論信息結構對漢語語序的影響

This paper discusses the differences between two types of object-taking intransitive verbs in Mandarin. We find that “number counting” sentences are not the only sentence type that allows an inverted subject, and sentences expressing distribution and invoking a contrast also allow such an inversion, and transitive verbs and ditransitive verbs can also appear in the relevant sentences. We think that the phenomenon of unaccusative verbs taking objects is determined by argument structure, whereas that of unergative verbs taking “objects” reflects the influence of information structure. The two types of phenomena belong to different levels of syntactic structures, with fundamental differences. Subject focus inversion is a typical word order change induced by information structure. Such an inversion must satisfy the “set-member/subset” condition, with the inverted subject carrying new information as realized by a numeral NP or a contrastive NP.