Directional Complement in Mandarin Chinese (comp:dir)
A “directional complement” (known as “directional verb compound” in UD) consists of a series of at least two verbs where the second verb is one of the directional or deitic motion verbs (or a combination of the two) in the below exhaustive list :
VERB + A : Directional motion
Eight verbs expressing directional motion:
- 上 (shàng) - “我爬上山” (wǒ pá shàng shān) - “I climb up the mountain”
- 下 (xià) - “他跑下楼” (tā pǎo xià lóu) - “He runs down the stairs”
- 出 (chū) - “我走出房间” (wǒ zǒu chū fángjiān) - “I walk out of the room”
- 进 (jìn) - “我们走进电影院” (wǒmen zǒu jìn diànyǐngyuàn) - “We walk into the movie theater”
- 回 (huí) - “他跑回家” (tā pǎo huí jiā) - “He runs back home”
- 过 (guò) - “他跳过河” (tā tiào guò hé) - “He jumps over the river”
- 开 (kāi) - “她拉开门” (tā lā kāi mén) - “She pulls open the door”
- 起 (qǐ) - “他拿起书” (tā ná qǐ shū) - “He picks up the book”
The main verb is the head of it’s directional complement : VERB<-[comp:dir]- A
VERB + B : Diectic motion
Two verbs expressing deictic motion:
- 来 (lái) - “老师正向我们走来” (Lǎoshī zhèng xiàng wǒmen zǒu lái) - “The teacher is currently walking towards us.”
- 去 (qù) - “我天天走路去公司” (Wǒ tiān tiān zǒulù qù gōngsī.) - “I walk to work everyday”
The main verb is the head of it’s directional complement : VERB<-[comp:dir]- B