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本文是一篇英语语言学论文题目，本文首先分别讨论了英语和汉语EPSs中后言语NP的这些现象，然后对这两个问题进行了统一的分析。具体来说，本研究试图在MP的框架内，通过引入空类别来推导英语和汉语EPSs的结构。根据XP的不同语法类别，EPSs可以分为不同的类型。

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Research Background and Research Object

Generative Grammar (G&G) has gone through several stages of development since it was first put forward in the 1950s. The Minimalist Program (MP), the latest achievement of G&G, aims to realize both descriptive and explanative adequacy on the basis of language facts. Within the framework of MP, we try to solve the puzzles of pivots in existential pivotal sentences (EPSs) in both English and Chinese. 

The typical structure of EPS is a basic existential sentence (ES) followed by an extension (XP). Generally, ESs express that certain entities exist, appear or disappear from somewhere. The basic structure and examples of ESs in English and Chinese are illustrated below:

(1) English: There + be (am, is, are, was, were)/VP + NP 

(2)a. There are ghosts. 

b. There came a boy.      c. There exist many problems.

(3) Chinese: LP + VP + NP

(4)a. Wu-li        you   yi-ge-ren.

1.2 Research Methods and Research Questions

1.2.1 Research Methods

Two analytical approaches are adopted in the present study. The first one is a qualitative analysis based on detailed descriptions of language facts. In the MP framework, this thesis probes into the properties of NPs in English and Chinese EPSs. According to the syntactic categories of XPs, both English and Chinese EPSs can be divided into several types, each of which requires a number of examples. To gather enough examples, there are two sources in this thesis: One is that we collect and quote some examples from previous studies. Another is that we retrieve the examples from English or Chinese corpus, such as British National Corpus (BNC①), BLCU Corpus Center (abbreviated as BCC②), etc. For instance, if typing the string “menkou ‘doorway’ + you ‘have’ + noun + verb” in the box of BCC, we will get lots of sentences of this structure. Then we select and filter the matched strings of EPSs. Having collected the needed examples, we try to provide a unified analysis of the syntactic mechanism of English and Chinese EPSs. 

The second one is a comparative analysis. A unified analysis can be generalized from the EPSs of English and Chinese, which have demonstrated different superficial syntactic representations. When deriving the structures of EPSs in English and Chinese, we find that the key factor is that they have different morphological inflection systems. Therefore, we try to figure out and compare the similarities and differences between the derivation of English and Chinese. The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to seek a unified account of the puzzle of pivots in EPSs, based on the unified derivation of English and Chinese EPSs. In addition, we provide a unified analysis of the case feature and indefiniteness of post-verbal NPs in English and Chinese EPSs. 

Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Previous Studies on English and Chinese ESs and ESs with Extensions

Linguists have paid much attention to English and Chinese ESs, and their basic structures本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。