Ellipsis of Noun in Attributive Structure in Mandarin Chinese. The Elliptical Noun Phrase

Contents

0. Introduction

1. Attributive structure in Mandarin Chinese
1.1 Pattern character of Attributive structure
1.2 Semantic relations between Attributive and Head noun

2. Particle de in attributive structure
2.1 Structural particle
2.2 Possessive determiner

3. Ellipsis of head noun in attributive structure
3.1 ‘X de ’ structure
3.2 The relation between ‘X de ’ structure and its antecedent
3.3 Different types of ‘X de ’ structure

4. Conclusion

Bibliography

0. Introduction

In this paper, we will present an analysis of the phenomenon of the ellipsis of head noun in attributive structure, known as elliptical noun phrase(NP) in Chinese, on a semantic and syntactic level. Simply speaking, elliptical NPs in Chinese are expressions which have the distribution of NP but lack an overt noun and are made up of one or several modifiers, such as pronouns, demonstratives, adjectives, numerals and classifiers. This type of construction is found in many languages, as illustrated in the following examples¹:

In English (Lobec(1995)):

(1) a. Although John's friends were late to the rally, [Mary's] arrived on time.

b. We tasted many wines, and I thought that [some] were extremely dry.

In French (Francis Corblin, Henriëtte de Swart(2004)):²

(2) a. Marie a beaucoup de chiens. [Certains] aboient.

Mary has many dogs. Some bark.

b. J’ai mangé trois des [tiennes].

I have eaten three of yours.

In German (Netter(1996)):

(3) das rote Auto und [das blaue]

the red car and the blue

the red car and the blue one

In Spanish (Ticio(2005)):

(4) la casa azul y [la verde]

the house blue and the green

the blue house and the green one

In Portuguese (Branco,Costa(2006)):

(5) a terrorista real e [a imaginada]

the terrorist real and the imagined

the real terrorist and the imagined one

The ellipsis phenomenon is without doubt present in Chinese and is widely used, especially in oral Chinese. Some examples include:

(6) a. 我的 书包 很 沉， [你的] 也 很 沉。

wode shubao hen chen nide ye hen chen

My bag very heavy yours also very heavy

My bag is very heavy, yours is also very heavy.

b. 你 喜欢 红 色的 裙子， 我 喜欢 [蓝色的]。

ni xihuan hongsede qunzi wo xihuan lansede

You like red dresses I like blue

You like red dresses, I like blue ones.

c. 三 张 桌子 足够，[五 张] 太 多。

san zhang zhuozi zugou wu zhang tai duo.

Three CLASSIFICATEUR(CL) tables enough five CL too many

Three tables are enough, five are too many.

d. 他 切了 两 块 蛋糕，[这 块] 大, [那 块] 小。

ta qiele liang kuai dangao zhekuai da na kuai xiao

He cut two CL cakes this CL big that CL small

He cut the cake into two pieces: this one is big, that one is small.

e. 北京 的 空 气 质量 比 [昆 明 的] 差。

Beijingde kongqi zhiliang bi Kunmingde cha

Beijing’s air quality than Kunming’s bad

Beijing’s air quality is worse than Kunming’s.

