A Generalized-Ditransitive Analysis for Gei in Mandarin Chinese

This thesis compares the various uses of gei and argues that they can be derived from a basic generalized-ditransitive structure with two internal arguments. The original ditansitive gei contains two semantic components, an event of transfer and a recipient. The difference in the complement of gei determines the various interpretations of the construction. The approach assumed here may also explain the similar uses of the verb rang and the verbs of giving in Thai and Vietnamese.