Cheng-Fu Chen
University of Mississippi, Modern Languages, Faculty Member
- Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax-Semantics Interface, Austronesian Languages, Fieldwork in linguistics, Formosan languages, Semantics, and 43 moreMorpho-semantics, Syntax, Chinese Language and Culture, Rukai, Chinese, Tense and Aspect Systems, Mandarin Chinese, Nominalization, Modern Languages, Tense aspect modality, Presuppositions, Interrogatives, Grammatical Voice, Perfect Aspect, Lian...dou, Lian-Construction, Wh-words, Polarity Licensing, Relative Future Tense, Derived States, Nonfuture Tense, Case Morphology, Chinese linguistics, Modality, Future Tense, Rukai language, Reduplication, Indefinites, Case Marking, Wh words, Negative Polarity Items (NPI), Metaphor, Book Reviews, Even, Counterfactuals, Languages and Linguistics, Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL), Narrative Analysis, Narration, teaching/introducing Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language, Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language, Learner language, and Intense language programedit
- Associate Professor of Chinese and Linguistics. Teaching and research interests: Mandarin Chinese, Rukai (Austronesia... moreAssociate Professor of Chinese and Linguistics. Teaching and research interests: Mandarin Chinese, Rukai (Austronesian, Taiwan), tense and aspect, eventuality (situation type), and issues about morphology and at the syntax-semantics interface.edit
Research Interests:
This paper examines a type of noun incorporation and its related patterns of doubling in Budai Rukai (Austronesian, Taiwan). An incorporated nominal root is indefinite and forms a close morphological bond with the incorporating verb. The... more
This paper examines a type of noun incorporation and its related patterns of doubling in Budai Rukai (Austronesian, Taiwan). An incorporated nominal root is indefinite and forms a close morphological bond with the incorporating verb. The nominal root modifies the predicate semantically and does not act as a direct object. The resulting forms describe various activities and exhibit properties of (in)transitivity and (a)telicity. Noun incorporation of such is formed by an array of verbal prefixes and nominal roots, while doubling is limited to a handful of complex verbs.
Research Interests:
This paper investigates temporal sequencing and narration in learner language. The primary purposes of the study are to examine the temporal elements of different categories that students use, to characterize the distribution of these... more
This paper investigates temporal sequencing and narration in learner language. The primary purposes of the study are to examine the temporal elements of different categories that students use, to characterize the distribution of these elements, and to compare the uses of temporal elements among students in a Chinese classroom. Building on the two-component theory of Smith (1997), and the meaning-oriented approach of Bardovi-Harlig (2000), this paper presents the results of a series of cross-semester observations in an intensive Mandarin Chinese language program, and shows that students rely on temporal expressions, morphological aspects, and contextual information to convey different types of eventualities in the progression of narration. The temporal schema presented can be helpful for teachers, and the research results have implications regarding language learning and teaching for both intensive language programs and classroom environments tailored for a critical or less commonly taught language, such as Arabic.
Research Interests:
The role of the future tense in the language has been an intriguing issue from both the perspective of theoretical and descriptive linguistics. The goal of this paper is to investigate the use and temporal interpretation of the future... more
The role of the future tense in the language has been an intriguing issue from both the perspective of theoretical and descriptive linguistics. The goal of this paper is to investigate the use and temporal interpretation of the future tense in Rukai. Rukai is an Austronesian language that is spoken in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan, including Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung Counties where at least fourteen villages have been identified as residing (Gordon, 2005). Geographically speaking, the Rukai tribe consists of three branches that speak six dialects: Budai, Tanan, Labuan, Mantauran, Maga and Tona (Li, 1977, 2001). This paper investigates the Budai Rukai dialect.
The future tense locates temporally the eventualities at a time that is in the future of the speech time (Comrie, 1985). The semantic effect of such temporal location is that the eventualities conveyed by sentences marked by the future tense in general are unknown to the speaker (Jesperson, 1924; Lyons, 1977; Smith, 1991), and is likely to be associated with modality (Enç, 1996). Based on this idea, it is to be shown that the Rukai future conveys a temporal relation of posteriority involving a given reference time (Reichenbach, 1947). As the reference time may or may not be anchored to the speech time in subordinate constructions, the future behaves like a relative tense (Comrie, 1985; Enç, 1987). Also, it is to be shown that while the Rukai future can be used in modal constructions, finer distinctions on modality, such as necessity and possibility, are not specified by the future tense, but are achieved by the use of modal morphemes. Rukai thus provides empirical evidence for a division between future and modality in the domain of morphosyntax.
