Affiliation:
1. Zhuhai College of Science and Technology
2. University of Macau
Abstract
Abstract
The exclusive expression weiyi ‘sole/only’ in Mandarin can appear preverbally in a relative
clause (e.g., wo weiyi xihuan de shu ‘the sole book I like’) but not in other types of clauses (e.g., *Wo
weiyi xihuan shu, intended: ‘I only like books’). This paper first justifies the claim that weiyi
may not only function as an adjectival modifier but also appear preverbally inside a relative clause, and then demonstrates how
weiyi is related to definiteness and takes scope out of a relative clause. It is proposed that preverbal
weiyi is part of a DP which undergoes overt A’-movement in the process of relativization. The syntactic
structure and semantic composition of a matching analysis are offered to show how a uniform account can be given across adjectival
and relative weiyi. A major implication of this paper is that Mandarin does not possess a relative pronoun but
allows a DP-internal focus expression to mark syntactic movement in relativization. A comparison between relative constructions
involving weiyi and English all-clefts is also discussed.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Subject
Linguistics and Language,Language and Linguistics