The Optional Preposition in the TP Domain

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the phenomenon of preposition optionality in spatial phrases in the TP domain in Mandarin Chinese and show that it cannot be explained under a Case approach. I propose instead that there are different domain distributions for spatial phrases and that the presence/absence of the preposition in spatial phrases in the TP domain is determined by the definiteness and animacy properties of the following NP, reminiscent of differential object marking in other languages. The current investigation thus enables us to consider DOM in Mandarin Chinese as a domain phenomenon which is related to internal topicalization and information structure.