This event is part of the Center for East Asian Studies CHINA BROWN BAG SERIES
Modern Chinese is known for (a) its extensive use of light verbs and complex predicates, (b) the general lack of simplex telic predicates (c) the requirement of nominal classifiers, (d) non-existence of wh-movement, (e) non-existence of negative quantifiers (e.g., nobody), (f) the "Kaynean word order" par excellence (i.e., Subject-Adjunct-Verb-Complement), and so on. Old Chinese, however, typically lacked these properties. It is argued that these properties cluster because they are manifestations of a general typological property of high analyticity, whereas their absence reflects significant synthesis. Thus the development of Modern Chinese from Old Chinese is one of analyticization. A number of constructions in Modern Chinese (e.g., classifiers, unaccusative sentences, resultatives, passives, wh-in-situ) will be discussed and their development from Old Chinese shown to provide good examples of linguistic change as grammar change.
The speaker C.-T. James Huang primarily researches natural language syntax and the relationship between syntax and semantics. Professor Huang is also interested in theoretical approaches to the study of Chinese languages, and more broadly in parametric approaches to comparative grammar with a special focus on East Asian languages. His published works include "Logophoricity, Attitudes and ziji at the Interface," in Peter Cole, et al. (eds.), Long Distance Reflexives, Syntax and Semantics, and "The Distribution of Negative NPs and Some Typological Correlates," in Andrew Simpson et al (eds.) Functional Structure(s), Form and Interpretation.