Modern Chinese existential sentences

Author: Wu Xuyao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: This book is the doctoral dissertation of Mr. Wu Xuyao. Except for the introduction, the book consists of six chapters.
Chapter 1 discusses the scope and classification of existential sentences. In terms of scope, three issues are addressed: first, the syntactic and semantic features of existential sentences; second, excluding sentences where the verb has strong agency; third, excluding existential structures that lack independence.
Chapter 2 examines the quantificational features of existential sentences. This chapter primarily investigates the quantitative features related to nominal elements in existential sentences.
Chapter 3 examines the reference features of existential sentences. This chapter primarily investigates the reference features related to nominal elements in existential sentences.
Chapter 4 examines the tense features of existential sentences.
Chapter 5 examines the modality features of existential sentences.
Chapter 6 examines the textual features of existential sentences. This chapter first compares existential sentences with related sentence patterns. From the perspective of word order, the word order of Chinese existential sentences reflects the features of ergative languages. Existential sentences treat the object of transitive verbs and the subject of intransitive verbs in the same way, which facilitates the transmission of new information. Therefore, speakers often use existential sentences to introduce a new object into the text. Additionally, this chapter situates existential sentences within the context and examines their textual function.