Universal Merge and Chinese Relativization

Following the movement/internal-merge analysis of English relativization,many linguists argue for a similar approach to Chinese relativization(believing that there is operator movement or head raising in the derivation of the Chinese relative structure).This paper argues for a no-movement/external-merge analysis of Chinese relativization because six syntactic features in the Chinese relative structure point to systematic differences between Chinese and English.The no-movement/external-merge analysis of Chinese relativization shows that,although internal merge and external merge are two universal syntactical operations under the minimalist framework in Chomsky(1995),whether the syntax of a certain structure in a certain language involves internal merge or external merge may be language specific.Therefore,before applying the specific syntax of a certain structure in a certain language to the syntax of a corresponding structure in another language,a systematic study of the syntactic characteristics of the two structures must be done.