也谈汉语名词短语的内部结构

Revisiting the internal structure of Chinese noun phrases

关于汉语名词短语的内部结构,目前广为流行的分析是前核心。本文考察了"们"的含混复数语义和附着语素的特性、以及名词的修饰语和宾语的线性位置,提出后核心结构能够更准确地处理相关语料,也与汉语的表面事实更加吻合。本文认为,以当前对语言的有限了解,还不足以让理论界频繁地追求大规模的理论简化。研究的重心,仍旧应该放在对局部现象的精确描述和分析之上。

A widely accepted analysis of the Chinese nominal phrase is a uniform head-initial structure.Based on the semantic and morphological properties of the plural marker-men(们) as well as the linear locations of modifiers and objects inside the nominal phrase,this article defends an alternative and more 'fact-friendly' head-final structure.It is also argued that our limited knowledge of language at the moment favors concentration on accurate documentation and analyses of well-identified local facts.Theory-optimization should be implemented with caution.