A Syntactic Restructuring Analysis for a Class of Pseudo-Noun Incorporated Bare Noun Structures in Cantonese

Abstract

I propose a novel structural characterisation for a class of bare nouns in Cantonese. In the Chinese linguistic tradition, these nouns are considered nominal complements of Verb-Object Separable Compounds and Light Verb Constructions (LVCs). I show that these bare nouns are structurally truncated nPs, and do not project a numeral phrase (#P) nor a division phrase (DivP, i.e. Borer, 2005). I argue that this structural truncation analysis accounts for the bare nouns' structural and Pseudo-Noun Incorporation (PNI) semantic properties. In the broader analysis, I show that the PNI effects of these bare nouns are directly caused by their truncated structure. I propose a novel formalisation which predicts the connection between the truncated nominal structure and PNI, by using a syntactic restructuring approach to explaining the phenomena. I extend Wurmbrand and Lohninger (2019)'s Implicational Complementation Hierarchy model for restructured clausal complements to the nominal domain, ultimately arguing that the bare noun phenomena is too, restructuring. The present analysis contributes novel insight and an alternative formal approach to understanding Separable Compounds and LVCs, which attributes their properties to a truncated nominal. Additionally, the thesis proposes an alternative explanation to some PNI phenomena, which I argue necessarily stems from a truncated nominal syntax. Finally, the overarching novel claim of the thesis is that restructuring is not limited to clausal phenomena. I adopt Wurmbrand and Lohninger (2019)'s free merge and interface modulation approach to restructuring, which predicts restructuring beyond subordinate clauses. As the current analysis assumes free merge, it makes broader predictions about how the syntax principally combines.