The Left Periphery of Nominal Expressions: Perspective Phrase in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract

Mandarin Chinese utilizes the morpheme qian `front` in the [qian + Num + Cl + N] sequence (henceforth the qian phrase) to express the counterpart of the English phrase the first three prime ministers. The qian phrase is a deictic expression which may assume two different readings expressing `absolute` and `relative` points of view. I therefore argue that qian possesses a [Perspective] feature which introduces a Point-of-View variable (henceforth POV), which may be bound by the speaker or by an internal protagonist. If the POV variable is bound by the speaker, it results in a relative reading; if it is bound by an internal protagonist, it returns an absolute reading. This analysis suggests that nominal phrases are parallel to clauses in having a syntactic projection with pragmatically relevant features (i.e. the Perspective Phrase).