本論文從句法及語意層次探討漢語中「變」和BECOME的差異。
漢語「程度化達成謂語」可分別出現在含有「變」和BECOME的句子。我們發現，BECOME的補語為一個詞組，而「變」與補語則會構成複合詞。此外，「變」和BECOME對補語有不同的終結點要求。BECOME必須帶一個有終結點的補語，而「變」則帶一個無終結點的補語。
有關「成」的探究也與「變」和BECOME息息相關。當「變」和「成」構成複合詞，形成中心語在後的結構，受語論元必須出現，且是被「成」所應允。

This thesis investigates constructions that contain two Mandarin verbal elements, bian ‘change’ and BECOME, and studies them in syntax and semantics.
Based on observations on degree achievements and their complements with bian and BECOME, we find that BECOME and bian exhibit different syntactic properties - BECOME takes an XP complement, while bian and its complement form an X0-X0 compound. Moreover, they require different telicity properties for their complements. BECOME takes a telic predicate denoting a positive reading, while bian takes an atelic predicate denoting a comparative reading.
Questions about cheng ‘become’ also lead to issues that are closely related to bian and BECOME. When bian and cheng form a compound, a head-final construction is formed, and an object argument is obligatory, which is licensed by cheng.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2 THE LIGHT VERB STRUCTURES OF
DEGREE ACHIEVEMENTS 4
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Degree achievements with the light verb BECOME 5
2.2.1 The process of incorporation 5
2.2.2 Aspectual coercion 9
2.2.3 The agreement of sentence final particles and
light verbs 13
2.3 Light verb analysis of bian 15
2.4 Selectional properties of BECOME and bian 21
2.5 Conclusion 25

CHAPTER 3 THE TELICITY OF DEGREE ACHIEVEMENTS 27
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 The characteristics of the adjectival bases 28
3.2.1 The scalar structures 28
3.2.2 Standards of comparison 32
3.3 Telicity determined by the scalar structures 33
3.4 Telicity determined by the light verbs 38
3.5 Mandarin DAs based on open scales 43
3.5.1 Context-dependent telicity 45
3.5.2 Individual level predicate vs. stage level
predicate 54
3.6 Mandarin DAs based on closed scales 64
3.7 Mandarin DAs based on two-point scales 68
3.8 Mandarin DAs that are varied in meaning 69
3.9 Conclusion 72

CHAPTER 4 THE V-CHENG CONSTRUCTION IN
MANDARIN CHINESE 73
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 The syntax of the V-cheng construction 74
4.2.1 Previous analysis: the small clause theory 74
4.2.2 The argument structure 77
4.2.3 Cheng as a head 79
4.2.4 The causative ba 88
4.3 The bian-cheng construction 92
4.4 Conclusion 96

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 97

References 99

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