Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai | National Tsing Hua University (original) (raw)

Papers by Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai

Linguistik aktuell, Apr 15, 2022

Why is ‘Why’ Unique?, 2021

This chapter investigates the syntax and semantics of nanak in Squliq Atayal in a cross-linguisti... more This chapter investigates the syntax and semantics of nanak in Squliq Atayal in a cross-linguistic context. When construed as an adverbial, nanak very often gets a focus reading, akin to only in English, and its distribution is relatively free. By contrast, when attached to an argument, nanak has a much restricted distribution, and its reading is distinctively reflexive. Interestingly enough, there is also a gray area in between the two construals, where nanak serves as an adverbial with a variety of reflexive readings. Our inquiry is thus twofold: The first part is to deal with the issue whether there is a conceptual connection between only and self, especially in view of a strong resemblance from Mandarin ziji “self.” The other part is to find an interpretive procedure which can capture the common properties shared by nanak and ziji. In this chapter, we propose to build upon the classic analysis of focus construals (cf. Horn 1969; Rooth 1985), characterizing reflexive adverbials a...

Evidence from Chinese Wh-questions strongly suggests that LF locality is a matter of referentiali... more Evidence from Chinese Wh-questions strongly suggests that LF locality is a matter of referentiality and nominality, while locality in overt syntax involves the requirement of head government. This observation echoes the SVLIT ECP approach of WAHL (1987). Specifically, Chinese arguments and referential adjuncts (when, where, instrumental how and purpose why) contrast with nonreferential adjuncts (manner how and reason why) in allowing wide-scope construals out of islands in LF. Overt Wh-fronting, on the other hand, displays an argument/adjunct asymmetry. This paper proposes to deal with the LF asymmetry within the Generalized Binding framework, in association with the referentiatlnoureferential distinction among Wh-etements. With the ECP reduced to the OENERALlZED BINmN(~ VmNCIVLES (GBPs), it further argues for a type of locality employing the notion of CHECKPOINTS instead of BARRIERS, according to which the [N] feature is checked along with the [WH] feature through Comp-indexing. Co...

Gengo Kenkyu: Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan, 2003

This paper seeks to further substantiate Chomsky's (2000) claim that Merge preempts Move. Previou... more This paper seeks to further substantiate Chomsky's (2000) claim that Merge preempts Move. Previous studies have shown that the claim has a great impact on our understanding of A'-dependencies, in that an operator-variable pair must be built before any movement takes place, as encoded by the Lexical Courtesy Hypothesis (Tsai 1999a,b). Crucially, it provides a coherent account of why English, Japanese, and Chinese all employ the (unselective) binding strategy to form whquestions, while differing in the magnitude of binding according to their distinct morpho-syntactic makeups, that is, lexical in English, phrasal in Japanese, and sentential in Chinese. On the empirical front, the proposal crucially relies upon a correlation between indefinite and interrogative wh-construals allowed in a particular language. Based on data from two Formosan languages, Tsou and Seediq, I argue that the correlation is indeed attested in VOS languages, and that Lexical Courtesy can be maintained cross-linguistically if we allow unselective binding as the optimal strategy of assigning wide scope to wh's-in-situ.

Beyond Functional Sequence, 2015

This paper offers a comprehensive cartographic account of the modality spectrum in Chinese. It be... more This paper offers a comprehensive cartographic account of the modality spectrum in Chinese. It becomes clear from our study that the complicated relation between modals and modality calls for a more articulated theory of the organization of functional projections: More specifically, epistemic modals occupy the complementizer layer, deontic modals the inflectional layer, and dynamic modals the lexical layer. Moreover, we provides an explanation of certain cases of actuality entailments in Chinese modals from a typological point of view, in that Chinese develops a more "analytic" strategy to represent the scope relation between modals and other sentential operators, i.e., by merging an operator where it should be.

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2021

The Journal of Chinese Language, Literature and Translation, 2021

This dissertation aims to derive linguistic variations of wh-question and syntactic asymmetries a... more This dissertation aims to derive linguistic variations of wh-question and syntactic asymmetries among wh-expressions from a fairly restricted set of factors under the minimalist approach: 1) binary vs. singulary substitution (i.e., Generalized Transformation vs. Chain formation), 2) noun vs. adverb, and 3) weak vs. strong operator features. Correlations have been established between wh-question formation and quantification in terms of the structural height of binders, as well as the magnitude of unselective binding. Chinese, English, Hindi, and Japanese are examined to give a selective but representative spectrum of this correlationship. On empirical grounds, we demonstrate that unselective binding and (A'-)Chain formation are different breeds of construal. It is shown that the asymmetries between unselective binding and long wh-movement in general reflect the distinction between binary and singulary substitution. Our second goal is to relate the (in)definiteness/specificity of nominals to their structural properties. By extending Diesing's (1992) mapping hypothesis, we present a fairly explicit mechanism of mapping syntactic representations to their corresponding logical forms, centering on the notion of syntactic predicate. This move provides us a simple and optimal way to characterize the interaction between predication and quantification. Existential closure is also shown to observe the Greed principle if understood properly, i.e., as an interpretation procedure rather than a syntactic operation. We also explore the possibility of eliminating the lowering mechanism in favor of the copy theory, and initiate an attempt to reduce the stage-individual asymmetries to the distinction between degree and individual variables in the sense of Helm (1987) and Frampton (1990).

