xcomp: open clausal complement
The open clausal complement functions like an object of another verb, but unlike the ccomp dependent, it obligatorily lacks an overt subject. More crucially, the absent or “silent” subject is coreferent with an argument outside of the clausal complement in a higher clause (this is also known as “obligatory control” in some linguistic literature).
When the silent subject of xcomp is obligatorily coreferent with the subject of the higher clause, it is known as “subject control”. Some matrix verbs that take a clausal complement with subject control include 準備 / zhǔnbèi “prepare”, 打算 / dǎsuàn “plan”, 決定 / juédìng “decide”, 開始 / kāishǐ “start”, 答應 / dāyìng “promise”.
# visual-style 4 5 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
# visual-style 5 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 5 fgColor:white
1 我 _ PRON _ _ 4 nsubj _ 1SG
2 早 _ ADV _ _ 4 advmod _ early
3 就 _ ADV _ _ 4 advmod _ then
4 打算 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ plan
5 換 _ VERB _ _ 4 xcomp _ change
6 車 _ NOUN _ _ 5 obj _ car
1 "I _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 already _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 planned _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 to _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 change _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 cars _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 early _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
8 on." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
The matrix verb may require both a non-clausal object and a clausal complement:
# visual-style 2 4 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 我 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 1SG
2 答應 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ promise
3 你 _ PRON _ _ 2 obj _ 2SG
4 買 _ VERB _ _ 2 xcomp _ buy
5 那 _ DET _ _ 7 det _ that
6 頭 _ NOUN _ _ 5 clf _ CL:cattle
7 牛 _ NOUN _ _ 4 obj _ cow
1 "I _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 promise _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 you _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 to _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 buy _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 that _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 cow." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
In the case of “object control”, the subject of the clausal complement is obligatorily coreferent with the direct object of the higher clause. Many Chinese “pivotal constructions” are considered to fall under this category. Some matrix verbs that may take a clausal complement with object control include 麻煩 / máfán “trouble”, 勸 / quàn “advise”, 派 / pài “dispatch”, 求 / qiú “beg”, / 委託 wěituō “entrust”, 請 / qǐng “ask”, 命令 / mìnglìng “order”, 叫 / jiào “tell”, 原諒 / yuánliàng “forgive”, 恭喜 / gōngxǐ “congratulate”, 批評 / pīpíng “criticize”, among others (however, note that some of these verbs may also take just a non-clausal object).
# visual-style 2 7 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 7 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 7 fgColor:white
1 我 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 1SG
2 命令 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ order
3 你 _ PRON _ _ 2 obj _ 2SG
4 立刻 _ ADV _ _ 7 advmod _ immediately
5 把 _ ADP _ _ 6 case _ BA
6 腳 _ NOUN _ _ 7 obl:patient _ leg
7 放 _ VERB _ _ 2 xcomp _ put
8 下 _ VERB _ _ 7 compound:dir _ go-down
1 "I _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 order _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 you _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 to _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 put _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 down _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 your _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
8 feet _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
9 immediately." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
Secondary predicates
Note that the complement may be simply a nominal predicate, where the structure should not be confused with a ditransitive verb requiring a direct object and an indirect object, such as the examples below. This is also known as a “secondary predicate” or “small clause” in the linguistic literature.
# visual-style 1 4 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 1 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 叫 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ call
2 我 _ PRON _ _ 1 obj _ 1SG
3 羅 _ PROPN _ _ 4 compound _ Luo
4 先生 _ NOUN _ _ 1 xcomp _ Mr.
1 "Call _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 me _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 Mr. _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 Luo." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
# visual-style 2 4 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 她 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 3SG.F
2 當 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ consider
3 我 _ PRON _ _ 2 obj _ 1SG
4 傻瓜 _ NOUN _ _ 2 xcomp _ fool
1 "She _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 considers _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 me _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 a _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 fool." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
In “extent compound” constructions
Additionally, xcomp is used when the predicate or clause following a V-得 extent compound (see compound:ext) is lacking its local subject.
