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Varieties of Alternatives: Focus Particles and wh-Expressions in Mandarin: 3 (Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics, 3) - Softcover

Book 2 of 10: Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics

Liu, Mingming

 
9789811348266: Varieties of Alternatives: Focus Particles and wh-Expressions in Mandarin: 3 (Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics, 3)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 981134826X ISBN 13: 9789811348266
Publisher: Springer, 2018

Synopsis

This book concerns two focus particles (jiu, dou) and wh-expressions (shenme = ‘what’, na geren = ‘which person’) in Mandarin Chinese. These items are systematically ‘ambiguous’ and have played important roles in various aspects of Mandarin grammar. An idea based on alternatives and varieties of alternatives in particular – following Chierchia’s 2013 analysis of the polarity system – is pursued to account for the systematic ambiguities. The unambiguous semantics of jiu, dou and wh-expressions are maintained and ‘ambiguity’ explained through varieties of alternatives interacting with other independently motivated aspects of the structure they occur in. By examining these aspects in detail, the book will help readers gain a better understanding of a broad range of phenomena that involve these items – including exhaustivity, distributivity, questions and conditionals.

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About the Author

Dr. Mingming Liu received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 2016 and currently works as an assistant professor at the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, China. His work has addressed several aspects of Mandarin grammar: focus particles such as the famous dou “each, all, even, already” and other only-like exclusives, wh-expressions and wh-conditionals, Mandarin conditionals in general and resultative verb compounds. He has published articles in several peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

From the Back Cover

This book concerns two focus particles (jiu, dou) and wh-expressions (shenme = ‘what’, na geren = ‘which person’) in Mandarin Chinese. These items are systematically ‘ambiguous’ and have played important roles in various aspects of Mandarin grammar. An idea based on alternatives and varieties of alternatives in particular – following Chierchia’s 2013 analysis of the polarity system – is pursued to account for the systematic ambiguities. The unambiguous semantics of jiu, dou and wh-expressions are maintained and ‘ambiguity’ explained through varieties of alternatives interacting with other independently motivated aspects of the structure they occur in. By examining these aspects in detail, the book will help readers gain a better understanding of a broad range of phenomena that involve these items – including exhaustivity, distributivity, questions and conditionals.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Springer
Publication date
2018
Language
English
ISBN 10 
981134826X
ISBN 13 
9789811348266
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
193

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9789811062070: Varieties of Alternatives: Focus Particles and wh-Expressions in Mandarin: 3 (Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics, 3)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  9811062072 ISBN 13:  9789811062070
Publisher: Springer, 2017
Hardcover