Objects and nothingness: Applicative-licensed nominal ellipsis

Abstract

Existing accounts of Mandarin elided objects, such as true empty category (TEC), provide broad data coverage but face empirical and theoretical challenges. Observations show that some of the generalizations behind TEC may be refined, and that TEC overgenerates with objects of prepositions and object control verbs. This work proposes an applicative-licensed nominal ellipsis (ALNE) analysis, correlating elided objects with applicative constructions. Addressing TEC’s overgeneration and nonlocal economy, ALNE offers a robust theoretical alternative, introducing a previously unrecognized ellipsis type.