Chapter 5. Causality, comitativity, contrastivity, and selfhood
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Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai
Abstract
When people talk about reflexives, they often think of two arguments in an anaphoric or coargumental relationship. This paper sets out to show that reflexive adverbials also participate in such kind of relationship, but with a far greater range of interpretative possibilities closely associated with their syntactic distributions. The syntax-semantics correspondence strictly observes an inner-outer dichotomy of adverbials observed across languages, i.e., inner Self expresses comitativity, whereas outer Self express causality. Our finding thus lends a substantial support to the cartographic approach advocated by Rizzi (1997) and Cinque (1999). It is also argued that this behavior can be accommodated by a general theory of reflexivity along the line of Reinhart & Reuland (1993), given that a contrastive focus is introduced in accordance with the phase edges (Chomsky 2000, 2001). The “selfhood” can then be understood in a new light, not only in terms of the general theory of syntax-semantics mapping, but also in terms of the “topography” of adverbials, which is by and large determined by their morphological makeups in particular languages.
Abstract
When people talk about reflexives, they often think of two arguments in an anaphoric or coargumental relationship. This paper sets out to show that reflexive adverbials also participate in such kind of relationship, but with a far greater range of interpretative possibilities closely associated with their syntactic distributions. The syntax-semantics correspondence strictly observes an inner-outer dichotomy of adverbials observed across languages, i.e., inner Self expresses comitativity, whereas outer Self express causality. Our finding thus lends a substantial support to the cartographic approach advocated by Rizzi (1997) and Cinque (1999). It is also argued that this behavior can be accommodated by a general theory of reflexivity along the line of Reinhart & Reuland (1993), given that a contrastive focus is introduced in accordance with the phase edges (Chomsky 2000, 2001). The “selfhood” can then be understood in a new light, not only in terms of the general theory of syntax-semantics mapping, but also in terms of the “topography” of adverbials, which is by and large determined by their morphological makeups in particular languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Unifying UG and language variation 9
- Chapter 3. Elements of syntax 25
- Chapter 4. Computational and semantic aspects of resumption 49
- Chapter 5. Causality, comitativity, contrastivity, and selfhood 101
- Chapter 6. System repairing strategy at interface 133
- Chapter 7. The V-copy construction in Mandarin 167
- Chapter 8. The syntax of either and disjunction 207
- Chapter 9. Focus, negation and event quantification in Chinese 245
- Chapter 10. Null object constructions, VP-ellipsis, and sentence interpretation 283
- Chapter 11. The acquisition of nominal structure, word order and referentiality in Chinese 301
- Chapter 12. Syntax/semantics interface and interpretation of Chinese NP 1 NP 2 V construction by Japanese speakers 341
- Index of languages 363
- Index of subjects 365
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Unifying UG and language variation 9
- Chapter 3. Elements of syntax 25
- Chapter 4. Computational and semantic aspects of resumption 49
- Chapter 5. Causality, comitativity, contrastivity, and selfhood 101
- Chapter 6. System repairing strategy at interface 133
- Chapter 7. The V-copy construction in Mandarin 167
- Chapter 8. The syntax of either and disjunction 207
- Chapter 9. Focus, negation and event quantification in Chinese 245
- Chapter 10. Null object constructions, VP-ellipsis, and sentence interpretation 283
- Chapter 11. The acquisition of nominal structure, word order and referentiality in Chinese 301
- Chapter 12. Syntax/semantics interface and interpretation of Chinese NP 1 NP 2 V construction by Japanese speakers 341
- Index of languages 363
- Index of subjects 365
