The Sinitic nominal phrase structure : a minimalist perspective
This dissertation is a comparative study of the morphosyntax of the constituents referred to as noun phrases in traditional grammar. In line with Abneyâs (1987) Determiner Phrase (DP) Hypothesis, this study investigates the syntactic structures of Sinitic nominal phrases by means of a thorough study of lexical elements, such as numerals, classifiers, possessives, adjectives, and nouns, and functional elements, such as plural/collective markers, force particles, and modification markers. It is argued that the syntactic structure of the nominal phrase is universal regardless of the presence of lexical items which realise the heads of the functional projections. This study further proposes a unified account of the articulated structure of nominal phrases, as a full-fledged DP, to explain the syntactic phenomena in both classifier and non-classifier languages. More specifically, a Probe-Goal feature-valuing model is proposed to account for parametric variation among Sinitic and other languages within the framework of Chomskyâs (2000, 2001, 2004) Phase-based Minimalist Programme. Furthermore, given the assumption of the Split-DP Hypothesis, this study proposes that the DP in Sinitic languages is also not a
Lin, Yi-An
Nominal Phrase Structure ; Sinitic languages ; Minimalism
The Sinitic nominal phrase structure : a minimalist perspective. This dissertation is a comparative study of the morphosyntax of the constituents referred to as noun phrases in traditional grammar. In line with Abneyâs (1987) Determiner Phrase (DP) Hypothesis, this study investigates the syntactic structures of Sinitic nominal phrases by means of a thorough study of lexical elements, such as numerals, classifiers, possessives, adjectives, and nouns, and functional elements, such as plural/collective markers, force particles, and modification markers. It is argued that the syntactic structure of the nominal phrase is universal regardless of the presence of lexical items which realise the heads of the functional projections. This study further proposes a unified account of the articulated structure of nominal phrases, as a full-fledged DP, to explain the syntactic phenomena in both classifier and non-classifier languages. More specifically, a Probe-Goal feature-valuing model is proposed to account for parametric variation among Sinitic and other languages within the framework of Chomskyâs (2000, 2001, 2004) Phase-based Minimalist Programme. Furthermore, given the assumption of the Split-DP Hypothesis, this study proposes that the DP in Sinitic languages is also not a
nominal phrase structure minimalist perspective comparative_study morphosyntax constituent refer noun_phrase traditional grammar line determiner_phrase hypothesis study_investigates syntactic_structure nominal phrase mean thorough_study lexical element numeral classifier possessive adjective noun functional element plural collective marker force particle modification marker argue syntactic_structure nominal phrase universal regardless presence lexical_item realise head functional_projection study_proposes unify account articulated structure nominal phrase full fledged explain syntactic_phenomenon classifier non classifier language specifically probe goal feature valuing model_propose account parametric variation among language within_framework chomsky phase based minimalist programme furthermore give assumption split hypothesis study_proposes language also