| The study of the relative construction has long been one of the major topics in Generative Grammar. Linguists are mainly concerned with its derivation and interpretation, with the latter chiefly based on the restrictive/appositive distinction. However, great discrepancies exist in opinion on both problems. Hoping to shed light on them, the author of this thesis does some research into the derivation and classification of Chinese relative constructions.We first provide a comparison between two prevailing approaches to relative constructions-the Raising Analysis and the Matching Analysis. Then based on the distribution of Chinese relatives, we conclude that the latter approach suits the language better. That is, relative constructions in Chinese have an adjunction structure. Following this, we take into consideration the derivation of the three types of relative constructions-argument relative construction, adjunct relative construction and 'floppy relative construction'. We demonstrate that they all involve an empty operator to license the relativized constituent. As the relativization process is sensitive to island constraints and a resumptive element may rescue the construction, an illusion mat resumption as a means of last resort might exist. We dispel this illusion by a thourough investigation of the distribution of resumptive elements which suggests that two different ways of deriving relative constructions-the one that takes the operator to be base-generated and the other that takes it to be raised at LF-are actually involved.Following on, we come to the classification of relatives. We find that Chinese left-peripheral relatives are appositives under normal stress and are restrictives under comparative stress; while those non-peripheral ones are restrictives. To support our claim, we first apply a set of widely accepted tests and then consider the interpretation of constructions containing them. |
