MENTAL STATE, VOLITION AND ARGUMENT REALIZATION

Abstract

We explore argument realization in the resultative V-de construction under the framework of the Theta System. We find that the theta grids of the resultative V-de construction are of two types, i.e., ([+c-m], [-c]) and ([+cm], [-m]), depending on the (a-)thematic relation between the verb and second/internal argument. Crucially, the external argument always has a /- m feature (the minus value of the mental state), regardless of its animacy, leading to a non-volitional Agent reading (animate) and a Cause reading (inanimate). It is due to this [+c-m] feature cluster that the construction yields an unintended result reading, which captures its preference for the occurrence of dou ‘unexpectedly’ in the construction. In this sense, the resultative V-de construction can be considered as a non-volitional counterpart to its de-less counterpart. This contrast signals the grammatical/morphological coding of volition, with the assistance of de, in Mandarin Chinese. As for the internal argument, it can be either [-c] or [-m], and their syntactic and semantic differences lend credence to the distinction between “outer objects” and “outermost objects”. The syntactic distribution of [-c] is sensitive to animacy, with animate [-c] being allowed to in both [NP1 V-de NP2 XP] and [NP1 ba-NP2 V-de XP], and inanimate [-c] in [NP1 ba-NP2 V-de XP] only, due to the interactions between animacy and case. As for [-m], it occurs in [NP1 V-de NP2 XP], in which NP2 is not thematically related to V and ba-introduction is barred. This study enriches the Theta System with Chinese data, in special regard to how animacy, mental state, and volition may affect argument realization.