From these examples, we can observe that the semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun vary from one to another. In Part 1, we will introduce the attributive structure in Chinese and present a description of the semantic relations between attributive and head noun. In addition to the semantic relations it is also evident that in these NPs, with the exception of (6)c and (6)d, the attributives are always followed by 的（ de ） ：a clitic element which plays an essential role in constructing the attributive structure in Chinese. The elliptical element in NPs in Chinese is always placed after de. Therefore, the function of de plays an extremely important role in the ellipsis phenomenon in Chinese NPs. There are some controversial discussions on the function of de ：ZHU Dexi³ believes that the nature of the construction of ‘ X de ’, according to the syntactic function, can be analyzed as adverbial phrase, adjective phrase and nominal phrase. Therefore de in this construction can be accordingly regarded as de1, an adjunct to adverbial phrase; as de2, an adjunct to adjective phrase; as de3, an adjunct to nominal phrase.⁴ However, HE Yuanjian⁵ considers that de can be possessive particle as well as structural particle depending on the context,⁶ which is obviously different from the opinion of ZHU Dexi. For (6)c and (6)d, the de disappears in the NPs due to the appearance of numeral and classifier: in (6)c, “三”(san)/three、“五”(wu)/five are numerals; “张”(zhang) is a classifier. In (6)d, “两”(liang)/two is a numeral and it differs from (6)c because in the elliptical NPs “这块”(zhekuai)/this (one)、“那块”(nakuai)/that (one), the demonstrative pronoun “这”(zhe)/this、“那”(na)/that takes the place of the numerals in (6)c. The de also disappears as it does in (6)c. The function and the influence of de acting on the elliptical NPs in Chinese will be explained in more detail in Part 2. In the final part, we will analyze the ellipsis of NPs in Chinese. The traditional attributive structure will be changed into X-de structure after eliding the head noun. Although the elliptical NPs are widely and more frequently applied, there are certain rules that license the ellipsis of the head noun. We will present different types of elliptical NPs and explain in detail the licensing condition in terms of semantics and pragmatics.

1. Attributive structure in Mandarin Chinese

Before entering into the details of the ellipsis phenomenon in Attributive structure, it is quite necessary and useful to provide a brief overview of Attributive structure in Mandarin Chinese. In this part, we will define the attributive structure, the pattern characters of attributive structure and the semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun.

What is Attributive structure? In brief, it is an expression consisting of a modifier and the element that it modifies, which is referred to as the head of the phrase. We can only call the construction an attributive structure if the head word is a noun, because there are two types of modifiers in this kind of construction in Chinese: attributive modifier and adverbial modifier. The attributive can only modify a noun, so we can simply consider the attributive structure as noun phrase(NP).

1.1 Pattern character of Attributive structure

Generally speaking, Chinese attributive structure can be classified into two types on the basis of the different modifiers presented in front of the head noun: simple attributive structure and complex attributive structure.⁷

1.1.1 Simple Attributive structure(Simple NPs)

Considering the different types of modifiers in front of the head noun, the simple attributive structures can be divided into four basic models: ‘Possessor+De+NP’, ‘Adjective+De+NP’, ‘Numeral+Classifier+NP’ and ‘Demonstrative+Classifier+NP’.⁸ We will illustrate these four kinds separately with examples in the following part.

A. Possessor+De+NP

(1). 我 的 书

wo de shu

I Particle book

P1(possessor) De Noun(NP)

my book

(2) 张三 的 房子

Zhangsan de fangzi

Zhangsan ’s house

Proper Noun(possessor) De Noun(NP)

Zhangsan’s house

In A(1) and A(2), wo/I is the possessor of shu/book, and Zhangsan is the possessor of fangzi/house. De is a marker of possessive relation.

B. Adjective+De+NP

(3) 适宜 的 气候

shiyi de qihou

suitable Particle climate

Adj. De Noun(NP)

suitable climate

(4) 强 烈 的 感 觉

qianglie de ganjue

strong Particle feeling

Adj. De Noun(NP)

strong feelings

In B(3) and B(4), the construction is composed of an adjective, the particle De and a noun or NP. The attributive adjective presents a function of modification and more precise description of the head noun.

C. Numeral+Classifier+NP

(5) 三 本 书

san ben shu

three CL books

Num CL Noun(NP)

three books

(6) 一 场 官 司

yi chang guansi

a CL lawsuit

Num CL Noun(NP)

a lawsuit

In C(5) and C(6), the construction is formed by a numeral, a classifier and a noun(NP). The numerals here are to express the single or plural quantity of the head noun and unlike numerals in English NPs, they are always followed by a classifier. This is determined by the semantic property of the head noun.⁹

We can observe that the particle D e disappears in such a structure simply because of the presence of a classifier. Normally, whenever there is a numeral, there has to be an overt classifier ¹⁰. The particle De cannot insert between the attributive—Numeral+Classifier and the head noun in the phrase. However, there are certain situations where the particle De does appear between them, as illustrated in the following examples:

