Abstract This paper argues for a distinction between nuclear and core serial verb constructions in Standard Mandarin Chinese, following the Role and Reference Grammar framework. Both nuclear and core SVCs in Standard Mandarin Chinese form via the nexus relation of cosubordination and they differ in terms of the argument structure formation. Assuming a two-level argument structure, it is argued that the nuclear SVCs form by fusing the semantic level of argument structure of component verbs, and the core SVCs form by partially fusing the syntactic level of argument structure of component verbs. Our analysis indicates that the nuclear SVCs, which function on par with a single predicate, constitute a type of complex predicates. Unlike the nuclear SVCs, core SVCs comprise two separate predicates, each owning a partially independent argument structure. In this sense, the core SVCs fall out of the category of complex predicates.

中文翻译：

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论元结构表示：标准普通话连词结构的形成

摘要 本文遵循角色和参考语法框架，在标准汉语中区分核心和核心连续动词结构。标准普通话中的核心和核心 SVC 都是通过协同从属关系形成的，它们在论证结构形成方面有所不同。假设一个两级的论元结构，认为核心SVC是通过融合成分动词的论元结构的语义层次而形成的，核心SVC是通过部分融合成分动词的论元结构的句法层次而形成的。我们的分析表明，核 SVC 与单个谓词的功能相当，构成了一种复杂的谓词。与核 SVC 不同，核心 SVC 包含两个独立的谓词，每个谓词都拥有部分独立的参数结构。