本文在對現有的部分解釋作出批評分析並對「連」字句的主要特徵加以概括的基礎上，運用生成語法理論對「連」字句的句法結構及推導進行了分析。本文認為，「連」字句的基本結構可以表示為 [FocP1 連 ……[FocP2 都／也 ……]]，其中，「連」為主焦點標記，「都」或「也」為次焦點標記。「連」基礎生成於 TP 的左側（即TP 外部），可以對句中的成分實施焦點化，但其轄域僅限於其所標記的成分；「都」或「也」的轄域是整個 VP，因而在 TP 內部。不同類型的「連」字句差異乃是源於不同成分焦點化時所受到的不同句法限制。本文的分析可以對以往「連」字句研究中許多令人困惑的問題做出合理的解釋。

After a criticism of some of the available analyses and a summary of the major features of lian-constructions, this paper discusses the syntactic structure and derivation of lian-constructions in the framework of generative grammar. It is argued that structurally the basic form of lian-constructions is [FocP1 lian…[FocP2 dou/ye…]] with lian functioning as the major focus marker and dou or ye serving as the minor focus marker. Lian is base-generated on the left side of TP, viz. the outside of TP. It can focalize the constituents in a sentence. Its scope takes over the constituent marked by it. In contrast, the scope of dou or ye takes over the whole VP and hence it is within TP. The differences between various types of lian-constructions are due to the different constraints that various focalized constituents are subject to. The approach proposed in the paper can provide a reasonable solution to many long-standing puzzles related to lian-constructions.