Directionality in Applicatives : A Comparative Study on English and Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

In my thesis, I will explore applicatives in ditransitive constructions in Mandarin Chinese and English. In English we only find Low Recipient Applicatives while in Mandarin we have both Low Recipient Applicatives and Low Source Applicatives, in addition to High Applicatives of a certain kind. Motivated by the puzzle of IO interpretation in English, I compare these two languages with respect to their argument structure and applicative structures. I argue that in Mandarin Chinese the IO is introduced by a Pylkkänen-style Low APPL inside the VP, and then raised higher than the VP, and to capture the raising phenomenon, I posit a functional head DIR, which is located between the little v and the lexical verb. The DIR head functions to regulate the direction of the transference, i.e. to the possession of the IO or from the possession of the IO. In Mandarin, the particles ‘gei’ and ‘zou’ are overt realizations of the DIR head, with the former indicating ‘To-the-possession’ and the latter indicating ‘From-the-possession’. In the thesis I will examine various kinds of DOC patterns in Mandarin Chinese under the Applicative framework. Then I will compare with English, seeing what the understanding of the Mandarin situation can do to shed light on the interpretation restriction in English.