36.2015, Books: Topics, Topic Chains, and Null Subjects Interpretation in Mandarin Chinese: Casentini (2024)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2015. Tue Jul 01 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2015, Books: Topics, Topic Chains, and Null Subjects Interpretation in Mandarin Chinese: Casentini (2024)

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================================================================


Date: 29-Jun-2025
From: Ulrich Lueders [contact at lincom.eu]
Subject: Topics, Topic Chains, and Null Subjects Interpretation in Mandarin Chinese: Casentini (2024)


Title: Topics, Topic Chains, and Null Subjects Interpretation in
Mandarin Chinese
Subtitle:
https://lincom-shop.eu/epages/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666f88085d.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d/Products/%22ISBN%209783969392072%22
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Chinese Linguistics 15
Publication Year: 2024

Publisher: Lincom GmbH
           https://lincom-shop.eu/
Book URL:
https://lincom-shop.eu/epages/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d/Products/%22ISBN%209783969392072%22

Author(s): Marco Casentini

17x24 cm. ISBN 9783969392072. LINCOM Studies in Chinese Linguistics
15. 93pp. Euro 69.80.

Abstract:

The present analysis builds upon and extends proposals from recent
research regarding the interpretation of null subjects (NSs) in
consistent and partial NS languages. These proposals suggest that the
interpretation of a NS depends on its connection to a specific type of
Topic, notably the Aboutness-Shift Topic (A-Topic), which initiates a
Topic chain (cf. Frascarelli 2007). The investigation seeks to
determine: (i) whether NSs in Chinese are interpreted within a topical
chain headed by an A-Topic, and (ii) if different types of Topics
occupy distinct positions in the left periphery of sentences and
exhibit specific prosodic features, despite the tonal nature of
Chinese. This work will present an analysis demonstrating the
necessity of distinguishing between Aboutness-Shift, Contrastive, and
Given Topics in Chinese, based on a prosodic and contextual
examination of 852 tokens obtained from an oral production experiment
specifically designed for this study, in addition to data from the
analysis of two unscripted interviews. The collected data will also be
analyzed to establish the existence of a Topic hierarchy in Chinese.
Additionally, the data will demonstrate that even in a radical NS
language like Mandarin Chinese, NSs rely on a linking relation with
the A-Topic heading a Topic chain.

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Chinese (zho)

Written In: English (eng)



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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2015
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