Yicheng Wu is Professor of Linguistics at the Centre for the Study of Language and Cognition, Zhejiang University, P. R. China.

• Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Chinese Syntax: A General Description 1 Introduction 2 Word order flexibility 3 Semantics in syntax 4 Pragmatics in syntax 5 Overview of the book 2 The Dynamics of Language Processing 1 A preliminary introduction 1.1 Compositionality and context-dependency 1.2 Interpretation and representation 1.3 Underspecification and resolution 2 The tools of Dynamic Syntax 2.1 Tree logic and treenode decorations 2.2 Requirements and tree growth 3 The dynamics of the parsing process *3.1 Computational rules 3.2 Lexical actions 3.3 A basic example 3.4 Pragmatic actions 4 Simple clause structure in Chinese 5 Summary 3 The Dynamics of Verbal Underspecification in Chinese 1 Introduction 2 Previous analyses 3 A dynamic analysis 4 Summary 4 Topic Constructions 1 Introduction 2 Previous analyses 2.1 The variable analysis 2.2 The pragmatic analysis 3 A preliminary analysis 3.1 Single topic structure 3.2 Multiple topic structure 4 A dynamic analysis 4.1 English-style topic construction 4.2 Chinese-style topic construction 5 Summary 5 Passive Constructions 1 Introduction 2 Previous analyses 2.1 The Preposition Hypothesis 2.2 The Dual Function Hypothesis 2.3 The Verb Hypothesis 3 A preliminary analysis 3.1 Pragmatic voice 3.2 Left dislocation 3.3 The characterization of the canonical patterns 4 Problematic patterns 4.1 Bei construction with a retained object (BCRO) 4.2 Bei construction with an embedded ba construction (BCBC) 4.3 Bei construction with a locative patient (BCLP) 5 Summary 6 Copular Constructions 1 Introduction 2 Previous analyses 3 A preliminary analysis 4 A dynamic analysis 4.1 Predicative construction 4.2 Emphatic construction 5 Summary 7 The Cleft Construction 1 Introduction 2 Previous analyses 3 A dynamic analysis 4 Summary 8 Semantic Underspecification: Cases of Personal Pronouns 1 Introduction 2 Previous analysis of expletive ta 3 A dynamic analysis 3.1. A dynamic analysis of the typical and non-typical referential construal of ta 3.2 A dynamic analysis of the expletive construal of ta 3.3 Scope interpretation and expletive ta 3.4 Some implications 4 Summary 9 Conclusion 1 Contributions to Chinese linguistics 2 Reflections on linguistic theorizing References