The idiosyncratic preposition zai in Mandarin Chinese and differential argument marking


 In this paper, I focus on the Mandarin spatial preposition zai (‘at’), which can appear in the VP
 domain, like other spatial prepositions, but which can also appear in the TP domain, where it’s presence or absence is sensitive
 to the animacy and definiteness properties of its object. I argue that zai’s distribution and behavior in the TP
 domain is expected if it functions as a differential argument marker triggered by internal topicalization of its object.
 Implications of the current analysis for the internal structure of spatial PPs are also considered.