On [V Dà NP] construction in Chinese: A nanosyntactic perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This study investigates the syntactic architecture of the Chinese [V dà NP] construction within a nanosyntactic framework. The [V NP] compounds correspond to verb-object separable compounds (离 合 词 líhécí), which permit morphological separation and lexical insertion between the verb and the noun. Through corpus-based analysis and syntactic diagnostics, we demonstrate that dà in [V dà NP] construction functions as a degree adverb—analogous to English heavily in construction like drink heavily—rather than a size-denoting adjective. Crucially, dà lexicalizes a synthetic feature inventory (e.g., [+quantity], [+severity]), whose specific interpretation is contextually activated by the semantic properties of the [V NP] compounds, with features in a substitutional rather than additive relation. Syntactically, adopting nanosyntactic principles, we propose that dà heads the DegP as its lexicalized functional head, where it overtly spells out scalar features associated with event-level intensification. This analysis aligns with economy constraints, as the verb raises directly to vP without requiring additional focus-driven movement.摘要:本文在纳米句法的框架下探讨了汉语中 [V 大 NP] 结构的构成。 [V 大 NP] 结构中的 [V NP] 属于动宾离合词，二者可以分开并在其间插 入其他词。本文通过从语料库中选取 [V 大 NP] 结构并分析 [大] 的 性质，认为 [大] 是一个表示程度的副词，类似于英语中的 heavily (如，drink heavily) 的成分，并非是表示大小的形容词。我们认为 [大] 携带的特征形成了一个特征库，由于 [V NP] 复合词的不同解读，这 些特征处于一种替代而非叠加的关系。在句法上，本文遵循纳米句法 的原则，将 [大] 视为 DegP 的功能中心语，显性拼出与事件层级强化 相关的标量特征。该分析使得动词直接提升到 vP，无需额外的焦点驱 动移位，符合经济性原则。