Description
Taylor & Francis Ltd Chinese An Essential Grammar 2021 Edition by Yip Po-Ching, Don Rimmington
This new and extended edition of Chinese: An Essential Grammar is an up-to-date and concise reference guide to modern Chinese (Mandarin) grammar.Refreshingly jargon-free, it presents an accessible description of the language, focusing on the real patterns of use today. This Grammar aims to serve as a reference source for the learner and user of Chinese, irrespective of level, setting out the complexities of the language in short, readable sections.It is ideal either for independent study or for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.Features include:Three new chapters on speech habits, writing conventions and new lexicalisation processes Chinese characters, as well as the pinyin romanisation, alongside all examplesLiteral and colloquial translations into English to illustrate language pointsDetailed contents list and index for easy access to informationA glossary of grammatical terms. Table of contents : - ContentsPreface Introduction The Chinese language Mandarin pronunciation The Chinese vocabulary Part I Nouns Introduction 1 Nouns 1.1 Noun features 1.2 Proper nouns 1.3 Common nouns 1.3.1 The plural suffix -men 1.3.2 Nouns and definite or indefinite reference 1.4 Nouns and conjunctions 1.5 Common nouns: countability 2 Numerals and nouns 2.1 Cardinal numbers 2.1.1 Two forms of the number two 2.2 Ordinal numbers 2.3 'Half' 2.4 Fractions, percentages, decimals, multiples and 'every' 2.5 Approximation 3 Measures for nouns 3.1 Measures and ge 3.2 Other measure words 3.3 Abstract nouns 3.4 Material nouns 3.5 Collective nouns 3.6 Relationship between measures and nouns4 Pronouns 4.1 Personal pronouns 4.2 Possessive pronouns 4.3 Demonstrative pronouns 4.4 Interrogative pronouns 4.5 Other pronouns 4.6 Pronouns and conjunctions 5 Adjectives and attributives 5.1 Attributives 5.2 Adjectives as attributives 5.2.1 Monosyllabic adjectives 5.2.2 Polysyllabic adjectives and de 5.2.3 Disyllabic adjectives and de 5.3 Nominal attributives 5.3.1 Nominal attributives and de 5.4 Prepositional and postpositional phrases as attributives 5.5 Verbal phrases or clauses as attributives 5.6 The order of sequential attributives 5.7 Demonstrative and numeral phrases with other attributives 5.8 Possessive pronoun and other attributives 5.9 Er between adjectives 5.10 Omission of the noun following an attributive 5.11 Attributives in word-formation Part II Verbs Introduction 6 Adjectival and nominal predicates; the verb shi 6.1 Adjectival predicates 6.2 Adjectival predicates and the verb 'to be' 6.2.1 Adjectival predicates and degree adverbs 6.2.2 Adjectival predicates in the negative 6.2.3 Adjectival predicates followed by verbs 6.3 Non-gradable adjectives as attributives 6.3.1 Attributives of shape, colour or material 6.4 Nominal and pronominal predicates 6.4.1 Verbs resembling shi 6.4.2 Nominal predicates without a copula 6.5 The copula shi in its negative form 7 The verb you; comparisons 7.1 The functions of you 7.1.1 You indicating possession 7.1.2 Mei as negative of you 7.1.3 You indicating change or development 7.1.4 You forming idiomatic expressions 7.1.5 You introducing adjectival predicates 7.2 Comparison 7.2.1 Emphatic or specific comparison 7.2.2 Negative comparison 7.2.3 Comparison: equivalence or similarity 7.3 Comparatives and superlatives 8 Verbs and aspect markers 8.1 Action, state and dative verbs 8.2 Action verbs 8.3 Aspect markers 8.3.1 Le 8.3.2 Guo 8.3.3 Zai 8.3.4 Zhe 8.4 State verb 8.5 Dative verbs 8.5.1 Dative verbs relating to spoken activity 8.5.2 Dative verbs and aspect markers 8.6 Causative verbs 8.7 Imperatives 8.7.1 Polite requests 8.7.2 Imperatives and aspect markers 9 Motion verbs and direction indicators 9.1 Motion verbs and simple direction indicators 9.2 Motion verbs and compound direction indicators 9.3 Motion verbs with metaphorical meaning 9.4 Direction indicators with specific meanings 10 Verbs and time 10.1 Time expressions 10.2 Point of time expressions 