<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> In this paper, I argue for an analysis that treats the ba construction in Chinese as a case of shape preservation-induced movement structure. Specifically, the robust preverbal adverbial and PP expressions and the mandatory ba-DP movement in ditransitive structures are both derived from a violable head directionality macroparameter under the Symmetrical Syntax Hypothesis, which allows directionality parameters to examine word order throughout the derivation. In addition to being able to capture the parallel syntactic properties of Scandinavian object shift, this account receives further empirical support from word order facts of Archaic Chinese and Bambara.</p></abstract>

In this paper, I argue for an analysis that treats the ba construction in Chinese as a case of shape preservation-induced movement structure. Specifically, the robust preverbal adverbial and PP expressions and the mandatory ba-DP movement in ditransitive structures are both derived from a violable head directionality macroparameter under the Symmetrical Syntax Hypothesis, which allows directionality parameters to examine word order throughout the derivation. In addition to being able to capture the parallel syntactic properties of Scandinavian object shift, this account receives further empirical support from word order facts of Archaic Chinese and Bambara.

Parameter Preservation at the Syntax-PF Interface: The Ba Construction Revisited

Studies in Chinese Linguistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Parameter Preservation at the Syntax-PF Interface: The Ba Construction Revisited"}

In this paper, I argue for an analysis that treats the ba construction in Chinese as a case of shape preservation-induced movement structure. Specifically, the...

Parameter Preservation at the Syntax-PF Interface: The Ba Construction Revisited

Published Online: Jun 01, 2018

Page range: 29 - 66

Received: Dec 13, 2016

Accepted: Jun 28, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scl-2018-0002

Keywords
ba construction, directionality parameters, Symmetrical Syntax Hypothesis, optional movement, syntax-PF interface

© 2018 Chih-Hsiang Shu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Parameter Preservation at the Syntax-PF Interface: The Ba Construction Revisited

Published Online: Jun 01, 2018

Page range: 29 - 66

Received: Dec 13, 2016

Accepted: Jun 28, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scl-2018-0002

Keywordsba construction, directionality parameters, Symmetrical Syntax Hypothesis, optional movement, syntax-PF interface

© 2018 Chih-Hsiang Shu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
ba construction, directionality parameters, Symmetrical Syntax Hypothesis, optional movement, syntax-PF interface