(7) 一 百 公 斤 的 猪

yi bai gongjin de zhu

one hundred kilos Particle pig

Num CL De Noun(NP)

a pig of one hundred kilos

(8) 几千 公 里 的 距离

jiqian gongli de ju li

thousands miles Particle distance

Num CL De Noun(NP)

a distance of thousands of miles

In C(7) and C(8), the construction shows that the particle De can occur immediately after the classifier to link a classifier phrase and a noun. It seems to be incompatible with the structure of Numeral+Classifier+NP. In Numeral+Classifier+NP construction, the choice of a classifier depends on what semantic class the head noun belongs to. It is conventional. Therefore the presence of De in such a structure is forbidden. If and only if the attributive—Numeral+Classifier imposes a restriction on the head noun, we can apply the particle De to link the attributive and head noun.

As discussed above, numerals must be accompanied by a classifier, but in some cases the classifier can be presented alone, for example, the classifier can be led by a covert numeral or null numeral. In this circumstance, the phrase can express the single concept. Considering the following example:

(9) 我 想 买 本 书。

wo xiang mai ben shu

I want buy CL book

P1 want buy CL Noun

I want to buy a book.

In this example above, we can observe that there is no overt numeral in front of the classifier ben. In this case, the semantics of the numeral transfers to the following classifier and it expresses a single concept, one book. This phenomenon is popular in Chinese and it can also permit the ellipsis of the head noun.

D. Demonstrative+Classifier+NP

(9) 这 张 桌子

zhe zhang zhuozi

this CL table

Dem. CL Noun(NP)

this table

(10) 那 幅 画

na fu hua

that CL painting

Dem. CL Noun(NP)

that painting

In D(9) and D(10), the demonstrative limits the object that the head noun refers to. Different from the C structure, the demonstrative in D appears to the left of the classifier, taking the place of the numeral in C, while the overt classifier cannot be omitted.

1.1.2 Complex Attributive structure(Complex NPs)

The structures discussed above are four basic simple attributive structures in Chinese. Yet the attributive can be multiple. The syntactic restrictions on word order within the traditional noun phrases, which are imposed by the rich structural configuration of DP languages such as English, do not exist in Chinese, due to the lack of syntactic structure.¹¹ However, when there are several modifiers in front of the head noun, it is generally accepted that there has to be an order for these modifiers. On a semantic level, the order of modifiers depends on the closeness of semantic relation between the attributives and the head noun, the more stably, internally and objectively the modifiers describe the head noun, the closer the modifiers are to the head noun. On the basis of this rule, ZHU Dexi proposed that we can observe the order of the modifiers from two different points of view:¹² either from the surface of the phrase or from the hierarchy of the phrase. Using the first method, we can generate two rules:

(A) the attributive with De is always placed in front of the attributive without De.¹³ For example:

(11) a. 黑色的 皮 大衣

heise de pi da yi

black De fur coat

Attributive1 Attributive2 Noun

the black fur coat

b. 著 名 的 男 高 音 歌 唱 家

zhuming de nan gao yin ge chang jia

famous De tenor singer

Attributive1 Attributive2 Noun

the famous tenor singer

In (11)a and (11)b, there are two modifiers in front of the head nouns. In (11)a, heisede/black is an attributive with the particle De; pi/fur is an attributive without De. And pi/fur is semantically tighter than heisede/black to the head noun da yi/coat. So heisede/black is placed in front of pi/fur and pi/fur is located right next to the head noun. Similarly for (11)b, zhuminde/famous is an attributive with De while nangaoyin/tenor followed directly by the head noun is an attributive without De. Therefore zhumingde/famous occurs in front of nangaoyin/tenor.