The future tense locates temporally the eventualities at a time that is in the future of the speech time (Comrie, 1985). The semantic effect of such temporal location is that the eventualities conveyed by sentences marked by the future tense in general are unknown to the speaker (Jesperson, 1924; Lyons, 1977; Smith, 1991), and is likely to be associated with modality (Enç, 1996). Based on this idea, it is to be shown that the Rukai future conveys a temporal relation of posteriority involving a given reference time (Reichenbach, 1947). As the reference time may or may not be anchored to the speech time in subordinate constructions, the future behaves like a relative tense (Comrie, 1985; Enç, 1987). Also, it is to be shown that while the Rukai future can be used in modal constructions, finer distinctions on modality, such as necessity and possibility, are not specified by the future tense, but are achieved by the use of modal morphemes. Rukai thus provides empirical evidence for a division between future and modality in the domain of morphosyntax.
Research Interests:
This thesis researches on aspect and tense in Rukai by focusing on their interpretation and interaction. The issues center on two component parts: the association between morphology and eventuality/situation type, and that between... more
This thesis researches on aspect and tense in Rukai by focusing on their interpretation and interaction. The issues center on two component parts: the association between morphology and eventuality/situation type, and that between morphology and tense. In the domain of eventuality, I establish a connection between determiner morphology (specifically, the case morphemes) and event structuring at the level of verbal formation. It is argued that Rukai case markers correlate with a set of verbal prefixes that form a part of verbal stems in structuring eventualities. A generalized hypothesis of morphological merger is proposed to account for this morphosyntactic correlation and other formational instances. Secondly, I examine the interrelation of nominalization, voice formation and eventuality. It is argued that nominalization is used to construct a third kind of voice in Rukai, the object voice, in addition to the active and passive. The study indicates that derived nominalized and object voice constructions convey derived states, whose interpretation result from an aspectual shift in the domain of eventuality. In the domain of tense, I investigate the interpretation of tense markers and their interaction with aspect. The way how the nonfuture tense gets interpreted shows that it is temporally indeterminate, but aspectually constrained. The future is characterized by its function as a temporal marker in modal constructions. The interaction of the future tense with modals indicates that it can specify temporal posteriority in modal constructions. Furthermore, it is argued that the perfect aspect forms a complex tense with the nonfuture in conveying a past meaning. The nonfuture and future tenses are further examined in sentences with sub-ordinate clauses. The study shows that the nonfuture and the future tense behave differently with respect to their relation with a reference point in complex sentences. The nonfuture is more restricted than the future tense in that it cannot take a future time as its temporal reference, whereas the future can take a past time as its temporal reference.
Research Interests:
This thesis examines the uses of wh-words as interrogatives and indefinites in Budai Rukai, specifically the Kucapungan variety. In the first part, the study categorizes Rukai wh-words into three types: (i) nominal; (ii) adverbial; and... more
This thesis examines the uses of wh-words as interrogatives and indefinites in Budai Rukai, specifically the Kucapungan variety. In the first part, the study categorizes Rukai wh-words into three types: (i) nominal; (ii) adverbial; and (iii) verbal. Each type is shown to exhibit distinct grammatical behaviors. The verbal wh-words (the so-called tumane-words) are constructed based on an indefinite element *-mane. Furthermore, Rukai differs from some other Formosan languages in having non-fronted wh-words as grammatical subjects that stay in-situ. The second part concerns the indefinite interpretation of the wh-words. The indefinite interpretation is examined at three levels. On the syntactic level, five sentential constructions are examined to show that Rukai patterns with Mandarin Chinese with respect to syntactic licensing. On the morphological and phrasal levels, it is argued that Rukai patterns with English and Japanese. Affixation, reduplication, and universal quantification are significant factors in the licensing of wh-words as indefinites in Rukai.
Research Interests:
This paper discusses semantic properties of lian-constructions in Mandarin Chinese, a type of constructions that can be compared to English 'even' sentences. It is argued that the two kinds of lian-constructions, lian...dou and lian...ye,... more
This paper discusses semantic properties of lian-constructions in Mandarin Chinese, a type of constructions that can be compared to English 'even' sentences. It is argued that the two kinds of lian-constructions, lian...dou and lian...ye, require an asymmetrical analysis, and a major difference between them can be accounted for by the (non-)occurrence of certain presuppositions. The evidence is drawn from the felicitousness of the two lian-constructions in different contexts. It is also pointed out that an effect on the sufficiency of informativeness depends on the positional occurrence of them in the contexts.
