Title: Generation of the Topic Structure in the Left Periphery of Chinese Nominal Phrases

Abstract: This article starts from the DP left periphery structure to investigate issues such as the types of topics within this structure, distribution characteristics, deduction processes, and whether there is parallelism between the CP and DP left periphery topic structures. The analysis suggests that the DP left periphery topic structure only allows for hanging topics, and there are also differences in co-occurrence and word order among subclasses of hanging topics: multiple possessor topic structures do not allow co-occurrence, while locative and temporal topics can co-occur; there is no dominant word order when locative topics and temporal topics co-occur, allowing for freedom and flexibility, but the co-occurrence of single types of locative or temporal topics must follow a distribution pattern of larger framework > smaller framework, larger scope > smaller scope. This article further contrasts the generative mechanisms of topic structures with those of possessive structures and adjunct structures, providing a syntactic explanation for the peripheral features and blocking effects of topic structures.

Keywords: Chinese Nominal Phrases, left periphery structure, topic structure, peripheral feature, blocking effect

Author: Yitong Gao, Editor, Foreign Studies College, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2024.01.011