earticle

영어

This paper investigates the syntax of Pseudo-Sluicing and Pseudo- Fragmenting in Chinese. Pseudo-Sluicing is, as is well known, a name of syntactic operation whereby a question clause goes missing except for one question phrase within it that occurs together with the copula shi, In the dialogue between speaker A and B, the sentences spoken by B involves the embedded question and the matrix question, but the question clause is formed by one question phrase. We submit that these fragmentary question clauses are analyzed on a par with their counterpart ones in English. We assume following Chung et al. (1995) that the embedded question clause in (3B) and the matrix question clause in (4B) are derived via the deletion of TP after the surviving/remnant question phrase has moved out of the TP to be deleted. Chinese embedded Pseudo-Sluicing does not require ‘surface', but ‘deep' or LF identity between the subject cleft clause and the question phrase-survivor of the ‘pseudo-sluiced' clause, depending on what enters into labeling/projection (cf. Chomsky (2013)). We suggest that, just like the copula in Korean, the copula shi in Chinese marks equative/specificational relation between the subject cleft clause and the question phrase-survivor of the ‘pseudo-sluiced' clause (cf. Huang 1988). If equative/specificational relation holds, shi is licensed between them. Otherwise, it is not. It is instructive to note that unlike typical non-inferential Cleft in English, Chinese shi ... (de) Cleft does not demarcate what is presupposed and what is focused.