MCLC: dissent speaks code (9)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: wolfgang behr (zurich) <behr at oas.uzh.ch>
Subject: dissent speaks code (9)
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Dear Costas,

I was talking about sentences, in which the verbal passive predicate
introduced by 被 has an object, such that the subject is typically
interpreted as a "genitive" modifying that object. Thus, in

郭威被刺污了臉儿 （新五代史平話)
(lit.: "Guo Wei was stabbed-from-dirt the face")
"Guo Wei had the dirt scraped off from his face"

the direct object (臉儿) of the VP (刺污了) receives an interpretation
as if the subject was its modifier. What is typical for the 宋 period
onwards is also, that the VP of such 被-phrases gets more complex,
including, e.g. complements, secondary verbs, more complicted adverbials
etc.

The sentence, incidentally, is quoted in the paper by  Tang Yuming, the
reference to which was in the message you initially sent to the list
(only that you had a typo in the journal's name, which should be 中国语
文, not 中国语言, 1988/6). You will find the article also in 唐钰明, <著
名中年语言学家自选集>, 合肥: 安徽教育出版社, 2002, 283-286 and I can
send it to you off-list, if you're interested.

Best,
Wolfgang