# visual-style 2 4 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 你 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 1SG
2 説 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ say
3 得 _ PART _ _ 2 compound:ext _ DE
4 對 _ ADJ _ _ 2 xcomp _ correct
1 "You _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 said _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 it _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 correctly." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
# visual-style 2 5 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 5 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 5 fgColor:white
1 我 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 1SG
2 熱 _ ADJ _ _ 0 root _ hot
3 得 _ PART _ _ 2 compound:ext _ DE
4 想 _ AUX _ _ 5 aux _ want
5 吐 _ VERB _ _ 2 xcomp _ vomit
6 了 _ PART _ _ 5 discourse:sp _ SP
1 "I'm _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 so _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 hot _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 I _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 want _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 to _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 vomit." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
Raising constructions
A small class of predicate adjectives, including 容易 róngyì “easy”, 難 nán “difficult”, 可能 kěnéng “possible”, take a clausal complement in which its subject or object is in the subject or topic position of the main clause.
# visual-style 3 4 xcomp color:blue
# visual-style 3 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 3 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 他 _ PRON _ _ 3 nsubj _ 3SG
2 很 _ ADV _ _ 3 advmod _ very
3 容易 _ ADJ _ _ 0 root _ easy
4 忘記 _ VERB _ _ 3 xcomp _ forget
5 事情 _ NOUN _ _ 4 obj _ things
1 "It _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 is _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 easy _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 for _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 him _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 to _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 forget _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
8 things. _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
9 / _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
10 He _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
11 forgets _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
12 things _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
13 easily." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
The predicate of the clausal complement is linked to the predicate adjective as an xcomp dependent, whereas the noun phrase preceding the predicate adjective is treated as its syntactic subject (nsubj) regardless of whether it can be semantically understood to be the subject or object of the clausal complement.
ccomp vs. object-control xcomp
Since both ccomp and object-control xcomp may both contain an argument between the matrix verb and the embedded verb, confusion may arise as to which relation is appropriate.
We adopt a test from Chao (1968) which allows one to separate “clausal objects” (ccomp) from “pivotal constructions” (object-control xcomp). In the case of ccomp, it is grammatical to dislocate the matrix verb with its subject to the end, while the same operation on an xcomp sentence would result in ungrammaticality:
ccomp |
xcomp |
|
|---|---|---|
| 他 認為 你 有 禮貌 | 他 請 你 幫忙 | |
| 3SG consider 2SG have politeness | 3SG ask 2SG help | |
| “He thinks you’re polite” | “He asked you to help” | |
| OKAY: 你 有 禮貌, 他 認為 | BAD: * 你 幫忙, 他 請 |
References
- Chao, Yuan Ren. 1968. A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. University of California Press.
Treebank Statistics (UD_Chinese)
This relation is universal.
1604 nodes (1%) are attached to their parents as xcomp.
1262 instances of xcomp (79%) are left-to-right (parent precedes child).
Average distance between parent and child is 4.55361596009975.
The following 23 pairs of parts of speech are connected with xcomp: zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/VERB (1412; 88% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/ADJ (39; 2% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/NOUN (38; 2% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/ADP (33; 2% instances), zh-pos/ADP-zh-pos/VERB (17; 1% instances), zh-pos/ADJ-zh-pos/VERB (13; 1% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/PART (10; 1% instances), zh-pos/ADV-zh-pos/VERB (9; 1% instances), zh-pos/NOUN-zh-pos/VERB (8; 0% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/NUM (4; 0% instances), zh-pos/ADP-zh-pos/NOUN (3; 0% instances), zh-pos/PART-zh-pos/VERB (3; 0% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/AUX (3; 0% instances), zh-pos/ADJ-zh-pos/ADJ (2; 0% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/PRON (2; 0% instances), zh-pos/ADJ-zh-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/ADV-zh-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/AUX-zh-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/NOUN-zh-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/NUM-zh-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/PART-zh-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/ADV (1; 0% instances), zh-pos/VERB-zh-pos/PROPN (1; 0% instances).