There are two exceptions within this first situation.¹⁴ Firstly, when the attributive appears to be a numeral and a classifier, but does not possess a De, it can be placed in front of the attributive with De. For example:

(12) 一 张 珍 贵 的 照 片

yi zhang zhenguide zhaopian

one CL precious picture

Num CL Adj. Noun

a precious picture

The other exception is that the possessive attributive can only be placed in front of all the attributives and cannot be postposed regardless of having De or not. For example:

(13) 他 最大的 孩子

ta zuidade haizi

his eldest child

Att.1 Att.2 Noun

his eldest child

(B) If each of the several attributives does not carry a De, the general order would be : possessor>demonstrative>numeral>classifier>adjective>noun.¹⁵ For example:

(14) 他 那 三 本 旧 语法 书

ta na san ben jiu yufa shu

his those three CL old grammar books

Pron. Dem. Num. CL Adj. Adj. Noun

Att.1 Att.2 Att.3 Att.4 Att.5 Att.6 Noun

those three old grammar books of his

These examples follow the method of observing the surface word order of the phrase. The second method of arranging the order of several attributives concerns the hierarchy of the phrase. ZHU Dexi proposed that all the attributive structures can be classified into two categories: Assorted structure and Agglutinating structure.¹⁶ Assorted structure includes the kind whose attributive carries the particle De; whose attributive is numeral and classifier or demonstrative and classifier; the possessive NPs. Agglutinating structure includes the kind whose attributive does not carry De, which means the attributive can be nouns, distinguishing words and qualitative adjectives and can be directly followed by a head noun. These structures will be discussed in further detail in Part 2. The rule states that the agglutinating structure can replace any head noun whether it is in agglutinating structure or in assorted structure, while the assorted structure can only replace the head noun in the assorted structure.¹⁷ This rule can deeply generalize the regularity of the order of the attributives. The first method above can be absorbed into this rule, including the exceptions. For rule (A), the attributive with De is always placed in front of the attributive without De. It can be explained by the rule that the agglutinating structure can replace any head noun whether it is in agglutinating structure or in assorted structure. We will repeat the example of (11)a here, see (15):

(15) 黑色的 皮 大衣

heisede pi da yi

black De fur coat

Attributive1 Attributive2 Noun

the black fur coat

In (15), the head noun da yi/coat has two modifiers: attributive 2 pi/fur and attributive 1 heisede/black. The attributive 2 and the head noun form an agglutinating structure which can be regarded as a single noun and can be the head noun of the whole structure whose attributive is attributive 1— heisede/black. And for the first exception (12), repeated as (16) ,

(16) 一 张 珍 贵 的 照 片

yi zhang zhenguide zhaopian

one CL precious photo

Num CL Adj. Noun

a precious photo

For (16), the situation is that the numeral and the classifier can be put in front of the attributive with De. It is reasonable according to the second method because the numeral yi/one and the classifier zhang in (16) are properties of the assorted structure. According to the rule, the assorted structure can replace the head element of the assorted structure. Therefore, zhenguide zhaopian/precious photo can be regarded as a whole noun taking the place of the head noun of the whole phrase whose attributive is the numeral and the classifier, yizhang/one. What’s more, (16) can also be changed into the following form:

(18) 珍 贵 的 一 张 照 片

zhengui de yi zhang zhaopian

precious De one CL photo

Adj. De Num CL Noun

a precious photo

For rule (B), the order of the attributives without De can also be generalized by the rule of hierarchy. The possessive attributive should be placed in front of all attributives because it forms an assorted structure with the head noun while all the other attributives without De form an agglutinating structure. According to the rule, the agglutinating structure can be regarded as a whole and can be inserted into the assorted structure while the assorted structure cannot be inserted into the agglutinating structure. In that case, the possessive attributive can only be put in the head position of all attributives.

In conclusion, the complex attributive structure does have an order for the attributives and we can find some regularities in its arrangement. Yet its order is also flexible, especially for the numerals and the classifiers. On a semantic level, the more stably, internally and objectively the modifiers describe the head noun, the closer the semantic relation between modifiers and the head noun will be.

