External degree constructions in Mandarin

Abstract

This paper analyzes the Mandarin counterpart of a German construction that is initiated with a [degree + determiner] cluster, such as total die Party ‘a total party’. It shows that the Deg-to-D head movement in German is also seen in the Mandarin hao + yi + ge construction. Moreover, it argues that in Mandarin, the head cluster moves further out of the DP, explaining why the construction rejects an overt copula and why it is used as a predicate exclusively. Furthermore, it identifies the null subject of the construction in Mandarin, which is exclamative, as a new type of obligatorily silent subject, parallel to the type of null subject that is found in imperatives and exhortatives.