This study investigated the relationship between two critical cognitive factors in constructing alternative ba sentences and SVO sentences in Mandarin Chinese: locality effects that predict a processing advantage for sentences where distances between syntactically related words are minimized, and predictability that predicts heavy processing difficulty for a word when its possibility of occurrence is low. Locality effects were measured by dependency distance and predictability was quantified by n-gram surprisal and Dependency Grammar (DG) surprisal. The results showed that locality effects and predictability co-exist in sentence construction: (a) there is a competitive relationship between dependency distance and n-gram surprisal in constructing naturally occurring ba sentences and the corresponding SVO sentences; (b) the competition between dependency distance and n-gram surprisal was also found in constructing ba sentences and SVO sentences respectively; (c) there is a competitive relationship between dependency distance and n-gram surprisal as well as a competitive relationship between dependency distance and DG surprisal in constructing naturally occurring ba sentences and ba sentences converted from SVO sentences. It is worth noting that, in some cases, dependency distance and DG surprisal cooperate with each other. These findings have important implications for theories of language production and cognition.

中国殷商甲骨卜辞时间中干支有着重要地位。与之后不同的是，卜辞干 支前可加不同的修饰语，其意义学界分歧甚大。本论文着眼于卜辞的整 个干支系统，以香港中文大学汉达文库为支撑，分析其分布和内部关系。 论文发现：1)“今来”能产性差的根源是由于其内部两个语义枝有矛盾； 2) “今/翌/来/今来”与“今日/翌日/来日”之间存在语用差异，分属村北 和村南系；3) 干支修饰语“今/今日”“翌/翌日”“来/来日”区别特征 分别是“近指、定指占卜次日、非本旬”。由此推知，卜辞干支前的修饰 语是语用、语义共同作用的产物。

This paper focuses on the phenomenon that the same combination of verbs denoting the meaning of action-motion can occur in two different syntactic subtypes of Serial Verb Construction, i.e., the nuclear serialization and core serialization, based on the general distinction made in studies that adopt a variety of theoretical frameworks. Despite the similar meaning expressed by the two constructions and their instantiations that share the same component verbs, the nuclear and core serializations can be distinguished from each other in terms of their argument structure and constituency structure. In this paper, I attempt to offer an adequate description of the properties of these syntactic subtypes of action-motion SVC attested in two Sinitic varieties: Standard Mandarin Chinese and Jinjiang Southern Min. In addition, I argue that only the directional verb (V2) in the core serialization can be optionally followed by a locative noun phrase due to its partly independent argument structure in the core serialization, a characteristic not observed in the nuclear serialization. While both syntactic subtypes of action-motion SVC can be found in Mandarin Chinese, in Jinjiang Southern Min, the meaning of action-motion can only be encoded by the core serialization. The use of contrasting structures to encode action-motion expressions in Mandarin Chinese and mainland Southern Min also indicates the diversity of grammar found in different Sinitic varieties (also see Chappell 2015; Chappell and Li 2015).

本文研究的是廉江粤语中由重叠形式构成的一种特殊方位短语，这种 方位短语由重叠的处所名词短语与方位指示语组成，并且处所名词短 语之后的方位指示语必须强制性出现。调查发现重叠部分必须是有定 的、易于被说话人指认的处所名词短语，重叠之后表达“靠近/在…附 近”的语法意义，而方位指示语仅限于类似英语 here, there 的非常有 限的几个方位指示语。分析认为，重叠处所名词短语中包含一个功能 性成分“附近”，而处所名词由于是“附近”的参照点，必须所指明 确，导致了处所名词的有定性语义要求。本文同时认为，重叠处所名 词是整个方位短语的修饰语，方位指示语才是整个方位短语的中心语， 由此解释了方位指示语为何必须强制性出现的问题。这种特殊的重叠 方位短语作为一个绝佳的观察窗口，使我们一方面得以窥探汉语方位 短语的内部句法结构，另一方面可以了解重叠的语法功能与重叠短语 的句法结构。

