1984. Parameters and effects of word order variation. Ph.D diss., Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Ultan, Russell. 1972. Some features of basic comparative constructions. In Working papers on language universals, no. 9, 117–162. Stanford: Language Universals Project, Committee on Linguistics.

  • von Stechow Arnim. (1984a) Comparing semantic theories of comparison. Journal of Semantics 3: 1–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Stechow Arnim. (1984b) My reply to Cresswell’s, Hellan’s, Hoeksema’s and Seuren’s comments. Journal of Semantics 3: 183–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiang, Ming. 2003. A phrasal analysis of Chinese comparatives. In Proceedings of the 39th annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, ed. A. Franklin, J. Cihlar, D. Kaiser, and I. Kimbara, 739–754. Chicago: Chicago Linguistics Society.

  • Xiang, Ming. 2005. Some topics in comparative constructions. Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University.

  • Xu, Hui Ling. 2007. Aspects of Chaozhou grammar: A synchronic description of the Chaozhou variety. Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph 22.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1010 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Thomas Grano & Chris Kennedy

Authors
  1. Thomas Grano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chris Kennedy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Grano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Grano, T., Kennedy, C. Mandarin transitive comparatives and the grammar of measurement. J East Asian Linguist 21, 219–266 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-012-9090-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-012-9090-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation