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Aspectual selection and negation in Mandarin Chinese

Aspectual selection and negation in Mandarin Chinese This paper argues that the distributions of bu `not' and mei `not' in Mandarin Chinese can be accounted for in terms of their aspectual selections. I propose that while mei aspectually selects an event as its complement, bu aspectually selects as its complement a stative situation that requires no input of energy in order to obtain that situation. I show that this approach to the distributions of bu and mei better accounts for the data than previous analyses such as Huang (1988), Ernst (1995), and Lee and Pan (2001). 1. Introduction Bu `not' and mei `not', both translated as English not, are the two most frequently used negation markers in Mandarin Chinese. Although they sometimes may appear in the same linguistic contexts, they are mostly in complementary distribution. (1) and (2) are two sets of examples that illustrate their basic usages. (1) a. Ta bu qu shangxue he not go school `He does not want to go to school./He will not go to school.' b. Ta mei qu shangxue he not go school `He did not go to school.' c. Wo bu chou yan I not smoke cigarette. `I don't smoke.' d. Wo mei chou yan I not http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Linguistics - An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences de Gruyter

Aspectual selection and negation in Mandarin Chinese

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References (40)

Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
ISSN
0024-3949
eISSN
1613-396X
DOI
10.1515/ling.2003.015
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper argues that the distributions of bu `not' and mei `not' in Mandarin Chinese can be accounted for in terms of their aspectual selections. I propose that while mei aspectually selects an event as its complement, bu aspectually selects as its complement a stative situation that requires no input of energy in order to obtain that situation. I show that this approach to the distributions of bu and mei better accounts for the data than previous analyses such as Huang (1988), Ernst (1995), and Lee and Pan (2001). 1. Introduction Bu `not' and mei `not', both translated as English not, are the two most frequently used negation markers in Mandarin Chinese. Although they sometimes may appear in the same linguistic contexts, they are mostly in complementary distribution. (1) and (2) are two sets of examples that illustrate their basic usages. (1) a. Ta bu qu shangxue he not go school `He does not want to go to school./He will not go to school.' b. Ta mei qu shangxue he not go school `He did not go to school.' c. Wo bu chou yan I not smoke cigarette. `I don't smoke.' d. Wo mei chou yan I not

Journal

Linguistics - An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciencesde Gruyter

Published: Mar 4, 2003

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