Abstract

This paper offers a formal analysis for the Chinese excessive resultative construction such as dòng wā qiǎn le ‘the hole was dug shallower than expected’, and explains why this construction can be used to express the meaning that a scalar expectation has been exceeded. According to the analysis, the Chinese excessive resultative construction describes events of affectedness consisting of two participants, a theme participant and a scale participant. The theme participant is affected according to a pre-determined value on a scale specified by the adjective in the construction, while the process of the event results in an actual value on the same scale. When the actual value exceeds the expected value, the ‘more than expected’ excessive interpretation arises. This analysis crucially hinges upon the assumption that there is a covert comparison between two values on the same scale. If such a comparison cannot be established within a resultative construction, the ‘more than expected’ excessive meaning will not arise.

Keywords

Affectedness, Mandarin, Resultative, Excessive, Comparison