1.2 Semantic relations between Attributive and Head noun

Generally speaking, the function of the attributive is to modify the head noun. More precisely, as ZHU Dexi says, attributive is to modify and restrict the head noun¹⁸. In fact, it is commonly accepted that the semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun can be classified into two types: possession and non-possession¹⁹. Possession focuses on the function of restriction while non-possession focuses on the function of description. As such, we can generally classify all attributive structures into possession category and property category²⁰. In the previous section, we discussed the influence of semantic relations on the arrangement of several attributives in complex attributive structure. In addition to this, certain semantic relations can also give rise to the phenomenon of ellipsis. We will present the details in Part 3 where we will see the different types of semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun.

1.2.1 Possession category

The relation of possession here mainly refers to the function of restriction. It means that, under this kind of relation, the attributive is to restrict and classify the substance that the head noun refers to in order to narrow its extension and emphasize its intension²¹. Further more, on the level of syntax, we can fix a syntactic structure to determine whether a certain attributive structure belongs to the possession category or not. We can transform the given attributive structure into the form of Attributive possesses Head Noun²². If the semantics of the NP are reasonable under this structure then we can generally confirm that this is a possession NP. Evidently the possession relation cannot cover all the relations so that it has several subclasses. We will illustrate the subclasses in the following examples:

A. Possessive relation

When the attributive and the head noun possess a possessive relation, we can use the form Attributive possesses Head Noun to test it. For example:

(19) 总统 的 府邸

zongtong de fudi

President Particle palace

Possessor Particle Possession

President’s palace

In A(19), we can transform the NP into ‘President possesses the palace’ and it makes sense. So we can prove that this NP is a possession NP.

B. Locative relation

(20) 北京 的 建 筑

Beijing de jianzhu

Beijing Particle buildings

Location Particle Possession

Beijing’s buildings

Similarly for B(20), we can say that ‘Beijing possesses the buildings’. Here the place Beijing puts a restriction on the head noun jianzhu to emphasize its intension.

C. Time NP

(21) 古代 的 帝王

gudai de diwang

ancient Particle emperors

Time Particle Head noun

the emperors in ancient times

In Time NPs, the attributive part is represented by a time expression which restricts the exact time that the head noun belongs to. In C(21), the head noun emperors is fixed in the ancient times rather than any other times.

D. Subordinative relation

(22) 教授 的 女儿

jiaoshou de nv er

professor Particle daughter

Possessor Particle Head noun

the daughter of the professor

(23) 医生 的 病人

yisheng de bingren

doctor Particle patient

Possessor Particle Head noun

the doctor’s patient

Subordinative relation always refers to the relation between two people or two groups of people. In D(22), the NP expresses a family relationship—in particular a father-daughter relationship. Daughter is subordinate to professor. In D(23), the NP represents a social relationship—a doctor-patient relationship. A doctor is in charge of his patient so the patient is subordinate to the doctor. No matter which type of relationship is held between the attributive and head noun, the NP expresses a relation of subordination either the head noun is subordinate to the attributive or vice versa.

E. Partitive relation

(24) 树 的 根 腐烂 了。

shu de gen fu lan le

tree Particle root rot Particle of perfective aspect

Possessor(whole) Particle possession(part) rot Particle of perfective aspect

the root of the tree is rotted.

(25) 他 买 了 五 个 苹 果， 三 个 坏的。

ta mai le wu ge pingguo, san ge huaide.

he buy Particle of perfective aspect five CL apples three CL bad

P3.sg buy Particle of perfective aspect Num. CL apples Num. CL bad

P3.sg buyParticle of perfective aspect Att.1 apples Att.2 bad

He bought five apples, three of them were bad.

(26) 他有 两 个 女儿， 大 的 五 岁， 小 的 三 岁。

ta you liang ge nver, da de wu sui, xiao de san sui.

he has two CL daughters elder Particle five years younger Particle three years

P3 has Num.CL daughters Adj. Particle Num.years Adj. Particle Num.years

P3 has Att.1 daughters Att.2 Num.years Att.3 Num.years

He has two daughters, the elder one is five years old and the younger one is three years old.

