關於句法結構中隱含論元 On Implicit Arguments in Syntactic Structure

Abstract

In many languages, some sentences are felt to contain implicit arguments, arguments that are absent in surface form but seem to play a role in affecting the interpretation or grammaticality of given sentences.  Two well known cases are the implicit agent phrase in an agent-less passive construction, and the understood experiencer of a raising construction.  Recent research has raised questions about how an implicit argument should be treated in the theory of argument structure and syntactic projection, including whether it is indeed suppressed, how it is syntactically represented and semantically interpreted, etc. This talk discusses some current works by Collins (2015, 2024) and considers related questions for the relevant constructions in Chinese.  It will be shown that while there is evidence for the syntactic representation of implicit arguments, questions remain as to their position in syntactic structure.  It is suggested that an implicit argument is an adjunct resulting from its suppression (as traditionally assumed).  It is also argued that this makes it possible to dispense with smuggling, together with the complications that would otherwise follow.