The Generative Study of Chinese Separable Words

Chinese Separable Words have triggered heated debates in the past research. Different linguists have put forward with different definitions, properties, and defining criteria from different points of view. The separated form and the combined form of separable words are analyzed in this article, with a focus on the generating process. With the aim of offering a unified explanation of the generating process, we propose that the syntactic process of Chinese separable words, being the merge of phrases rather than head merge, is similar to the one in the noun incorporation structure of some dialects in north America. The noun element is usually a clitic morpheme, and cannot be used alone, which means that it needs to be combined with verbs or modifiers. In the generating process under the guidance of phase theory, the nominal lexicon in the structure first generates nP, dP or NP, and then merges with V to generate VP. This analysis can explain the process of elements insertion and the clitic property of the noun. The separated structure depends on the insertion of some modifiers, which can be aspect markers, adjectives, possessors or quantity expressions. With insertion, the verb and the noun are separated, thus the structure of separated form being separated; and without insertion, the structure of combined form is combined.