Abstract
This essay presents analyses and data for the jiao constructions in Mandarin Chinese. We propose that jiao is analogous to the verb gei ‘to give.’ There is a possessor-possessee relation between the two complements. The subject transfers a property to the first complement as a recipient in the uses of the naming jiao, asking jiao, the causative jiao, and passive jiao. The shouting jiao, the ordering jiao and the calling jiao, take a small pro as the first complement, and an IP or DP as the second complement. The being-called jiao does not take two complements because the subject does not have any agentivity. Besides, we investigate some Chinese dialects and Asian languages to show that the causative and the passive uses of jiao are not from Altaic languages and do not exist only in north Chinese dialects. The verb roots of calling that denote Altaic languages, such as Mongolian and Japanese, do not exhibit the causative and passive uses. Furthermore, the word of calling in a southern Chinese dialect, the Northern Min dialect of Ningde, contains the causative and passive uses.