本研究應用Chomsky (1988) 所提出的衍生語法架構 (generative framework) 以及Grimshaw (1990) 的論元結構理論 (the theory of argument structure)重探中文「V-起來」中動句的語法結構和語義特性。本研究主要提出與先前研究 (e.g. Sung, 1994; Wang, 2005a) 不同的論點，並與Huang (1988) 比較，主張「V-起來」中動句中，「V-起來」並不是主要述語 (main predicate)，而是作為情態詞 (modal) 使用；修飾述語 (modification predicate) 才是主要述語。本研究所指的中動句包含沒有施事者 (Agent) 存在的評估型 (Evaluative) 中動句 (如：這顆蘋果吃起來很甜)，以及帶有施事者的敘事型 (Eventive) 中動句 (如：這件工作張三做起來很認真)，因為兩者都可以指涉人事物的內在特性。然而，兩者的句法結構不盡相同，而造成這種差異的主因有二。首先，本研究應用Lin and Tang (1995) 以及Wang (2005b) 的分析，指出「V-起來」述語除了Wang (2005b) 所指出，可分為「抬升型」 (raising) 與 「控制型」 (control)，更可以依中文情態詞的分類法則分類 (cf. Lin and Tang, 1995)。與其他的中文情態詞相同，「V-起來」依功能亦可分成表可能性 (epistemic) 和表義務 (deontic)：表可能性的「V-起來」為抬升型的述語，而表義務的「V-起來」為控制型的述語。在評估型/表可能性的中動句中，主題名詞 (Theme NP) 由修飾語的主詞位置抬升至主要子句的主詞位置；而在敘事型/表義務的中動句中，施事者在深層結構 (D-structure) 即位於主要子句的主詞位置，而控制修飾詞子句中的主詞PRO。第二個原因與修飾述語的論元結構有關。以主題名詞作為主詞的修飾述語組成評估型中動句，而以施事者為主詞的修飾述語則構成敘事型的中動句。此外，本研究重新探究了「V-起來」句子允許的動詞型式。「找到」或「學會」等複合動詞無法再允許「起來」形成複合詞 (cf. Sung, 1994)；就語義上而言，動作動詞 (activity verbs) 和完成動詞 (accomplishment verbs) 較能組成「V-起來」句子，這和「起來」的意義：持續 (continuous) 或起始義 (inchoative) 有關。

Adopting the generative framework (Chomsky, 1988) and the theory of argument structure (e.g. Grimshaw, 1990), the present study reexamines the Mandarin Chinese middle V-qilai constructions and argues against the previous analyses (e.g. Sung, 1994; Wang, 2005a) that V-qilai is a main predicate. First, it is proposed in the present study that the Evaluative as well as the Eventive V-qilai sentences can both be regarded as the middle constructions; that is, both [-Agent] and [+Agent] V-qilai constructions can be middle sentences. Second, comparing with Huang’s (1988) analysis of the resultative constructions, it is argued in the present study that the second predicate, i.e. the modification predicate, serves as the main predicate. The present study also proposes the two different syntactic representations of the Evaluative and Eventive middle V-qilai constructions,　and adopts Wang (2005b) and Lin & Tang (1995) to propose that the V-qilai serves as a modal: Not only can the V-qilai predicates be classified into the raising type and the control type (cf. Wang, 2005b), but can also be classified into the Evaluative/epstemic type and the Eventive/deontic type, just as Mandarin Chinese modals (cf. Lin and Tang, 1995). Moreover, the argument structures of the modification predicates determine the syntactic representations of the V-qilai sentences: Theme-modifying predicates construe Evaluative V-qilai sentences, and Agent-modifying predicates construe Eventive V-qilai sentences. The Evaluative/epistemic middle sentences like zhe ke pingguo chi qilai hen hao chi ‘this apple tastes good’ disallow the Agent, and the Theme NP moves from the modification clause to the matrix subject position to meet the EPP feature. Eventive/deontic middle sentences like zhe jian gongguo Zhangsan zuo qilai hen renzhen ‘the job, Zhangsan does it seriously’, on the other hand, allow an Agent, and the Theme NP is assumed to be base-generated in situ. That is, the V-qilai in the Evaluative sentences is a raising modal, while the V-qilai in the Eventive sentences is assumed to be a control modal. The third issue concerns which types of verbs can enter into the V-qilai constructions. Similar to English middle constructions (Fagan, 1992), Chinese activity verbs and accomplishment verbs can enter into the V-qilai constructions. Lexically, qilai is unlikely to incorporate with the achievement verb complex like zhao-dao ‘find’ or xue-hui ‘acquire’ (cf. Sung, 1994). The semantic factor is related to the continuous or the inchoative sense of qilai; verbs with the continuous sense (activity verbs) or inchoative sense (accomplishment verbs) are more likely to enter into the V-qilai constructions.

