The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/123042 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation.
Author: Yang, Z.
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English summary
By examining three usages of the Mandarin particle yě (additive yě, scalar yě and modal yě), this dissertation provides a comprehensive syntactic and semantic study of yě. I reach the conclusion that there are at least two different yěs, namely, the additive/lower yě, which is situated in the IP, and the scalar/higher yě, in the CP. The modal use of yě shows a close connection to scalar yě and may occupy the same high position as scalar yě in the CP.
Although the yěs in the different contexts are similar in invariably evoking alternatives in their respective context, both the mechanism activating these alternatives and the relation between the alternative proposition(s) on the one hand and the proposition expressed by the host sentence on the other are very different. The alternatives that additive yě is associated with are real and verifiable alternatives and are not arranged on any scale. In contrast, the alternatives evoked in the scalar contexts are mere possible alternatives and are ordered on a scale, provided by the context, on which the degree of likelihood is measured.
The dissertation consists of six chapters. In Chapter 1, I introduce the classification and provide examples of each use type of yě, i.e., the additive use type, the parametric/scalar use type and the modal use type. A number of questions that come up when considering L2 learners’ errors are presented for further consideration elsewhere in the dissertation as well.
The additive use of yě is discussed in detail in Chapter 2. I argue that, as a focus particle, an additive particle is a discourse-anaphoric element in nature. Due to this anaphoric nature, it resists presupposition accommodation and always requires an antecedent which can be verifiable in the preceding context. I argue that discourse similarity, especially similarity in argumentative orientation between the antecedent and the host sentence, is the crucial element to license the use of additive yě. The relation between additive yě and the constituents within the host sentence, i.e., the AC (added constituent) and ID (identical constituent), is discussed in detail. My Mandarin data displays a similar AC/ID pattern as Reis and Rosengren (1997) observed for German, This is shown below:
(1) AC/ID patterns of stressed YE and unstressed yě ([AC]CT) (AC) (ID) YE ID (ID)
(ID) yě [AC]F (ID) (ID)
Even though yě is sometimes stressed while being unstressed at other times, I argue for a uniform analysis of the meaning/function of the two variants.
Chapter 3 is devoted to the syntactic survey of additive yě and
positions for yě, one in CP and the other in IP. Firstly, I put forth evidence to prove that additive yě is an IP adverb, i.e., it occurs in a position lower than the outer subject, i.e., [Spec, IP], but higher than the inner subject, i.e., [Spec, vP]. In order to determine the exact positioning of additive yě in the IP, I introduce two diagnostics. The first is the modal hierarchy proposed by Butler (2003) and the second is the adverb hierarchy proposed by Cinque (1999). I conclude that the position of additive yě is higher than the root necessity modals but lower than the subject, as is indicated below:
(2) Epistemic necessity < Negation < Epistemic possibility < (Strong) subject < Additive yě < Root necessity < Negation < Root possibility < vP
The positioning of additive yě in Cinque’s adverb hierarchy leads to a similar conclusion. By using the same diagnostics, I conclude that parametric yě occupies a higher position in the structure than additive yě, and presumably also higher than the epistemic necessity modals and corresponding adverbs.
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(3)
Chapter 5 investigates three different contexts in which modal yě can be used,
i.e., the “criticism” context, the “acceptance” contexts and the “denial” context. I argue that modal yě is a concessivity marker and in all three contexts invariably denotes a concessive relation between a contextual proposition and the proposition expressed by its host sentence. I also demonstrate that there exists a close relationship between the modal use and the scalar use of yě.
Chapter 6 provides the conclusion and discusses two remaining issues,
