On the big silent appositive time in dà NP de construction in Chinese: A compositional approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article explores the compositionality of [dà NP de] construction in Chinese. The NP should be a direct time-denoting NPtime or an indirect time-denoting NPitime. Following Kayne (2016), we assume there is a silent TIME following de. Meanwhile, a less-discussed use of de—that is, the equational/appositional use of de (Chao 1968), has been revived to link the silent TIME and NPtime/NPitime. This analysis of de helps explain why the NP is preferably time-related, as it is easier for a time-denoting NP to establish an equational/appositional relation with the silent TIME. Dà 'big' is neither a size-denoting adjective, nor an evaluative morpheme. It is analyzed as an element like the restrictive adjective very (e.g., the very book) in English. Dà modifies the appositive conjunction phrase [NP de TIME], bringing emphasis to the construction, which in turn imposes certain semantic and pragmatic constraints on its subsequent clauses.摘要:本文主要探讨"大NP的"结构是如何通过组合的方式生成的。本文认为该结构中的"大"既非指涉尺寸大小的形容词，也非表示评价的语素，而是一个表示强调的限制形容词，其用法类似于英文the very book中的very。受Kayne(2016)的启发，我们假设该结构的"的"字之后有个没有语音实现形式的时间名词TIME。受Chao(1968)启发，我们认为该结构中的"的"是"的"的一种特殊用法，即"的"等同/同位用法，用来连接表示时间的NP和无声的TIME。"NP的TIME"是一个同位结构，受"大"修饰。由于"大"的强调作用(Lü 1999)，"大NP的"结构具有强调义，继而要求其后续子句在语义和语用上与之匹配，从而对后续子句产生一定的限制。