Finiteness and Bare Verb-Predicate Sentences in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract: Whether the finite and nonfinite distinction is relevant in the analysis of Chinese root sentences has recently garnered concern from scholars at home and abroad. One of the most hotly debated topics is the relationship between the syntactic Tense node (T node) and the finiteness of the root sentence. This article focuses on bare sentences that have a verb as the main predicate and have no overt aspectual marker or particle that might contribute to the temporal interpretation of the sentence. Based on analyses of the syntactic requirements for a sentence to stand alone, we discuss the role of each functional category in tense anchoring and explore whether the syntactic T node is related to the finiteness of the root sentence. We argue for a close relationship between them, which can be informed by constraints on time adverbials, limitations in the temporal interpretations of finite sentences, and semantic properties of the syntactic T node.