On Weak-attributive Nouns in Mandarin Chinese:A Discussion on the Cognitive Foundation of Attributives
In Mandarin Chinese,most nouns can precede a head noun,acting as a modifier of the latter.These nouns are commonly known as attributive nouns.However,there is a small group of nouns that do not readily assume the attributive position in this language.We refer to these exceptional nouns as weak-attributive nouns(WANs hereafter).In this article,we present the distinctive traits of WANs and elucidate the reasons behind their behavior.We explore WANs from three perspectives:1)syntactic distribution,2)semantic collocation,and 3)pragmatic context.Regarding syntactic distribution,we argue that the prototypical characteristics of WANs hinders their placement in the attributive position,unlike what conventional nouns do.Regarding semantic collocation,we propose that WANs typically modify nouns using a limited set of expressions or within specific semantic categories.From a pragmatic perspective,we demonstrate that WANs are typically confined to specific,ad hoc expressions intended to achieve a rhetorical effect,often seen in literary,academic,or documentary discourses.This article primarily focuses on the first perspective.Nouns typically convey either a possessive or descriptive meaning when used as modifiers.The incompatibility of WANs with the attributive position may suggest that they inherently lack the ability to function as possessive or descriptive modifiers.We propose that nouns lacking a possessive function often exhibit low animacy.Specifically,WANs typically denote entities other than humans or animals.Moreover,WANs embody concepts of monadicity,representing entities that are physically and conceptually indivisible.However,formulating an analysis of nouns devoid of a descriptive function is challenging,given that it is a fundamental means of categorizing entities.In this article,we refer to this characteristic of WANs as low distinctiveness.Therefore,the defining traits of WANs can be summarized as follows:a noun possessing all these three features,namely low animacy,monadicity and low distinctiveness,is unequivocally classified as a WAN.Within the reference-point model in cognitive linguistics,the three features of WANs can be explained cohesively:in every attributive-head construction,the attributive element serves as a reference,guiding the addressee(s)to the target,while the head is perceived as the psychological path connecting the reference and the target.Attributive nouns should thus exhibit the following properties:firstly,attributive nouns tend to select concepts with high animacy,as they are more readily accessible in the minds of speakers;secondly,they favor divisible concepts,as references should be familiar to individuals,and divisible concepts entails a higher level of familiarity;thirdly,high distinctiveness is essential for attributive nouns,as the role of the reference point is to identify the target,which inherently possesses less ambiguity than the reference point itself.Consequently,WANs,which contradict these inherent qualities of a reference point,are naturally excluded from the attributive position.
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