Cao, Huacheng;
(2025)
Derivational economy in composite probing: the case of the lian...dou construction in Mandarin Chinese.
Journal of East Asian Linguistics
10.1007/s10831-025-09310-7.
(In press).
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Abstract
Since van Urk (2015), composite [A/Ā] probes have been widely adopted for movements that exhibit both A- and Ā-properties. However, the interaction between the [A] and [Ā] features in composite probes is still poorly understood, particularly regarding which feature acts as the movement trigger. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the lian...dou construction in Mandarin Chinese. Although movements in the lian...dou construction are motivated by the same focus interpretation, DP foci undergo A-movement whereas VP and CP foci undergo Ā-movement. I argue that this state of affairs follows from the composite [A/Ā] probe involved in the lian...dou construction and its interaction with principles of economy. VP and CP foci agree with the [A/Ā] probe only in the [Ā] feature, resulting in Ā-movement of these foci. By contrast, DP foci are fully matching goals. When both types of movement are possible for DP foci, an explicit economy calculus implies that A-movement is a more economical derivation than Ā-movement. Consequently, while DP foci undergo A-movement due to economy, only Ā-movement is available for VP/ CP foci.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Derivational economy in composite probing: the case of the lian...dou construction in Mandarin Chinese |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10831-025-09310-7 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-025-09310-7 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | The lian...dou construction; Mandarin Chinese; Focus movement; The A/Ā distinction; Composite probes; Economy |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10213425 |
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