Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2026
This chapter examines the behaviour of reflexives in L2 Chinese, primarily focusing on ziji, which can take both long-distance and local antecedents. A distinction is made between anaphoric and logophoric uses of ziji, with the former subject to a syntactic constraint and the latter regulated by pragmatic conditions. While L2 learners can easily acquire the local binding of ziji, acquiring its long-distance reading poses more challenges, particularly for English-speaking learners, whose L1 does not have a comparable reflexive. Japanese-speaking learners, whose L1 includes a similar reflexive, show better acquisition of the long-distance reading of ziji. The roles played by pragmatics and semantics in interpreting ziji are highlighted, demonstrating that Japanese-speaking learners benefit from the logophoric use of reflexives in their L1, while English-speaking learners struggle due to the lack of such a reflexive. The chapter emphasises the significance of L1 transfer in L2 acquisition of Chinese reflexives, suggesting that morphologically complex reflexives align cross-linguistically while the simplex reflexive ziji poses unique challenges due to its dual anaphoric and logophoric uses. This distinction is crucial for understanding the varied success rates among learners from different L1 backgrounds in acquiring Chinese reflexives.
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