Lexical Decomposition, Silent Categories, and the Localizer Phrase

Linguistic

Resultatives and Unaccusatives: A Parametric View

This paper capitalizes on two peculiar properties of Mandarin Chinese resultative constructions that pose problems for a general theory of argument structure and parametric theory: (a) the widespread existence of unergative objectless resultatives, and (b) the possibility for both unaccusatives and unergatives to be causativized. It is proposed that these properties are reduced to the single possibility in Chinese (but not in English) for an unergative verb to merge as a manner modifier of an inchoative eventuality predicate BECOME in event structure. This parametric property is in turn reduced to a property of Chinese as a language of high analyticity. In opposition to certain recent models, the paper argues for the existence of a syntax-lexicon macro-parameter.Linguistic

新兴非典型被动式“被 XX” 的句法与语义结构 (The syntax and semantics of the new non-canonical bei (被) XX construction.

提要 本文讨论新兴非典型“被 XX”结构的句法、语义特征及历史来源并进行跨 语言的比较研究。本文认为这种“新生”结构不是一个将不及物动词被动化的特殊 句法结构,而是一些隐含了使动、意动或施动成分的轻动词结构。受到被动化的动 词不是 XX 本身,而是其所隐含的无声轻动词。类似的隐含动词结构也大量见于古 汉语、英语等语言,不同的是,现代汉语的“被 XX”结构不能还原为主动形式。 本文将这一不同归因于综合性语言与分析性语言之间的不同,并以“派生时机参 数”为基础的参数理论对此提出解释。从语言演变角度来讲,“被 XX”结构在现 代汉语的出现反映了语言演变遵循“⋯ 综合 → 分析 → 综合 ⋯”的循环模式。Linguistic

On Ta De Laoshi Dang-de Hao ‘He Teaches Well’ and Related Problems

Modern Chinese exhibits a number of apparent syntax-semantics mismatches, giving rise to many examples with ‘fake possessives’ and ‘fake nominal quantifiers’, which pose non-trivial problems for a theory of syntax-semantics mapping and lead to other peculiar phenomena. This article assumes a lexical decomposition approach and proposes a head-movement explanation of the apparent mismatches, according to which a verb moves out of a gerundive construction into a higher performative light verb position. The proposal not only solves the apparent problems discussed, but is supported by several independent motivations and theoretical bonuses. The paper also broaches the question of linguistic variation, showing that the observed phenomena are by-products of Modern Chinese as a highly analytic language.Linguistic

On the Typology of Zero Anaphora

Languages differ considerably in the extent to which they allow the use of zero pronouns. The occurrence of zero pronouns ranges from very limited (as in English and French), to somewhat less so (as in Italian, Spanish, etc.), to very free (as in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.). In the first kind of languages, a zero pronoun may occur only as the subject of a tenseless clause, but not as the subject of a tensed clause or as the object of any clause. This is illustrated by the English examples below, where e marks the position of a zero pronoun

Control and raising passives, and why Mandarin does not smuggle

Collins (Syntax 8:81–120, 2005) proposes a smuggling approach to English passives that solves some problems associated with the traditional analysis. This article will show that while English passives involve smuggling, Mandarin passives do not; we offer an explanation for this difference. We first provide evidence that Mandarin passives can have not only control structures (as previously assumed) but also the possibility of a raising derivation involving A-movement, thus ruling out control as the sole reason for the absence of smuggling. We then attribute the absence of smuggling in Mandarin to the existence of vP-internal movement, which implies that Chinese allows multiple Specs of vP while English does not. This analysis helps tie together a number of otherwise unrelated differences between these languages (vP-internal movement, quantifier float, and constituency). We see the results as falling within the basic tenets of the theory of UG: While UTAH and Minimality are presumably universal requirements, individual grammars may employ different strategies to satisfy them.Linguistic

Pion and Eta Strings

In this paper we construct a string-like classical solution, the pion-string, in the linear sigma model. We then study the stability of the pion-string, and find that it is unstable in the parameter space allowed experimentally. We also speculate on the existance of an unstable eta-string, associated with spontaneous breakdown of the anomalous $U_A(1)$ symmetry in QCD at high temperatures. The implications of the pion and eta strings for cosmology and heavy ion collisions are briefly mentioned.Comment: 5 pages, LATE

LambdaUNet: 2.5D Stroke Lesion Segmentation of Diffusion-weighted MR Images

Diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke. DW images (DWIs) are usually acquired in multi-slice settings where lesion areas in two consecutive 2D slices are highly discontinuous due to large slice thickness and sometimes even slice gaps. Therefore, although DWIs contain rich 3D information, they cannot be treated as regular 3D or 2D images. Instead, DWIs are somewhere in-between (or 2.5D) due to the volumetric nature but inter-slice discontinuities. Thus, it is not ideal to apply most existing segmentation methods as they are designed for either 2D or 3D images. To tackle this problem, we propose a new neural network architecture tailored for segmenting highly-discontinuous 2.5D data such as DWIs. Our network, termed LambdaUNet, extends UNet by replacing convolutional layers with our proposed Lambda+ layers. In particular, Lambda+ layers transform both intra-slice and inter-slice context around a pixel into linear functions, called lambdas, which are then applied to the pixel to produce informative 2.5D features. LambdaUNet is simple yet effective in combining sparse inter-slice information from adjacent slices while also capturing dense contextual features within a single slice. Experiments on a unique clinical dataset demonstrate that LambdaUNet outperforms existing 3D/2D image segmentation methods including recent variants of UNet. Code for LambdaUNet is released with the publication to facilitate future research