| 英文摘要 |
The 'de 的 construction' has a high frequency in Mandarin, and its definition as well as classification are complicated syntactically and semantically. Many scholars have focused on this construction from different perspectives; however, it is little known as to whether there is any difference of usage across the Strait. Drawing upon a constructional perspective, the current study compared the differences of the spoken and written language of the 'de construction' among four university professors in the field of Humanities and Literature. It was found that professors across the Strait have different behaviors in the written usage of 'NP de VP' construction. Professors from Taiwan prefer giving prominence to the object, such that the latter is used as a reference point to give mental access to a given target, while professors from China have no such preference. The divergence between professors across the Strait demonstrates the gradience in syntax; meanwhile, it also echoes Thomas Wasow (2009) according to whom the gradience in syntax does not stem from speakers' linguistic performance; rather, speakers choose consciously the linguistic pattern they are using, which is the best demonstration of speakers' linguistic competence. |