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by Miao, Chin-an

This thesis is an attempt to describe in outline the semantic structure of Modern Standard Chinese and to show how the semantic structure may be mapped onto the complements of Modern Standard Chinese. There are

four chapters.

A very simple survey of existing theories and

their relationship to my own theory is attempted in Chapter

One.

The 3emantic structure of Modern Standard Chinese is explored in Chapter Two. The semantic relationships dealt with are those which relate semantic structure to the real world on the one hand, and to grammatical structure on the other. Such relationships may be

termed external.

Internal relationships are those which exist

between the various semantic categories.

The paramount problem here is the relationship

between predication and participants. There are thirteen classes of predications, e.g. causative action, and more than twenty classes of participants, e.g. patient, in

the thesis.

The grammatical structure of the complement

and related problems are discussed in Chapter Three in

the light of the analysis in the previous chapters. Complements are defined and classified according to grammatical criteria. They are classified into two groups,Simple and Complex. There is no "de" attached to the head word

of the predicator as a suffix if the complement is Simple. Nine types of Simple Complements are isolated, e.g. the complement of patient. There is a "de" attached to the

head word of the predicator as a suffix if the complement

is Complex. Complex complements can be subclassified into two types, Type,l and Type II. Type I is a subject-predicate construction, and Type II a verbal phrase or an adjective phrase.

It is shown in the las~ chapter that Simple Complements reflect twelve types of semantic relationships, e.g. a change in the patient caused by an action. Complex Complements reflect ten types of semantic relationships. The principal semantic function of Type I Complex Complements is to manifest an action by one agent which

is caused by the action of another; Type II Complex Complements on the other hand manifest manner, degree or result.