This thesis studies the variable placement of the prepositional dative construction (PDC) in varieties of Mandarin Chinese. In Mandarin, the PDC can appear either in the pre- or postverbal preposition. However, the postverbal PDC is an apparent violation of the Postverbal Constraint in Chinese syntax. I therefore propose that the postverbal PDC is in fact a representation of verb duplication--a phonetically empty verb is duplicated between the direct object and the postverbal PDC. I also argue that the placement of the PDC is influenced by the speaker's home vernacular, other local varieties of Mandarin, and social factors, including gender, age of first contact, social network, and subjective language attitude.In support of the claim, empirical data were collected through a survey, which consisted of and was conducted in the order of the following sections: elicitation task, grammatical judgment test, and demographic questions. The data suggests that at the production level, substrate influence of speakers¡¦ home vernacular is crucial in deciding the placement of PDC--Northerners showed significantly higher preference for the preverbal PDC than their Southern counterparts. However, social factors have a stronger influence at the perception level. Regular exposure to Taiwanese television programs may account for the high level of acceptance for the postverbal PDC across dialect areas in Mainland China. In conclusion, regional varieties of Mandarin are not only influenced by local vernaculars but also other social factors, including thecompeting region-wide influences of Mainland Standard Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin.
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