Partitive relation is more complicated than the relations previously discussed. There are several different situations in partitive relation. In E(24), the root is a part of the tree similarly to the trunk, the branches and the leaves. In this case, the meaning of the partitive in E(24) expresses an internal relation between a whole and a part. This means the substance that the head noun refers to is a part of the substance that the attributive refers to. In contrast to E(24), E(25) and E(26) do not reflect an internal partitive relation between a whole and a part. In E(25), wu ge pingguo/five apples gather into a set where each apple is an element that forms part of the whole set. San ge huaide/three of them were bad forms a subset where there are three apples and each of them is bad. Therefore, the subset of san ge huaide/three of them were bad is a part of the whole set of wu ge pingguo/five apples. This is different to E(24) because the partitive in E(25) is not an internal relation of any part of one apple but between the subset and the set which the elements are part of. Similarly, for E(26), liang ge nver/two daughters form a set in which each daughter is a subset. This is slightly different to E(25) because in E(26) the attributive is composed of adjectives while the attributive in E(25) is composed by numerals and classifiers. We can also observe that in the construction of E(25) and E(26), the partitive relation can undergo the phenomenon of ellipsis of head noun. In E(25), the head noun pingguo/apples in the second attributive structure san ge huaide/ three of them were bad is elided. Since the san ge huaide/three of them were bad forms a subset of the whole set of wu ge pingguo/five apples, we can clearly know that the elliptical part denotes the same category as the whole set. Therefore, we can omit the head noun in order to meet the economy principle. This is the same for E(26), where the second elliptical attributive structure da de/the elder one and the third elliptical attributive structure xiao de/the younger one are two subsets of the whole set liang ge nver/two daughters, so the elliptical head nouns in the two subsets clearly imply the same category as the whole set daughters. Thus, we can elide the head noun of the attributive structure which forms the subset of the whole set. The phenomenon of ellipsis will be discussed in more detail in Part 3.

1.2.2 Property category

The property category refers to the NPs in which the attributive describes the head noun. It emphasizes the property or the nature of the substance that the head noun refers to. There are several types of property category NPs which are exemplified below:

A. Quantity

(27) 一 盏 茶 的 功 夫

yi zhan cha de gongfu

one cup tea Particle time

Num CL Noun De Noun

time to finish a cup of tea

In A(27), the head noun gongfu/time is described by the attributive yizhancha/a cup of tea which quantifies the duration in this NP. The NP expresses a quantity relation between the attributive and the head noun.

B. Quality

(28) 尼龙 伞

nilong san

nylon umbrella

Noun1 Noun2

Att. Noun

nylon umbrella

In B(28), the attributive nilon/nylon describe the head noun san/umbrella. It emphasizes that the umbrella is made of nylon, which means nilon/nylon is a property of the umbrella. It shows a quality relation between the attributive and head noun.

C. Provenance

(29) 卡尔·马克思的 《资本论》

Karl Marx de zibenlun

Karl Marx Particle The Capital

Attributive Noun

Karl Marx’s The Capital.

In C(29), the head noun zibenlun/The Capital originates from Karl Marx. It means that it is Karl Marx who wrote zibenlun/The Capital. The NP presents a provenance relation between the attributive and the head noun.

D. Use

(30) 包 装 纸

baozhuang zhi

wrap paper

Attributive Noun

wrapping paper

In D(30), the attributive baozhuang/wrapping describes the usage of the head noun zhi/paper, which means that the zhi/paper is used for baozhuang/wrapping. It shows an application relation between the attributive and the head noun.

E. Content

(31) 女子 篮球 比赛

nvzi lanqiu bisai

women basketball game

Noun1 Noun2 Noun3

Att.1 Att.2 Noun

women’s basketball game

In E(31), the head noun bisai/game has two noun attributives nvzi/women and lanqiu/basketball. Both of the two noun attributives are to describe the head noun and they explain the content of the head noun which means that the bisai/game is about nvzi/women(‘s) lanqiu/basketball. In this type of NP, the attributive describes the content of the head noun.

