Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar

✍ Scribed by Stephen Matthews, Virginia Yip

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 535
• Series: Routledge Comprehensive Grammars
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to Cantonese as spoken by native speakers in Hong Kong. It presents a fresh and accessible description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in current Cantonese. This makes it the ideal reference source for all learners and users of Cantonese, irrespective of level, in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types. Moreover, it will provide a lasting and reliable resource for all fluent speakers of the language. The book is organized to promote a thorough understanding of Cantonese grammar. Arranged by both syntactic categories and language functions, the Grammar provides an in-depth treatment of structures and pays special attention to idiom and speech registers, including trendy language. Explanations are full, clear and free of jargon. A glossary, extensive index and generous use of cross-references provide readers with easy access to the information they require.

✦ Table of Contents

Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements to the second edition
Acknowledgements to the first edition
List of tables
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1 Phonology: the Cantonese sound system
2 Word structure: morphology and word formation
3 Syntactic categories: parts of speech in Cantonese
4 Sentence structure: word order and topicalization
5 Pronouns
6 The noun phrase
7 Prepositions and expressions of location
8 The verb phrase
9 Adjectival constructions: description and comparison
10 Adverbial constructions
11 Aspect and verbal particles
12 Modality: possibility and probability
13 Negation
14 Quantification and existential sentences
15 Relative and noun-modifying clauses
16 Coordination and subordinate clauses
17 Questions
18 Sentence particles and interjections
19 Imperative sentences: commands and requests
20 Cantonese speech conventions: politeness and terms of address
21 Numerals and times
Appendix: Romanization systems
Glossary of grammatical terms
Notes
References
Index (English and Yale romanization)
Index (Chinese characters)