Research Interests:
One suffix in Budai Rukai is argued in this paper to be a voice morpheme, forming a third kind of voice (Object voice) in addition to the traditionally identified active and passive. Constructions formed by Object voice morpheme display... more
One suffix in Budai Rukai is argued in this paper to be a voice morpheme, forming a third kind of voice (Object voice) in addition to the traditionally identified active and passive. Constructions formed by Object voice morpheme display alternations on case and argument structure. They differ from passive constructions in that they select only one thematic role to promote, and they choose a different set of aspectual markers from other voice constructions. It is also suggested that with this suffix event nominals can be formed via a reduction of argument structure in Object voice. The specific suffix acts as a hinge in forming Object voice and nominalization, whose determination must be made on the basis of syntax.
Research Interests:
A shift of situation type, or eventuality, is often considered to be triggered by adjunct elements, like adverbials, or by pragmatic factors (Moens & Steedman, 1988; Smith, 1991; De Swart, 1998). This paper aims to show that a certain... more
A shift of situation type, or eventuality, is often considered to be triggered by adjunct elements, like adverbials, or by pragmatic factors (Moens & Steedman, 1988; Smith, 1991; De Swart, 1998). This paper aims to show that a certain aspectual interpretation can be associated with morphosyntax that is internal to sentential construction in languages. By investigating a type of grammatical voice in Rukai (Austronesian, Taiwan), the study shows that this voice, of which nominalization plays an essential role, is used to construct sentences that can consistently receive an interpretation of stativity in context. Building on Smith (1991, 1997), it is argued that the morphosyntax of this voice formation triggers in the domain of eventuality an aspectual shift that derives states from various eventualities.
Research Interests:
In this paper we examine polarity licensing of the interrogatives in Budai Rukai (Kucapungan variety). It is shown that in certain morphosyntactic environments interrogatives are licensed as polarity items and are interpreted as... more
In this paper we examine polarity licensing of the interrogatives in Budai Rukai (Kucapungan variety). It is shown that in certain morphosyntactic environments interrogatives are licensed as polarity items and are interpreted as indefinites. We specifically investigate two types of polarity licensing, the first with overt triggers and the second without overt triggers. By providing typological analyses along the line of Tsai (1997a, 1997b), our examination of syntactic and morphological properties concludes that Rukai exhibits characteristics of polarity licensing at the syntactic, morphological and phrasal levels.
Research Interests:
This paper aims at investigating the nominalization of verbal interrogatives in Kucapungan Rukai. These verbal interrogatives have undergone a morphological process incorporating an underlying argument into the verbal base -tumane.... more
This paper aims at investigating the nominalization of verbal interrogatives in Kucapungan Rukai. These verbal interrogatives have undergone a morphological process incorporating an underlying argument into the verbal base -tumane. Through this common base, a complex set of interrogatives is derived, in which the members exhibit distinct grammatical functions and differ in morphology, syntax and semantics. The data adducted in the discussion regarding their morpho-syntax suggest that these verbal interrogatives undertake nominalization as other verbs in general do.
Research Interests:
Building on functionalist theories and approaches advanced in works such as Halliday (1998), Halliday and Matthiessen (1999), and Halliday (2003), Yanning Yang as the author of Grammatical Metaphor in Chinese sets out to complement the... more
Building on functionalist theories and approaches advanced in works such as Halliday (1998), Halliday and Matthiessen (1999), and Halliday (2003), Yanning Yang as the author of Grammatical Metaphor in Chinese sets out to complement the theory of grammatical metaphor (GM) by examining various linguistic features of Mandarin Chinese. Grammatical metaphor is a phenomenon about the relation and mapping between semantics and lexicogrammar, and it specifically concerns linguistic units realized as expressions, clauses, or clause complexes as used in a language. The book consists of nine chapters. A primary concern of this book is to indicate “how the phenomenon of GM is identified, classified and deployed in Chinese.” (p. 3) The author aims to develop a theoretical framework for the identification and categorization of GM in Chinese, coupled with the discussion of deployment based on written and spoken forms, and to fill a cross-linguistic gap with regards to frameworks based on English.
Research Interests:
It has been proposed by Iatridou (2000) that morphology is responsible for an interpretation of counterfactuality, which is realized by the past tense in a variety of typologically different languages. Specifically, the past tense is... more
It has been proposed by Iatridou (2000) that morphology is responsible for an interpretation of counterfactuality, which is realized by the past tense in a variety of typologically different languages. Specifically, the past tense is associated with the Exclusion Feature. A relation of exclusion is encoded in the domain of time such that the utterance time, or speech time, is excluded from the topic time, or reference time; in terms of the domain of worlds, the actual world is excluded from the topic worlds. By building on Iatridou’s (2000) analysis, this paper discusses the case of Rukai. An examination of the semantic and morphosyntactic levels suggests that, as Rukai does not have a genuine past tense, the perfect morpheme is used to convey the meanings of past and counterfactuality.