Abstract
This study explores theoretical issues on a syntax of vocatives (VocP) in Taiwanese Mandarin (TM). The analysis is based primarily on data extracted from corpus, but also from novel texts. Vocatives are forms and structures used for direct address between collocutors. Within the framework of speech act phrase, we propose that imposters, expressives and dedicated vocative constructions are different practices of VocP in TM. The distribution of VocP motivates the idea that VocP is in a specific extra-sentential maximal projection. From the cartographic perspective, we account for the syntactic non-integration encoded to utterance-peripheral properties by means of the syntax-pragmatics interface. Concerning invariant ordering of VocP and other functional elements, such as TopP and FocP, it is argued that VocP is based-generated in the CP zone and occupies the outermost position among grammatical categories. Vocatives in English and TM display structural similarities on the informational organization of the sentence, yet we find also formal difference between them. Ultimately, it is shown that VocP, with a situation more complex than what is typically described in Chinese literature and pedagogical grammar, can be analyzed as a core category of syntax.