The Syntax of the Non-Referential TA 'it' in Mandarin Chinese ∗

This paper discusses the syntax of the Chinese non-referential ta ‘it’ as it occurs after the verb in haohao-de he ta liang-bei ‘Drink two cups’ or shui ta yi huir ‘Sleep for a while’. After presenting the problems of three previous analyses (the ditransitive, AgrOP, and VP proform analyses), we argue that the non-referential ta is an indefinite determiner clitic which is the head of DP and is adjoined to its preceding verb. Such an analysis not only better accounts for the Chinese data but also has an important implication with respect to Uriagereka’s (1995) observation about the specificity of clitics in general and their relation to Diesing’s (1992) Mapping Hypothesis.

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