Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar

Yip Po-Ching, Don Rimmington

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317556459
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to Chinese grammar which presents a fresh and accessible description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Chinese.

The volume is organized to promote a thorough understanding of Chinese grammar. It offers a stimulating analysis of the complexities of the language and provides full and clear explanations. Throughout, the emphasis is on Chinese as used by present-day native speakers. An extensive index and numbered paragraphs provide readers with easy access to the information they require.

The new edition features a revised and expanded chapter on prosody (Prosody and Syntax), as well as four completely new chapters:

• Morphology and Syntax (I) looks at Chinese word formation

• Morphology and Syntax (II) explores the interaction between words, expressions and sentences

• Intralingual Transpositions reviews the possible conversions between sentential constructions

• Interlingual Conversions examines the differences between Chinese and English.

The Grammar is an essential reference source for the adult learner and user of Chinese. It is ideal for independent study and for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes, up to an advanced level.

Chapter 1

Nouns and nominalisations

Nouns in Chinese are not specifically identified as being nouns except in the case of those with suffixes like 子 zi, 儿 er,¹ 头 tou, etc. They are mainly disyllabic, but there are also quite a number of monosyllabic nouns in everyday vocabulary. Trisyllabic nouns are rare and polysyllabic nouns are even rarer, the latter being often regarded as nominal phrases. Chinese nouns do not under any circumstances inflect for case, gender or number,² though an unmarked common noun is normally assumed as being plural, e.g. 书 shū ‘books’ rather than ‘book’.

^1	儿 er is essentially a nominal suffix but occasionally is found with other word classes, e.g. the verb 玩儿 wánr ‘to play, enjoy oneself’, and with some reduplicated adjectives, e.g. 好好儿 hǎohāor ‘well, good’.
^2	An unmarked common noun is normally assumed as being plural. Also see §1.3 for the specific use of the plural suffix 们 men.

1.1 Nouns and categorisation

Nouns can be assigned to different categories with reference to their grammatical properties. Such categorisation, as we shall see, helps to highlight their usages, and identifies distinctive features relating to the use of measure words, definite and indefinite reference, plurality, etc.

1.1.1

Common nouns

Certain nouns are referrable to classes of tangible (and sometimes discrete) entities, categories, events and phenomena in the natural or human world. They are generally known as common nouns and are linguistic labels we attach to ourselves and our surroundings. For example:

诗人	shīrén	poet
山	shān	hill; mountain
商店	shāngdiàn	shop
狗	gǒu	dog
牡丹	mǔdān	peony
鞋	xié	shoe(s)
盐	yán	salt
语言	yǔyán	language
音乐	yīnyuè	music
广告	guǎnggào	advertisement
电影	diànyǐng	film; movie
比赛	bǐsài	contest
战争	zhànzhēng	war
地震	dìzhèn	earthquake

Tangibility is not to ...