The unaccusative-unergative distinction in Mandarin resultative constructions

Fulang Chen

Keywords: unaccusative, unergative, resultative, argument structure, Uniformity of Theta-Assignment Hypothesis, Mandarin, syntax

Abstract: The Unaccusativity Hypothesis (UH), which posits that the sole argument of an unaccusative verb is a theme/underlying obj., while the sole argument of an unergative verb is an agent/underlying subj., is supported by unaccus.-unerg. distinctions in English resultatives, but is challenged by the apparent lack of such distinctions in Mandarin resultatives. This paper presents novel evidence for the existence of unaccus.-unerg. distinctions in Mandarin resultatives and proposes a non-uniform analysis of Mandarin resultatives with unaccus. and unerg. matrix verbs, in accordance with UH. The proposal also sheds new light on the Uniformity of Theta-Assignment Hypothesis (UTAH) and a general theory of resultative argument structure.

Submission Number: 153