To conclude, in Part 1, we have discussed a global version of the attributive structure in mandarin Chinese in Part 1. We introduced the pattern character of the attributive structure and analyzed the different semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun. We applied the opinion of FAN Cunying that the attributive structure can be divided into two main patterns: ‘simple attributive structure’ and ‘complex attributive structure’²³. According to Fan, there are four basic types in the simple attributive structure: ‘Possessor+De+NP’, ‘Adjective+De+NP’, ‘Numeral+Classifier+NP’ and ‘Demonstrative+Classifier+NP’.²⁴ Considering the multiplicity of the attributive, the complex attributive structure is widely used. According to ZHU Dexi, we can observe the complex attributive structure in two different ways²⁵: observing the order of the multiple attributives and observing the hierarchy of the phrase—‘agglutinating structure’ and ‘assorted structure’²⁶. We then analyzed the semantic relations between the attributive and the head noun. According to WEN Zhenhui, there are two main kinds of relations between the attributive and the head noun: the relation of possession and the relation of property.²⁷ Both of these relations have multiple subclasses with different relations between the attributive and the head noun. In the following part, we will introduce the particle de which plays an essential role in the construction and the semantics of Chinese NPs.

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¹ Example(1)(3)(4)(5) come from António Branco and Francisco Costa, Noun Ellipsis without Empty Categories. CSLI Publications, 2006: 81-101.

² Example(2) comes from Francis Corblin, Henriëtte de Swart, Handbook of French Semantics. CSLI Publications, 2004: 23.

³ ZHU Dexi(1920-1992), famous chinese linguist, who was inspired by the American structuralists(or American descriptivists), made a great contribution to establishing the foundation of the traditional Chinese grammar system.

⁴ Referring to Zhu Dexi. About De. Chinese Linguistic, 1966, 1.

⁵ HE Yuanjian, famous chinese linguist, who is inspired by Generative Grammar proposed by N. Chomsky, established a Generative Grammar of Mandarin Chinese.

⁶ Referring to He Yuanjian. A Generative Grammar of Mandarin Chinese. Peking University Press, 2011. 106-152.

⁷ Fan C. The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis [J]. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014, 4(7): 1359-1369.

⁸ These four basic models are proposed by Fan. C. in The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis.

⁹ According to Fan C. The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis [J]. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014, 4(7): 1359-1369.

¹⁰ Chao Y R. A grammar of modern spoken Chinese [J]. 1968.

¹¹ This opinion is held by FAN. C. in The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis. This opinion is opposite to the opinion of ZHU Dexi who proposed that there should be an order for several modifiers.

¹² This method is proposed by ZHU Dexi in Lecture notes on grammar, P150-P151.

¹³ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p150-p151.

¹⁴ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p150-p151.

¹⁵ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p150-p151.

¹⁶ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p148-p149.

¹⁷ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p150-p151.

¹⁸ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p140.

¹⁹ Referring to WEN Zhenhui, Identification of the semantic relations between N1 and N2 in attributive structure of ‘N1(de) N2’ [J]. Linguistic research, 3: 22-23.

²⁰ Referring to WEN Zhenhui, Identification of the semantic relations between N1 and N2 in attributive structure of ‘N1(de) N2’ [J]. Linguistic research, 3: 23-24.

²¹ Referring to WEN Zhenhui, Identification of the semantic relations between N1 and N2 in attributive structure of ‘N1(de) N2’ [J]. Linguistic research, 3: 22-23.

²² This transformation form is according to WEN Zhenhui, Identification of the semantic relations between N1 and N2 in attributive structure of ‘N1(de) N2’ [J]. Linguistic research, 3: 22-23.

²³ Referring to Fan C. The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis [J]. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014, 4(7): 1359-1369.

²⁴ Referring to Fan C. The Phasehood Analysis of Chinese Nominal Phrases and NP Ellipsis [J]. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014, 4(7): 1359-1369.

²⁵ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p150-p151.

²⁶ Referring to ZHU Dexi, Lecture notes on grammar, p148-p149.

²⁷ Referring to WEN Zhenhui, Identification of the semantic relations between N1 and N2 in attributive structure of ‘N1(de) N2’ [J]. Linguistic research, 3: 23-24.