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Bei and the passive in Cantonese Li, J. Cora R.
Abstract
This paper studies the nature of the BEI-construction in Cantonese, with Mandarin as the standard language of comparison. Although the BEI-construction has been much studied in Mandarin, the same in not true for Cantonese. Although this construction has traditionally been termed a "passive", I will show that it can have a different range of semantic interpretations in Cantonese. I argue that BEI is not confined to passive, but is used under certain circumstances to form a causative construction as well. The differences in behaviour between passive-BEI and causative-BEI can be seen in tests with anaphoric binding. I conclude that while the passive structure is mono-clausal, the causative structure must be bi-clausal. The Cantonese BEI-constructions have an obligatory agent-phrase which cannot be dropped. This differs from Mandarin and the challenge is to find an account for this phenomenon, especially if we are to claim that this construction is a passive. The optionality of the agent phrase is characteristic of passives and yet Cantonese deviates from this norm. I argue that passive in Cantonese is a syntactic process and predict that only transitive verbs may participate in this construction. I utilize the universal v-VP structure on transitive verbs, proposed by Chomsky (1995), to guarantee that the external theta role must be retained. I also examine the much debated status of BEI which is used in the BEI-construction. Although this construction can be used to derive both a passives and a causatives, it does not necessarily mean that two separate BEIs must be posited. I conclude that BEI can be treated as a category-neutral element which can interact in both causative and passive structures. To support this proposal I appeal to the functional versus lexical distinction of categories and projections.
Item Metadata
Title |
Bei and the passive in Cantonese
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1997
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Description |
This paper studies the nature of the BEI-construction in Cantonese, with Mandarin as the
standard language of comparison. Although the BEI-construction has been much studied in
Mandarin, the same in not true for Cantonese.
Although this construction has traditionally been termed a "passive", I will show that it
can have a different range of semantic interpretations in Cantonese. I argue that BEI is not
confined to passive, but is used under certain circumstances to form a causative construction
as well. The differences in behaviour between passive-BEI and causative-BEI can be seen in
tests with anaphoric binding. I conclude that while the passive structure is mono-clausal, the
causative structure must be bi-clausal.
The Cantonese BEI-constructions have an obligatory agent-phrase which cannot be
dropped. This differs from Mandarin and the challenge is to find an account for this
phenomenon, especially if we are to claim that this construction is a passive. The optionality
of the agent phrase is characteristic of passives and yet Cantonese deviates from this norm. I
argue that passive in Cantonese is a syntactic process and predict that only transitive verbs
may participate in this construction. I utilize the universal v-VP structure on transitive verbs,
proposed by Chomsky (1995), to guarantee that the external theta role must be retained.
I also examine the much debated status of BEI which is used in the BEI-construction.
Although this construction can be used to derive both a passives and a causatives, it does not
necessarily mean that two separate BEIs must be posited. I conclude that BEI can be treated
as a category-neutral element which can interact in both causative and passive structures. To
support this proposal I appeal to the functional versus lexical distinction of categories and
projections.
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Extent |
5426714 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-03-25
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0088269
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1997-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.