英语存现构式中部分一致与不平衡并列结构的句法研究

A Syntactic Study on Partial Agreement and Unbalanced Coordination Structures in English Existential Constructions

存现结构一直以来都是语言学界的研究热点。在英语存现结构中,谓语动词与内主语的单复数形成一致,然而当内主语由并列短语充当时,谓语动词与内主语中最近的名词短语构成一致关系,传统语法将其概括为“就近原则”,并未给予底层结构的句法解释。本文将基于最简方案以及特征核查理论,对英语存现结构中谓语动词与并列名词短语的一致性关系进行更进一步的句法分析,以期为不平衡并列结构与部分一致现象的类型学研究提供一定的帮助。

The study of existential construction has always been a hot topic in linguistics. In English existential structure, the predicate verb agrees with the singular and plural of the internal subject. However, when the internal subject consists of a conjunction phrase, it seems that the predicate verb agrees only with the nearest noun phrase in the internal subject, which is summarized as the “principle of proximity” in traditional grammar, without giving syntactic explanation of the underlying structure. Based on the Minimalist Program and feature checking theory, this paper will further analyze the agreement relationship between the predicate verb and conjunction phrase in English existential structure, in order to provide some support for the typology research of unbalanced coordination and partial agreement structures.