Ditransitive constructions in Mandarin Chinese

In this project, we investigate whether it is justified to analyze the Mandarin Chinese ditransitive construction with gei as equivalent to DO/PO-constructions (double-object, prepositional object) as can be found in English or German, as some researchers have suggested (Cai et al. 2012, Huang et al. 2016, Chen et al. 2021). The alternative view (Huang & Ahrens 1999), proposes that Vgei NP NP ("DO") and V NP gei NP ("PO") constructions are fundamentally different constructions, and not just alternative syntactic realizations of the arguments of the same ditransitive verb.

Initial work in the domain of language production supports the alternative view. See Fan & Gerwien (2021).

Our current study in the domain of language comprehension also supports the alternative view. See HSP 2022 abstract (Fan & Gerwien 2022)

Project publications

• Gibt es die DO/PO-Alternation im Mandarin Chinesischen?

Fan, J. & Gerwien, J. (2021). Gibt es die DO/PO-Alternation im Mandarin Chinesischen?. Heidelberg University Papers on Language and Cognition 2 (2). https://doi.org/10.11588/huplc.2021.2.84636