A Comparative Analysis of the Corresponding Characteristics between Chinese “地” Structure and Thai Serial Verb Construction

Abstract

The Thai serial verb construction is a parallel structure to the Chinese “地” construction. According to the collected data, the adverbial clause following “地” can function as either the first or second predicate in the Thai serial verb construction. The use of the serial verb construction in this correspondence can be either optional or obligatory. This structure differs from the more common pattern of a verb followed by an adverbial clause. Whether the Thai serial verb construction can correspond to the “地” construction depends on several factors, such as the type of word or phrase functioning as the adverbial, the use of adverbial markers, the principle of temporal sequence, and adverbial semantic orientation.