Exploring the Syntactic Structure of Mandarin Imperatives

This thesis investigates the syntax of imperatives in Mandarin Chinese, focusing on the interplay between clausal structure and discourse roles. While imperatives have received considerable cross-linguistic attention, existing models are largely based on inflectional languages and do not fully capture the properties of Mandarin, an isolating language with flexible subject realization and a rich system of sentence-final particles. The study applies and extends Alcázar and Saltarelli’s (2014) Light Performative Hypothesis within a CP-based framework, complemented by insights from the Speech Act Phrase approach (Speas & Tenny 2003; Haegeman & Hill 2013). Using a combination of descriptive analysis and theoretical modeling, it examines both canonical imperatives and hortatives, including dialectal evidence from Sichuanese. The analysis shows that canonical imperatives involve a binary mapping between speaker and addressee, often allowing subject omission, and that their clause typing is anchored in a high speech-act projection. Hortatives, by contrast, introduce a third discourse participant, the performer, which requires a tripartite speech-act domain. This explains the frequent occurrence of overt performer arguments, the reliance on the light causative verb 让 ràng ‘let’, and the contrast between inclusive and non-inclusive hortatives. Negation further supports this layered architecture: the modal negator 不要búyào operates within ModP, while the performative negator 别 bié requires a dedicated NegPerformativeP in the left periphery. Sentence-final particles are shown to be obligatory syntactic heads that calibrate directive force at the edge of the clause. Dialectal evidence from Sichuanese highlights an additional vocative-bound requestive projection, confirming the articulation of the speech-act field. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that Mandarin directive syntax is best understood as a layered interaction between clausal projections and the speech-act domain. By integrating imperatives and hortatives into a unified account, the study contributes to the broader theory of the syntax–pragmatics interface.