MANDARIN CLAUSE LINKAGE 229In (56), where the object of V/'tell" still has an active role and is in some
sense still the master of his fate, only the Pivot construction is acceptable.
In (57) the opposite is true. (Li and Thompson 1976 have found, however,
that in old documents causative constructions like (57b) appear up until
about the Tang Dynasty. What brought about their extinction is unknown.)
6. Conclusion
Mandarin has a wide variety of verb serialization constructions, of which
complement constructions are a subset. These constructions can differ sub
stantially in terms of tightness of syntactic linkage (juncture and nexus
type), with a concomitant difference in strength of semantic relation
between clauses. The strength of semantic relation can be represented
hierarchically as below, with strongest semantic relationship at the top and
weakest at the bottom:
Direct causation
Directive causation (Jussive)
Instrumentality
Purposiveness
Consecutive action
Unrelated actions
This hierarchy correlates with the hierarchy of tightness of clause linkage,
with the tightest clause linkage type, Nuclear Cosubordination (Comple
ment of Result) expressing direct causality, and the loosest, Clausal Coordi
nation (Juxtaposition in a SVC) expressing unrelated actions. This follows
the predictions of the RRG Interclausal Relations Hierarchy ("Synopsis",
Figure 19).
Notes
* Many helpful and insightful comments on the ideas and data presented in this
paper were generously given by Samuel Cheung, Randy LaPolla, James Matisoff,
Robert Sanders, Robert Van Valin, Jr., Ken Whistler, and Karl Zimmer. Cecilia
Chu, Yu-san Yu and Ying-ling Wang also gave generously of their native speaker
intuitions. Credit for any useful insights in this paper I must share with the above