The Interpretation of null subjects in a radical pro-drop language: topic chains and discourse-semantic requirements in Chinese

根 據 在 線 調 查 收 集 到 的 原 始 數 據，本文章證明了漢語空主語的解釋依賴於 Frascarelli (2007, 2018) 的話題準則 (Topic Criterion)，由此空主語參數意味著解釋的信息 -結構策略。然而，激進空主語語言 (radical pro-drop languages) 表現出對明顯與局部話題的高度選擇性。本選擇性被歸因於最小顯性鏈接 (minimal overt link) 的語法和語音的界面條件。此外，本研究還分析了狀語從句的結構差異。條件與時間從句有非限定性關係從句的屬性，但是讓步從句是在補語語域 (C-domain) 內合併的從句，或在分裂屈折語 (split-TP) 內合併的從句。有關分歧歸因於算子的存在，同時因為它們的設定參照系功能 (frame-setters)，狀語從句在主句之前。Based on original data collected through an online experiment, evidence is provided in this paper that the interpretation of null subjects in a radical pro-drop language like Chinese relies on the topic criterion proposed for consistent and partial prodrop languages (Frascarelli 2007 and Frascarelli 2018), thereby supporting the theory that the null subject parameter implies an information-structural strategy for interpretation. Nevertheless, radical Chinese shows specificities that must be integrated in this theory for a comprehensive account. In particular, even though silent topic can start chains (consistent with the topic criterion), data show a significant preference for overt and local topics as antecedents. This locality requirement thus integrates phonological visibility in a general syntactic condition (minimal overt link condition), proposing an interesting parallel with the properties shown by partial pro-drop languages (Frascarelli and Jimenez-Fernandez in press). The present investigation also contributes to outline the structural differences existing between adverbial clauses in Chinese, supporting a distinction between central and peripheral adverbial clauses (Haegeman 2012). Specifically, while temporal and conditional clauses show the properties of nonrestrictive relative clauses, this is not the case for concessive clauses, which merged as subordinate clauses in either the C-domain or the high split-TP area. Differences between temporal and conditional clauses are attributed to the presence of an overt operator in the latter, and the pre-matrix position of adverbial clauses is explained in the light of their discourse role as frame-setters (Krifka 2007)