A Reanalysis of Chinese Passive with a Retained Object

摘要

This paper holds that Chinese passive with a retained object is not derived as a result of possessor raising, but from the passivization of the rob-type double object construction (DOC) with the two objects having the possessive semantic relationship. This rob-type DOC can be regarded as a DOC with characteristics of a low applicative, where the head Appl introduces the indirect object as its specifier and the direct object as its complement. The passivization of the rob-type DOC leads to only the movement of its direct object, and thus produces the so-called passive with a retained object. This analysis can provide solutions to the problems left behind by the Possessor Raising Analysis.