Work

Towards a unified analysis of Mandarin non-canonical arguments

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In Mandarin, agent and theme arguments occur in complementary distribution with so-called “non-canonical” arguments (NCAs) that realize oblique thematic roles (Li 2014, Lin 2001). In this paper, we demonstrate that such alternations can be derived naturally from a combination of independent and cross-linguistically well-established phenomena, including (non-)recursive applicative heads (Nie 2020) and anti-agentivity (Martin et al. 2023).

Source: BieJournals

DOI: 10.11576/glow-1241

Authors: Hopperdietzel, Jens, Yu, Jianrong

Institution: University of Cologne

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7155511362

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