This paper aims to probe into the semantic constraints that dictate the morphological make-ups of motion sequences. Given that Mandarin allows serial motion construction with multiple verbal morphemes, it is always an intriguing question as to how the morphemes are combined and ordered. To account for the allowed and disallowed sequences of prototypical motion verbs, three sequencing principles are proposed on par with the Proto-Motion Event Schema proposed in Liu et al. (2015). The proposed principles help to set the semantic boundary of a serial motion sequence (The Boundary-Setting Principle), rule out morphological combinations that are against the default order (the Non-Regressional Principle), and account for the prominence and characteristics of Path in motion predication (the Path-Delimiting Principle). As Path is an integral part of motion, it has to be properly delimited with a Path-delimiting element. These three principles may together account for the multi-morpheme motion sequences whose morphological structures are highly correlated with lexical semantic structures. By characterizing the semantic-to- morphological correlations, the study ultimately shows how morpho-syntactic patterns are motivated and shaped by semantic and functional considerations in operation.

Based on Early Modern Southern Min texts from Ming and Qing dynasties, this paper studies the different functions of 力 liāh in Southern Min and the grammaticalisation pathways that led to the polysemantism. 力 liāh could appear as a content verb 'to catch' or a polyfunctional case marker in Early Modern Southern Min; while in Contemporary Southern Min, its verb use has become overwhelming, and its grammatical uses are mostly fossilised.

Professor Yuen Ren Chao (赵元任), ex-president of the Linguistic Society of America, once wrote a homophonic discourse entitled "Shī shì shí shī shĭ 施氏食狮史" (Story of Stone Grotto Poet: Eating Lions) (Chao [1960]1980, 149). But so far, no one knows why such a discourse is possible. This paper makes an attempt to discuss this issue. It is argued that the possibility of homophonic discourse is principally attributed to the fact that unlike English, the Chinese language has a unique bipartite spelling system, i.e., one composed of Chinese character spellings and Chinese pinyin spellings, and that they correspond to each other in terms of over 400 Chinese Pinyin syllables with variations through tones which satisfy the phonological, graphological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic premises for the construal of a homophonic discourse.

马来西亚华语中副词“几”的用法较为广泛。从语法化及语言接触的角 度探讨这一用法发现，马来西亚华语“几”的副词用法是受中国南方方 言特别是粤语的影响所致。马来西亚华语副词“几”主要有三种用法： (a)表询问，用于疑问句；(b)表任一程度；(c)表程度高。另外，马来西 亚华语“几+动/形+(一)下”结构用法也很普遍。马来西亚华语“几”的副 词用法的产生与“几”的语法化具有密切关系。“几”从表数量到表程度， 是一个由客观数量到主观程度的演变历程。中国大陆普通话已经没有 程度副词“几”的用法，但是中国南方方言的“几”的这种用法却比较普 遍，尤其是粤语。马来西亚华语“几”的副词用法是受粤语的影响而形 成的，是方言接触的结果，马来西亚华语“几”的副词用法复制了粤语 中“几”的这种用法，是一种语法复制现象。

中国大陆目前通用的现行盲文本质上是一种音节盲文（或者称为拼音 盲文），在盲文信息化和盲人识字方面表现出很多不足。本文旨在提出 一种汉字盲文设计的框架结构以解决上述问题。汉字盲文基于现行盲 文设计，利用现行盲文本身及在现行盲文前加标志位的方式定制盲文 版汉字。这些标志位与汉字的偏旁相关联，不仅可以有效区分“同音 字”，还可以表现汉字的意义。因此，汉字盲文虽然从“音节盲文”发 展而来，但它突破了传统“音节盲文”的局限性，自成体系，在某种 程度上有助于视力残疾人士更好的融入明眼人社会，也可以极大提高 计算机汉字和盲文相互转换的效率。

Professor Yuen Ren Chao (赵元任), ex-president of the Linguistic Society of America, once wrote a homophonic discourse entitled “Shī shì shí shī shĭ 施 氏 食 狮 史 ” (Story of Stone Grotto Poet: Eating Lions) (Chao [1960]1980, 149). But so far, no one knows why such a discourse is possible. This paper makes an attempt to discuss this issue. It is argued that the possibility of homophonic discourse is principally attributed to the fact that unlike English, the Chinese language has a unique bipartite spelling system, i.e., one composed of Chinese character spellings and Chinese pinyin spellings, and that they correspond to each other in terms of over 400 Chinese Pinyin syllables with variations through tones which satisfy the phonological, graphological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic premises for the construal of a homophonic discourse.