An Exo-Skeletal Analysis of Complex-Path Motion Predicates in Taiwan Mandarin

This study analyzes the syntactic structure of motion predicates in Mandarin, with a specific focus on how the language expresses paths of motion and telicity. It adopts a generative-constructionist model called the Exo-Skeletal Model. Data were gathered from three native speakers of Mandarin living in Taiwan, using video prompts depicting various types of motion events. Upon seeing a prompt, the speakers produced a sentence or sentences describing the event in the prompt. Based on the data, this study points out a number of syntactic patterns unique to Mandarin, and it proposes an explanatory account of these patterns.