A corpus-linguistic study of multiple relative clauses in Chinese
-
Tao Ming
and
Liang Chen
Abstract
This study investigates the ordering restriction of two relative clauses modifying the same head noun phrase in Chinese. We use both retrospective and corpus data to challenge Larson and Takahashi's (2007) account of the ordering of such multiple relative clauses in Chinese in terms of the distinction of individual-level and stage-level relative clauses. Instead, we offer an account based on the discourse function of the multiple relative clauses in Chinese. Specifically, we argue that relative clauses that serve to provide grounding information for the head noun tend to precede other types of relative clauses. The proposed ordering restriction is shown to account for the ordering of multiple relative clauses in both Chinese and English.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Corpus methods in pragmatics: The case of English and Russian emotions
- What goes unsaid: Expression of complaints and advice about health in Eastern Ecuador
- “I can't remember them ever not doing whatI tell them!”: Negotiating face and power relations in ‘upward’ refusals in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong
- Your kids are so stinkin' cute! :-): Complimenting behavior on Facebook among family and friends
- You get what you put in: Elicited production versus spontaneous verbal interaction in cross-linguistic studies of language use
- A corpus-linguistic study of multiple relative clauses in Chinese
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Contributors to this issue