Language and Linguistics / 語言暨語言學, 2020

From looking into the same and different properties of how and why between Taiwan Southern Min an... more From looking into the same and different properties of how and why between Taiwan Southern Min and Mandarin Chinese, this paper aims to explain the post-verbal how construction with negative speaker attitude. Based on our observations and findings of the specific usages of sī and leh, we propose an analysis for the construction in question. According to our analysis, this construction is not a simple product of a single element, but a composition of sī and leh, which together generate the negative speaker attitude, and the verb with a post-verbal how, which produce a causal how reading.

The Journal of Chinese Language, Literature and Translation, 2019

Lingua Sinica, 2018

This paper examines a cluster of phenomena in Mandarin Chinese, which may collectively be charact... more This paper examines a cluster of phenomena in Mandarin Chinese, which may collectively be characterized as "affective constructions". Based on the diversified and sometimes hybrid nature of these affective construals, we argue that the usual dichotomy between high and low applicatives is not enough to capture their syntactic and semantic idiosyncrasies. We will need a more elaborate theory to map out the topography of applicatives under the cartographic approach. It is shown that Chinese affectives have an unusual distribution extending far beyond the boundary of the vP phase, which in turn argues for an independent applicative projection in the left periphery, presumably associated with speaker-orientedness and a presupposition of unexpectedness.

The Cartography of Chinese Syntax, 2015

Preface Chapter 1 A Tale of Two Peripheries: Evidence from Chinese Adverbials, Light Verbs, Appli... more Preface Chapter 1 A Tale of Two Peripheries: Evidence from Chinese Adverbials, Light Verbs, Applicatives and Object Fronting Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai Chapter 2 The even-construction and the Low Periphery in Mandarin Chinese Linda Badan & Francesca Del Gobbo Chapter 3 On the Fine Structure of the Left Periphery: The positions of Topic and Focus in Cantonese Candice Chi-Hang Cheung Chapter 4 Adjunct Wh-Words in Left Periphery Sze-Wing Tang Chapter 5 Locating Wh-Intervention Effects at CP Barry Chung-Yu Yang Chapter 6 The Left Peripheral Renjia and Layers of CP in Chinese Chen-Sheng Luther Liu Chapter 7 The Fine structure of Spatial PPs in Mandarin Chinese Hsiao-Hung Iris Wu Index

Studies in Chinese Linguistics, 2015

As far as the left periphery is concerned, there is a conspiracy between syntax, semantics, and p... more As far as the left periphery is concerned, there is a conspiracy between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics to ensure the success of sentence formation. We would like to put forth the claim that peripheral features play an important role in this endeavor, which can be checked by either Merge or Move according to the parameter-settings of individual languages. Along this line, topic prominence can be regarded as the result of peripheral feature checking, and the null topic hypothesis à la Huang (1984) is reinvented as a null operator merger to fulfill interface economy in the left periphery. In this regard, Chinese provides substantial evidence from obligatory topicalization in outer affectives, evaluatives, and refutory

Oceanic Linguistics, 2007

This paper discusses the issue of how coordinate structures evolve into subordinate structures in... more This paper discusses the issue of how coordinate structures evolve into subordinate structures in both syntactic and semantic terms. I call this type of process "conjunctive reduction." It is well established in the literature on Chinese historical syntax that some modi²er-head and verb-complement compounds actually derive from coordinate structures in Ancient Chinese. Based on this ²nding, I suggest that a similar process is also at work in Formosan languages, but on a quite different scale. That is, while Chinese encodes conjunctive reduction in compounding morphology, the same process involves full-³edged syntactic operations in Formosan languages. I propose that there are two general directions of conjunctive reduction. On the one hand, the coordinator may become a modi²er marker, where the ²rst conjunct becomes a marked adverbial; then the modi²er marker may disappear completely, making the ²rst conjunct an unmarked adverbial. I call this "adverbialization." On the other hand, the coordinator may become a complementizer, introducing either an in²nitive complement or an adverbial adjunct such as a conditional or temporal clause. I take Squliq Atayal, Tsou, and Amis to represent the Northern, Tsouic, and Paiwanic groups respectively, which in turn points to the existence of a protolanguage with extensive coordinate construals along the line of Neo-Davidsonian semantics, very much like Ancient Chinese.

Lingua, 2008

In this paper, we relate the so-called incompleteness effects observed in Chinese to a failure of... more In this paper, we relate the so-called incompleteness effects observed in Chinese to a failure of anchoring tense, i.e., to guarantee a proper temporal reference of a given sentence through syntactic measures. Based on an insight from S. Huang's (2005) plurality analysis of eventuality predicates, we propose to analyze tense anchoring as a process of spelling out an underlying event argument by a variety of morpho-syntactic means. This process may involve event coordination, event subordination, event modification, event quantification, or verb raising to v/T. Furthermore, a three-layered analysis of aspectual projections is adopted to account for a disparity between syntactic and semantic groupings of Chinese aspects, in that syntax and semantics may indeed have different agendas towards securing a temporal reference in grammatical terms. As a result, a unified account can be provided for the incompleteness effects typically associated with middle and inner aspects.