Distribution of ziji

[Tibor Kiss]

Hi,

I have some questions concerning Chinese reflexive ziji:

Tang (1989) claims that ziji has to be interpreted as an intensifier if
it is (apparently) realized in subject position, as illustrated in (1).

(1) Ziji mai cai.
    self buy food

So if Zhangsan says (1), this apparently cannot mean that Zhangsan will
buy food. (Tang assumes that ziji does not occupy the subject position
but is adjoined to the empty (dropped) subject of the clause.)

I was not able to find further discussion on ziji in subject position
and would be happy to an answer to the following question: can ziji be
logophorically used in subject position (similar, e.g. to Portuguese ele
próprio)?

A related question: It is well-known that ziji can be related to an
experiencer object if it is contained in a theme-subject, as illustrated
in (2).

(2) [Ziji de xiaohai mei de jiang de xiaoxi] shi Lisi hen nanguo.
     self DE child   not get price DE news   make L.  very sad
    'The news that his child will not get the price makes Lisi very
sad.'

Three questions:

1) Is it also possible to discourse-relate ziji in (2) instead of
coindexing it with Lisi, or do we have to use 'ta' instead?

2) Can ziji in general be realized inside subject position in Chinese,
e.g. in a translation of 'His wife is nice.'?

3) Huang/Tang (1991) claim that ziji contained in theme-subjects can
even be coindexed with the experiencer object if it is a-commanded
inside the theme, as in (3).

(3) [Zhangsan taoyan ziji de xiaoxi] shi Lisi hen nanguo.
     Zhangsan dislike self/him DE news   make Lisi very sad.

Is (3) actually grammatical with a coindexing of ziji and Lisi?

Thanks for your answers.

Best

T.

=============================================================
Prof. Dr. Tibor Kiss -- Sprachwissenschaftliches Institut
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum
+49-234-3225114 // +49-177-7468265 // +49-234-3214137 (fax)
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