Apparent Subject-object inversion in Chinese

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the problem of argument-function mismatch\r\nobserved in the (apparent) subject-object inversion in Chinese consumption\r\nverbs, e.g., chi ‘eat’ and he ‘drink’, and accommodation verbs, e.g., zhu ‘live’\r\nand shui ‘sleep’. These verbs seem to allow the linking of <agent-SUBJ theme-\r\nOBJ> as well as <agent-OBJ theme-SUBJ>, but only when the agent is also the\r\nsemantic role denoting the measure or extent of the action. The account offered\r\nis formulated within LFG’s lexical mapping theory. Under the simplest and also\r\nthe strictest interpretation of the argument-function mapping principle (or the θ-\r\nCriterion), a composite role such as ag-ext receives syntactic assignment via one\r\ncomposing role only; the second composing role must be suppressed. Apparent\r\nsubject-object inversion occurs when in the competition between the two\r\ncomposing roles, ag-ext, the agent loses out and is suppressed. This account also\r\nfacilitates a natural explanation of markedness among the competing syntactic\r\nstructures.