A refinement of the analysis of the resultative V-de construction in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes two major modifications to previous analyses of the resultative V-de construction in Mandarin Chinese. First, while -de is argued to be prepositional in nature, it is shown at the same time that -de is different from other regular prepositions in that the former, but not the latter, undergoes head movement in a resultative. To reconcile these apparently conflicting observations, we propose to treat -de as the exponent of a prepositional categorizer. Second, we argue that a small clause analysis of the resultative V-de construction is not only conceptually motivated by the Direct Object Restriction but also empirically supported by the fact that it can participate in the bǎ alternation, as with constructions that are canonically assumed to contain a small clause.