| Abstract | 第1-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-10页 |
| Introduction | 第10-14页 |
| ·Background of the Study | 第10-11页 |
| ·Aims of the Study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Organization of the Thesis | 第12-14页 |
| Chapter 1 Literature Review | 第14-24页 |
| ·Previous Studies on Empty Categories | 第14-20页 |
| ·Chomsky's Theory | 第14-15页 |
| ·William and Bresnan's Theory on PRO | 第15-16页 |
| ·Xu Liejiong's Studies on Chinese Empty Categories | 第16-18页 |
| ·Huang Zhengde's Studies on Empty Categories | 第18-19页 |
| ·Shen Yang's Studies on Empty Categories | 第19-20页 |
| ·Comments on the Previous Studies on Empty Categories | 第20-24页 |
| Chapter 2 Theoretical Foundations | 第24-46页 |
| ·The Empty Category Theory | 第24-38页 |
| ·The Binding Theory | 第24-27页 |
| ·The Empty Category | 第27-32页 |
| ·The Pro-Drop Parameter | 第32-33页 |
| ·Chomsky's Classification of Empty Categories | 第33-38页 |
| ·NP-trace | 第34-35页 |
| ·PRO | 第35-36页 |
| ·pro | 第36-37页 |
| ·Variable | 第37-38页 |
| ·The Relevance Theory | 第38-44页 |
| ·Cognitive Context | 第40-41页 |
| ·Ostensive-inferential Communication | 第41-42页 |
| ·Optimal Relevance | 第42-43页 |
| ·Principle of Economy | 第43-44页 |
| ·Summary | 第44-46页 |
| Chapter 3 A Syntactic Study of Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第46-60页 |
| ·A Syntactic Study of the Classification of Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第46-51页 |
| ·NP-trace in Chinese and English | 第46-48页 |
| ·NP-trace in Passive Sentences | 第47页 |
| ·NP-trace in Raising Constructions | 第47-48页 |
| ·NP-trace in Constructions with Raising Verbs | 第47-48页 |
| ·NP-trace in Constructions with Raising Adjectives | 第48页 |
| ·Variable in Chinese and English | 第48-49页 |
| ·PRO in Chinese and English | 第49-51页 |
| ·Pro in Chinese | 第51页 |
| ·A Syntactic Study of the Generation of Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第51-60页 |
| ·Generation of NP-trace in Chinese and English | 第52-56页 |
| ·Generation of NP-trace in Passive Sentences | 第52-53页 |
| ·Generation of NP-trace in Raising Constructions | 第53-56页 |
| ·Generation of NP-trace in Raising Constructions with Raising Verbs | 第53-54页 |
| ·Generation of NP-trace in Raising Constructions with Raising Adjectives | 第54-56页 |
| ·Generation of Variable in Chinese and English | 第56-57页 |
| ·Generation of PRO in Chinese and English | 第57-58页 |
| ·Generation of pro in Chinese | 第58页 |
| ·Summary | 第58-60页 |
| Chapter 4 A Cognitive Account of Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第60-80页 |
| ·A Cognitive Account of the Similarities between Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第62-73页 |
| ·Contextual Assumptions and the Generation of ECs | 第62-66页 |
| ·Inference and the Generation of PRO | 第66-69页 |
| ·Processing Effort and the Generation of ECs | 第69-71页 |
| ·Principle of Economy and the Generation of ECs | 第71-73页 |
| ·A Cognitive Account of the Differences between Chinese and English Empty Categories | 第73-79页 |
| ·Contextual Effects and the Fewer Phenomenon of ECs in Chinese | 第75-76页 |
| ·Processing Effort and the Lack of pro in English | 第76-79页 |
| ·Summary | 第79-80页 |
| Conclusion | 第80-84页 |
| Bibliography | 第84-88页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第88-90页 |