摘要 i
Abstract iii
Acknowledgements v
List of Tables ix
Abbreviations x
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Theoretical Background 8
2.1. The generative framework 8
2.2. The argument structures of verbs 10
2.3. Middle voice and middle constructions 11
2.3.1. Movement analyses of middle constructions 14
2.3.2. Non-movement analyses of middle constructions 16
2.4. The Mandarin Chinese middle V-qilai constructions 17
2.5. Summary 19
Chapter 3 The Analysis of Mandarin Chinese Middle Constructions Revisited 21
3.1. The previous analyses of Mandarin Chinese V-qilai constructions 21
3.1.1. The grammaticalization of V-qilai 22
3.1.2. Puzzles of the middle V-qilai constructions 23
3.2. The analysis of the middle V-qilai constructions 33
3.2.1. V-qilai is not a main predicate 33
3.2.2. V-qilai as a modal 39
3.2.3. More supporting evidence for V-qilai as a modal 42
3.2.4. Modification predicates in V-qilai constructions 52
3.3. Summary 59
Chapter 4 Verbs in Mandarin Chinese Middle V-qilai Constructions 61
4.1. Verbs in English middle constructions 62
4.2. Verbs in Mandarin Chinese middle V-qilai constructions 65
4.3. Summary 70
Chapter 5 Conclusion 71
5.1. Conclusion 71
5.2. Residue issues 74
References 77

Ackema, P. and Schoorlemmer, M. (1994). The middle construction and the syntax-semantics interface. Lingua, 93, 59-90.
Ackema, P. and Schoorlemmer, M. (1995). Middles and nonmovement. Linguistic Inquiry, 26, 173-197.
Chang, S.-M. (1994). V-qi-lai Constructions in Mandarin Chinese: A study of their semantics and syntax (現代漢語「起來」的語意及句法研究). National Tsing Hua University MA dissertation.
Chomsky, N. (1988). Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris Publication.
Cao, H. (2004). On the restriction on verbs and adjectives in middle constructions and its motivation. Linguistic Sciences, 3(1), 11-28. [In Chinese]
Ernst, T. (2002). The syntax of adjuncts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fagan, S. M. B. (1988). The English middle. Linguistic Inquiry, 19(2), 181-203.
Fagan, S. M. B. (1992). The syntax and semantics of middle constructions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gao, Zhao-Ming, Huang Chu-Ren, and Tang Chih-Chen (1993) “On the Syntactic Structure of V-qilai Construction in Chinese.” In Proceedings of the Pacific Asia Conference on Formal and Computational Linguistics, pp. 107-121, Taipei.
Grimshaw, J. (1990). Argument structure. Cambridge: The MIT press.
Haegeman, L. (1994). Introduction to Government and Binding theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Hale, K. and Keyser, J. (1987). A view from the middle. Lexicon Project Working Papers, 10. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hale, K. and Keyser, S. J. (1988). Explaining and constraining the English middle. In C. Tenny (Ed.), Studies in generative approaches to aspect. Center for Cognitive Science, MIT Cambridge, MA.
He, B. (1992). Situation types and aspectual classes of verbs in Mandarin Chinese. The Ohio State University Ph. D. dissertation.
Huang, C.-T. J. (1988). Wo pao de kuai and Chinese phrase structure. Language, 46: 274-311.
Information Science and CKIP group, Academia Sinica. Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese (Ver. 4.0). Data retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.sinica.edu.tw/SinicaCorpus/
Jackendoff, R. (1972). Semantic interpretation in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Keyser, S. J. and Roeper, T. (1984). On the middle and ergative constructions in English. Linguistic Inquiry, 15(3), 381-416.
Larson, R. (1988). On the double object construction. Linguistic Inquiry, 19, 335-392.
Larson, R. (1991). Promise and the theory of control. Linguistic Inquiry, 22, 103-139.
Levin, B. (1987). The middle construction and ergativity. Lingua, 71, 17-31.
Levin, B. (1993). English verb classes and alternations: A preliminary investigation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Levin, B. and Rappaport Hovav, M. (1995). Unaccusativity: At the syntax-lexical semantics interface. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Li, A. C.-F. (1999). On Mandarin directional verbs qi-lai, xia-qu, and shang-lai: A reflection of grammaticalization (以漢語趨向動詞「起來」、「下去」、「上來」為例的語法化研究). National Chengchi University MA dissertation.
Li, C. and Thompson, S. (1981). Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Li, C. and Thompson, S. (1994). On ‘Middle Voice’ verbs in Mandarin. In B. Fox and P. Hopper (Eds). Voice: Form and function, 231-246. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Lin, J.-W. and Tang, C.-C. J. (1995). Modals as verbs in Chinese: A GB perspective. The Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, 66, 53-105.
Lin, L.-C. (1996). 'Nan-constructions' and 'Nan-compounds' in Chinese (漢語的「難字結構」與「難字複合詞」). National Tsing Hua University MA dissertation.
Liu, S.-M. (1995). Between tough and middle: on mandarin ronguyi, hao, and nan (論文中Tough-與Middle-結構句中的容易,好,與難). National Chengchi University MA dissertation.
Rapoport, T. R. (1999). The English middle and agentivity. Lingistic Inquiry, 30(1): 147-155.
Stroik, T. (1992). Middles and movement. Linguistic Inquiry, 23, 127-137.
Sung, K. (1994). Case assignment under incorporation. UCLA doctoral dissertation.
Tai, H.-Y. (1984). Verbs and times in Chinese: Vendler’s four categories. In D. Testen, V. Mishra, and J. Drogo (Eds.), Papers from the parasession on lexical semantics, pp. 289-296. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, University of Chicago.
Tang, T.-C. (2002). The causative-inchoative alternation in Chinese compound verbs. Language and Linguistics, 3(3), 615-644. [In Chinese]
Ting, J. (2006). The middle construction in Mandarin Chinese and the presyntactic approach. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics, 32(1), 89-117.
Tsai, W.-T. Dylan. (2001). On subject specificity and theory of syntax-semantics interface. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 10, 129-168.
Vendler, Z. (1967). Linguistic in philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Wang, Y.-Y. (2005). Aspect marker and light verb in Chinese directional. National Tsing Hua University MA dissertation.
Wang, Y.-Y. (2005). The multiplicity of the V-qi-lai construction. UST Working Papers in Linguistics, 1, 311-330.
Zribi-Hertz, A. (1993). On Stroik’s analysis of English middle constructions. Linguistic Inquiry, 24, 583-589.