PRO In Mandarin Chinese

This paper is dedicated to the study of the distribution and interpretation of PRO in Mandarin Chinese, in other words, the study of control facts in Mandarin Chinese. Specifically, we will mainly focus on three questions:(1) a criterion for distinguishing finite vs. nonfinite distinction in Chinese; (2) the distribution of PRO, or different control catagories in Mandarin Chinese; (3) a mechanism for controller choice in Mandarin Chinese.PRO occurs in the subject position of infinitive clauses. Therefore, whether there is finite and nonfinite distinction in Chinese is the key issue concerning the existence of PRO in Mandarin Chinese. This paper argues that though Chinese does not possess morphological marking to distinguish finiteness from nonfiniteness, we can still distinguish finiteness from nonfiniteness by using lexical devices. According to Xing (1990) and Li (2005), this paper puts forward a criterion to indicate the finite and nonfinite distinction. The criterion assumes that if a verb or a clause can be modified by the following three time adverbials:yijing(yi) "already", jiangyao (jiang) "will" and zhengzai (zheng) "in process of" (zhengzai is an optional element), it is a finite verb or clause; otherwise the verb or clause is a nonfinite verb or clause. In accordance with the above criterion, the finite and nonfinite distinction exists in four Chinese constructions which we call bi-constituent construction, serial verb construction, auxiliary verbal construction and gerundial construction. The empty category PRO occurs in the subject position of the nonfinite clauses.In order to better understand and probe into the distribution and interpretation of PRO in Mandarin Chinese, in this paper we shall investigate Chinese control facts typologically and categorize the control in Mandarin Chinese into two general categories:Obligatory Control(OC) and Nonobligatory Control (NOC). The OC category is shown to consist of two subtypes, Exhaustive Control (EC) and Partial control (PC) while the NOC category consists of Arbitrary Control, Super-Equi and implicit control. EC vs. PC distinction, and the facts of implicit control, Super-Equi and control shift can be observed in Mandarin Chinese. This paper also shows some peculiar control facts in Chinese. The verbs like dailing "lead" and lianhe "unite" allow split control because their lexical properties, and it is the same case with the words like gen "with" he "and" and sui "follow". Besides, in this paper, the tense hypothesis is introduced. By studying the bi-constituent construction, we hold that the nonfinite clauses possess [±tense] feature. Since only the features [+tense,-finite] can check the null case, this paper holds that only the infinitives with the [+tense,-finite] feature can be called control constructions.After analyzing the distribution and interpretation of PRO in the above four Chinese constructions, this paper puts forward a mechanism for the controller choice, which is based on Generalized Control Rule (GCR), Closeness Condition and Compatibility Condition:PRO in Mandarin Chinese always takes the closest and compatible NP as its controller whether it has a control domain or not.