A note on Mandarin Chinese wordhood

This study investigates the structural differences between the so-called de -modification, [Adj de N], and the so-called de -less modification, [Adj N], in Mandarin Chinese. I argue that the Adj’s followed by de are phrasal and have freer syntactic distribution. I further argue that the de -less modification should be analyzed as a morphosyntactic word (MWd) under the N head in the sense of Embick — Noyer (2001). This proposal accounts for the ordering fact that Adj’s with de cannot intervene between a de -less Adj and N or between two de -less Adj’s