Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction (Linguistic Introductions)

✍ Scribed by Chaofen Sun

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 250
• Series: Linguistic Introductions
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world, and has a rich social, cultural and historical background. This is a comprehensive guide to the linguistic structure of Chinese, providing an accessible introduction to each of the key areas. It describes the fundamentals of its writing system, its pronunciation and tonal sound system, its morphology (how words are structured), and its syntax (how sentences are formed) - as well as its historical development, and the diverse ways in which it interacts with other languages. Setting the discussion of all aspects of Chinese firmly within the context of the language in use, Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction will be of great benefit to learners wishing to extend their knowledge and competence in the language, and their teachers. It will also be a useful starting point for students of linguistics beginning work on the structure of this major world language.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Maps......Page 10
Tables......Page 11
Figures......Page 12
Preface......Page 13
Major chronological divisions of Chinese history......Page 15
Major periods of the Chinese language......Page 16
1 China and Chinese in the world......Page 17
2 China......Page 18
3 Chinese......Page 21
4 Readership......Page 26
5 Structure and aims......Page 27
NOTES......Page 28
1.1 Prehistoric time......Page 29
1.2 Oracle-bone and bronze scripts......Page 30
1.3 Old Chinese (771 BCE–220 CE)......Page 31
1.4 Middle Chinese (220 CE to 960)......Page 33
1.5 Early modern Chinese (960 to 1900)......Page 34
1.6 Modern Chinese (1900–present)......Page 36
1.7 Modern Chinese grammar and its lexicon......Page 39
1.8 Simplification of Chinese script......Page 42
1.9 Formation of Chinese dialects......Page 44
1.9.1 Northern Chinese (Mandarin)......Page 45
1.9.2 Southern dialects......Page 46
NOTES......Page 49
2 Phonetics of standard Chinese......Page 50
2.1 Initials......Page 51
2.2 Finals......Page 52
2.2.2 Main vowels......Page 53
2.3 Rhotacization......Page 54
2.4 Tones......Page 55
2.5 Tone-sandhi......Page 56
NOTE......Page 60
3 Chinese morphology 1......Page 61
3.1 Compounding......Page 65
3.2.1 Prefixes......Page 72
3.2.2 Suffixes......Page 74
3.2.3 Potential marker…......Page 76
3.3.1 Perfective marker -le......Page 80
3.3.2 Experiential marker -guo......Page 84
3.3.3 Imperfective marker -zhe......Page 86
3.4 Summary......Page 89
NOTES......Page 90
4.1.1 Sentence-final particles......Page 91
4.1.2 Locative particles......Page 97
4.2.1 Classifiers......Page 104
4.2.2 Informal kinship terms......Page 105
4.2.3 Adjectives......Page 106
4.2.4 Verbs......Page 108
4.3 Beyond morphology......Page 111
4.4 Summary......Page 115
NOTES......Page 116
5.1 Chinese characters......Page 117
5.2 The history of Chinese script......Page 119
5.3 The strokes of Chinese writing......Page 123
5.4 Simplified standard script......Page 126
NOTES......Page 129
6 Chinese language and culture......Page 131
6.1.1 Philosophical beliefs and Chinese expressions......Page 132
6.1.2 Metaphors the Chinese live by......Page 138
6.1.3 Politeness......Page 142
6.2 Language contacts and borrowings......Page 149
6.3 Neologisms and morpheme-syllable script......Page 157
FURTHER READING......Page 161
NOTES......Page 162
7 Chinese syntax 1......Page 163
7.1 Linear order, lexical categories, subcategorization, and semantic roles......Page 164
7.2 Other lexical categories......Page 169
7.3 Constituency......Page 174
7.4 Selectional restrictions......Page 180
7.5 Chinese pronouns and demonstratives......Page 182
7.6 Negation......Page 186
7.7.1 Interrogative......Page 188
7.7.2 Imperative......Page 197
8 Chinese syntax 2......Page 200
8.1 Nominalization......Page 202
8.2 Relative clauses......Page 204
8.3 Cleft sentences......Page 205
8.4.1 The word order and semantics of some common Chinese adverbs......Page 207
8.4.2 Adverbial clauses......Page 213
8.5.1 Three types of serial-verb constructions......Page 216
8.5.2 Causative construction......Page 221
8.6.1 Flexible prepositional phrases......Page 222
8.6.2.1 Comparative......Page 225
8.6.2.2 Passive......Page 227
8.6.2.3 The ba construction......Page 228
8.7 Summary......Page 234
FURTHER READING......Page 235
1.1 Consonants......Page 236
1.4 Additional IPA symbols used to describe various sounds that do not exist in Standard Chinese......Page 237
1.5 A phonetic chart of the symbols representing Chinese vowels used in this book......Page 238
Appendix 2 Capitalized abbreviations......Page 239
References......Page 241
Index......Page 245

✦ Subjects

Языки и языкознание;Китайский язык;Лексикология и стилистика;