This book defines Chinese middle constructions as generic constructions, with their highest syntactically saturated argument always understood as an arbitrary one. This working definition sets middle construction apart from middle voice in that it can be instantiated by various constructions in Chinese. By scrutinizing these constructions in the framework of Generative Syntax, the book concludes that their formation takes place at the lexical level, without resorting to any syntactic mechanisms and thus that Chinese falls into the category of lexical middle languages , which are in contrast to syntactic middle languages .
Chapter 1 The Middle Voice vs. the Middle Construction
1.1 The Middle Voice
1.2 The Middle Construction
1.3 The Relationship between the Middle Voice and the Middle Construction
1.4 Chinese Middle Constructions
Chapter 2 Middle Constructions: Previous Research
2.1 Syntactic Approaches
2.2 Lexical Approaches
2.3 Semantic Approaches
2.4 Parametric Approaches
2.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 The Qilai Middle
3.1 The Various Usages of Qilai
3.2 The [NP Theme V-qilai AP] Pattern
3.3 The Middlehood of the [NP theme V-qilai AP] Structure
3.4 Verbal Constraints on the Qilai Middle
3.5 The Qilai Adjunct Middle
3.6 Ditransitivity in the Qilai Middle
3.7 Chapter Summary
Chapter 4 The Hao and Rongyi/nan Middles
4.1 Two Different Uses of the Prefix Hao
4.2 Hao versus Rongyi/Nan
4.3 The Hao Construction Versus the Rongyi/Nan Construction
4.4 The Middle Construction VersuslS+
![Chinese Middle Constructions Lexical Middle Formation [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/2/8/4/2_988891.jpg)