Readers 读者
Where to locate Mandarin localizers?
汉语里的方位成分应该放在什么位置？
Chao Li 李朝
Abstract 摘要
The paper shows that neither monosyllabic localizers nor disyllabic localizers in Mandarin are postpositions. More importantly, it argues that, contra pre-vious uniform treatments of monosyllabic localizers as postpositions, clitics, or deviates of nouns, monosyllabic localizers in Mandarin in fact serve dif-ferent functions in different contexts or constructions. Specifically, they can be used as a noun in at least a few limited contexts, as a root in a polymor-phemic word, and as a clitic when attached to a full-fledged NP. The paper shows that disyllabic localizers serve similar functions though, unlike mono-syllabic localizers, they can be used as regular nouns. The paper thus demon-strates that localizers, whether monosyllabic or disyllabic, can all be ana-lyzed with crosslinguistic notions like “noun,” “root,” and “clitic.” When monosyllabic and disyllabic localizers are used as nouns, they function as independent words. When they are a component of a polymorphemic word, they serve as a nominal root. When they function as a clitic, they are also nominal in nature.
Subject Keywords 主题词
Localizer 方位成分 Mandarin Chinese 汉语 Clitic 附着形式 Postposition 后置词 Noun 名词
Journal of Chinese Linguistics vol.47, no.2 (June 2019): 345-370
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