Advances in Role and Reference Grammar

MANDARIN CLAUSE LINKAGE 201

(8) a. Wö gei ni.

I give you

"I give you (something)."

b. Wo gei ni qián.

I give you money

"I give you money."

Sentence (8a) shows that in Mandarin, even a quintessentially three-place
verb like "give" can appear, in proper context, with only two overt argu­
ments. Such is also the case with (6a) and (7a). The fact that the V 2 in these
pivot constructions is an argument of the V\ means that their relationship is
one of subordination, rather than of coordination as was the case with Jux­
taposition. ("Subordination" and "coordination" are used here in their
traditional sense, rather than their technical sense within the framework of
Role and Reference Grammar.)

1.3 Coverb s

Coverbs exist on the fuzzy ground between prepositions and verbs. They
are used mainly to introduce oblique arguments, just as prepositions do in
English. Some can also be fully productive verbs when used in other envi­
ronments, while some have been almost completely grammaticalized and
seldom occur as full verbs. The canonical coverb construction is as follows:

coverb

where NPj is the subject of both Vx and V 2 , and Υλ is the coverb. The
object of the coverb (NP 2 ) is an oblique NP with respect to V 2 , assigned
such roles as instrumental, comitati ve, locative, goal, benef active, etc. The
sentences below illustrate variability in the ability of coverbs to appear as
main verbs:
(9) a. Wo yòng däo qiê xiängchang.
I use knife cut sausage
"I use a knife to cut the sausage."
b. Wo yòng däo.
I use knife
"I use a knife."