Te syntax and semantics of descriptive V-de constructions A primary predication analysis Cheng-Yu Edwin Tsai City University of Hong Kong Tis paper tackles the long-standing problem of the phrase structure of the descriptive V-de construction in Mandarin, and proposes a variant of the Primary Predication analysis. I argue that the sufx -de is a nominalizing head that turns the verb to which it attaches into a nominal event argument, which is in turn predicated over by the descriptive adjectival phrase, the primary predicate of the construction. Tis syntactic analysis allows for a straightforward explanation for the presupposition-focus semantics of this construction based on structured event quantifcation. In addition, it is shown that previous arguments that go against the Primary Predication hypothesis (including the distribution of the A-not-A form and negation, and the scope relation between an IP-level element and the adjectival phrase) either do not constitute counterevidence or are simply irrelevant. Further support for the proposal is provided that draws on a number of syntactic properties of the descriptive V-de construction and on the distinc- tion between the descriptive adjectival phrase on the one hand and secondary predicates and adverbial adjuncts on the other hand. Keywords: descriptive V-de construction, adjectival predication, secondary predication, nominalization, event semantics 1. Introduction Over the past few decades one fundamental issue in Chinese syntax has to do with the phrase structure of the descriptive V-de construction (henceforth DVC), https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.17006.yu International Journal of Chinese Linguistics 5:1 (2018), pp. 59–93. issn 2213-8706 | e-issn 2213-8714 © John Benjamins Publishing Company