也谈汉语不及物动词带“宾语”现象——兼论信息结构对汉语语序的影响

On the phenomenon of intransitive verbs taking objects:The influence of information structure on word order in Mandarin

本文讨论汉语中两类所谓的不及物动词带"宾语"现象的差异。本文认为"非作格计数句"等结构的存在并不能证明非宾格动词和非作格动词的论元结构相同。虽然两类不及物动词带"宾语"现象都涉及到信息结构对语序的影响,必须满足信息和谐条件,但是它们带"宾语"的情况存在重要差异:(1)真正的表层非宾格结构不允许非作格动词出现;(2)当其唯一论元是非数量形式且后置时,非作格动词的论元必须是对比焦点,而非宾格动词只需是信息焦点;(3)非宾格动词带宾语在一定条件下可以允许隐性话题,而非作格动词必须提供显性话题。

This paper discusses the differences between two types of object-taking intransitive constructions in Mandarin.It points out that constructions such as quantity-counting sentences cannot be used as evidence for the claim that unaccusative and unergative verbs share the same argument structure.Although both can take a so-called object and are subject to the influence of information structure and must observe the information harmony constraint,the two types of verbs exhibit the following important differences:(a) only unaccusative verbs show surface unaccusativity;(b) when it is not a numeral NP,the so-called object in the unergative construction must employ a contrastive focus,though that in the unaccusative construction only needs to use an information focus,to satisfy the topic licensing condition;and (c) the unaccusative construction can license a covert topic while the unergative construction must have an overt one.