A study on the influence of Chinese passives on center transitions in discourse

This article argues that the agent position of bei must be occupied by a syntactic entity-overt or covert-by examining the backward-looking centers (Cb) and center transitions in Chinese discourse segments containing bei-utterances using Centering Theory. We show that discourse segments with overt or zero objects of bei all prefer center continuation, that both types of objects can function as the backward center so as to maintain discourse coherence, and that they both can function as the antecedent of a pronoun in the subsequent clause. Their difference lies only in the fact that an overt object of bei may provide a possible Cb for the following utterance, while the role of a zero object is only to maintain center continuation, hence keep the fluency of the information flow in question. With this data analysis, we aim to support the traditional 'Ellipsis Approach' regarding long and short passives, namely that both long and short passives have the same syntactic structure-with a syntactic bei object, and their difference only lies in their different roles in discourse. © The Author(s) 2014.