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
# visual-style 10 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 10 fgColor:white
# visual-style 10 4 xcomp color:blue
1 這種 這種 DET DT _ 2 det _ SpaceAfter=No
2 車輛 車輛 NOUN NN _ 10 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
3 如果 如果 ADP IN _ 4 case _ SpaceAfter=No
4 歸 歸 VERB VV _ 10 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No
5 私人 私人 NOUN NN _ 6 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
6 擁有 擁有 VERB VV _ 4 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No
7 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
8 多半 多半 ADV RB _ 10 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No
9 會 會 AUX MD _ 10 aux _ SpaceAfter=No
10 設置 設置 VERB VV _ 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No
11 昂貴 昂貴 ADJ JJ _ 14 amod _ SpaceAfter=No
12 的 的 PART DEC _ 11 mark:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No
13 音頻 音頻 NOUN NN _ 14 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
14 設備 設備 NOUN NN _ 10 obj _ SpaceAfter=No
15 、 、 PUNCT EC _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
16 電視 電視 NOUN NN _ 17 case:suff _ SpaceAfter=No
17 機 機 PART SFN _ 14 conj _ SpaceAfter=No
18 、 、 PUNCT EC _ 20 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
19 影碟 影碟 NOUN NN _ 20 case:suff _ SpaceAfter=No
20 機 機 PART SFN _ 14 conj _ SpaceAfter=No
21 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
22 以及 以及 CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ SpaceAfter=No
23 吧台 吧台 NOUN NN _ 14 conj _ SpaceAfter=No
24 和 和 CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ SpaceAfter=No
25 冰箱 冰箱 NOUN NN _ 23 conj _ SpaceAfter=No
26 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
# visual-style 22 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 22 fgColor:white
# visual-style 19 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 19 fgColor:white
# visual-style 19 22 xcomp color:blue
1 北極 北極 PROPN NNP _ 3 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
2 土著 土著 NOUN NN _ 3 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
3 民族 民族 NOUN NN _ 8 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
4 一直 一直 ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No
5 與 與 ADP IN _ 6 case _ SpaceAfter=No
6 外界 外界 NOUN NN _ 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
7 接觸 接觸 AUX VV _ 8 cop _ SpaceAfter=No
8 甚少 甚少 ADJ JJ _ 19 dep _ SpaceAfter=No
9 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
10 直到 直到 ADP IN _ 11 case _ SpaceAfter=No
11 現代 現代 NOUN NN _ 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No
12 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
13 與 與 ADP IN _ 17 det _ SpaceAfter=No
14 其他 其他 DET DT _ 15 det _ SpaceAfter=No
15 地區 地區 NOUN NN _ 13 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
16 的 的 PART DEC Case=Gen 13 case:dec _ SpaceAfter=No
17 交流 交流 NOUN NN _ 19 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
18 才 才 ADV RB _ 19 mark _ SpaceAfter=No
19 開始 開始 VERB VV _ 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No
20 變 變 AUX VV _ 22 cop _ SpaceAfter=No
21 得 得 PART DEV _ 22 mark:comp _ SpaceAfter=No
22 頻繁 頻繁 ADJ JJ _ 19 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No
23 . . PUNCT . _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
# visual-style 17 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 17 fgColor:white
# visual-style 16 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 16 fgColor:white
# visual-style 16 17 xcomp color:blue
1 受 受 VERB VV _ 16 acl _ SpaceAfter=No
2 此 此 PRON PRD _ 3 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
3 影響 影響 VERB VV _ 1 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No
4 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
5 毛 毛 PROPN NNP _ 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
6 允良 允良 PROPN NNP _ 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
7 一 一 NUM CD NumType=Card 8 nummod _ SpaceAfter=No
8 家 家 NOUN NN _ 16 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
9 被 被 VERB BB Voice=Pass 13 aux:pass _ SpaceAfter=No
10 沖繩 沖繩 PROPN NNP _ 11 case:suff _ SpaceAfter=No
11 縣 縣 PART SFN _ 12 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No
12 警察 警察 NOUN NN _ 13 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No
13 逮捕 逮捕 VERB VV _ 16 acl _ SpaceAfter=No
14 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
15 並 並 ADV RB _ 16 mark _ SpaceAfter=No
16 受到 受到 VERB VV _ 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No
17 拷問 拷問 NOUN NN _ 16 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No
18 . . PUNCT . _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No
xcomp in other languages: [am] [ar] [bg] [bxr] [ca] [ckb] [cop] [cs] [cu] [da] [de] [el] [en] [es] [et] [eu] [fa] [fi] [fo] [fr] [ga] [gl] [got] [grc] [he] [hi] [hr] [hu] [id] [it] [ja] [kk] [kmr] [ko] [la] [lv] [mr] [nl] [no] [pl] [pt] [ro] [ru] [sa] [sk] [sla] [sl] [so] [sr] [sv] [swl] [ta] [tr] [u] [ug] [uk] [ur] [urj] [vi] [yue] [zh]