複數語素、有定性與語意參數

Plural Morphemes, Definiteness, and the Notion of Semantic Parameter

根據Chiercha (1998a, b) 的「名詞對應參數」，漢語與日語的一般名詞的類型是e，屬性為 [+論元, —述語]，這表示這類語言有豐富的類別詞系統，沒有定詞、複數標記。但很多文獻指出，漢語與日語確實有複數標記，這對Chiercha 的分析造成了問題。本文主張漢語、日語的名詞在辭彙庫裡是有層次的。那些與複數標記一起使用的一般名詞，其類型是 ，帶有 [+論元, +述語] 屬性，而複數標記的功能是作為定指標記。

According to the nominal mapping parameter proposed by Chiercha (1998a, b), Chinese and Japanese common nouns are assigned the [+argument, -predicate] features, which means that they are of type e. It follows from this parametric distinction that such languages have rich classifier systems and lack determiners and plural markers. It has often been pointed out, however, that these languages do indeed have plural markers, and this fact seems to be problematic to Chierchia’s approach. This paper aims to defend the nominal mapping parameter, and it will be claimed that Chinese and Japanese nouns are layered in the lexicon and common nouns used with plural markers are actually [+argument, +predicate] of type , arguing that those plural markers function as definite markers.