10.2.1 Detailed time expressions 10.3 Point-of-time expressions incorporating verbal phrases 10.4 Imprecise points of time 10.5 Indefinite points of time 10.6 Frequency expressions with mei 10.7 Time expressions in existence sentences 10.7.1 Time expressions in emergence or disappearance sentences 11 Verbs and location 11.1 Location expressions 11.2 Zai and postpositional phrases 11.2.1 Disyllabic postpositions 11.2.2 Disyllabic postpositions as location pronouns 11.3 Simple location sentences 11.4 Location phrases modifying main verbs 11.5 Location phrases in existence sentences 11.5.1 Shi in existence sentences 11.5.2 Zhe in existence sentences 11.6 Le in emergence or disappearance sentences 11.7 Order of sequence of time and location phrases 12 Verbs: duration and frequency 12.1 Duration expressions 12.1.1 Duration expressions and noun objects 12.1.2 Repetition of the verb in a noun-object-duration structure 12.1.3 Duration expressions and pronoun objects 12.1.4 Duration expressions in dative construction 12.1.5 Duration expressions and definite reference 12.2 Brief duration 12.2.1 Brief duration and instrumental objects 12.3 Frequency expressions 13 Verbs and complements 13.1 Complements 13.2 Complements of result 13.3 Potential complements 13.3.1 Potential complements using direction indicators 13.3.2 Metaphorical meanings of potential complements 13.4 Complements of manner and of consequential state 13.4.1 Modification of complement of manner 13.4.2 Complement of consequential state 13.4.3 Complements of manner or consequential state with a 'verb + object' verb 13.4.4 Adjectival complements of manner in comparisons 13.4.5 Complement-of-manner comparison with a 'verb + object' verb 13.5 Complement of location or destination 13.6 Degree complements 14 Verbs and adverbials 14.1 Adverbials of manner 14.1.1 Monosyllabic adjectives as adverbials of manner 14.1.2 Adverbials of manner with marked verbs 14.1.3 Adverbials of manner with unmarked verbs 14.1.4 Monosyllabic adverbial modifiers without de 14.1.5 Particular types of adverbials of manner 14.2 Attitudinal adverbial expressions 14.3 Referential adverbs 14.4 Referential adverbs with negatives 14.5 Order of sequence of referential adverbs 14.6 Order of adverbials in sequence 15 Modal and similar verbs 15.1 Modal, attitudinal and intentional verbs 15.2 Modal verbs 15.2.1 Modal verbs and adverbs of degree 15.2.2 Modal verbs and comparison 15.3 Attitudinal verbs 15.3.1 Wangle and jide 15.3.2 Gaoxing 15.4 Intentional verbs 15.4.1 Negation of intentional verbs Part III Sentences Introduction 16 Statements and the sentence particle le 16.1 Le as a sentence particle 16.2 Functions of sentence le 16.2.1 Summing-up function of le 16.2.2 Le as both sentence particle and aspect marker 16.3 Cases where sentence le is not used 16.4 Ultimate versatility of sentence le 17 Questions 17.1 Question-word questions 17.1.1 Zenmeyang 17.1.2 Duo in questions 17.1.3 Ne in questions 17.2 General questions with ma 17.3 Surmise questions with ba 17.4 Affirmative-negative questions 17.5 Alternative questions with haishi 17.6 Tags indicating suggestion 17.7 Tags seeking confirmation 17.8 Rhetorical questions 18 Subject and predicate; topic and comment 18.1 Dual patterning of sentence structures 18.2 Subject-predicate sentences 18.3 Topic-comment sentences 18.3.1 Further ways to form topic-comment sentences 18.4 Topic | subject-predicate sentences 18.4.1 Notional passive sentences 18.5 Subject | topic-comment sentences 19 Prepositions and coverbs 19.1 Coverbs 19.1.1 Coverbs of place and time 19.1.2 Coverbs of methods and means 19.1.3 Coverbs of human exchange and service 19.1.4 Coverbs of reference 19.1.5 Coverbs and comparison 19.2 Disyllabic prepositions 20 Ba and bei constructions 20.1 The ba construction 20.1.1 The ba construction and complements 20.1.2 Le and zhe as complements in ba sentences 20.1.3 Ba and resultative complements 20.1.4 Nong and gao in ba sentences 20.1.5 Negative ba sentences 20.1.6 Ba and modal verbs 20.1.7 Ba and indefinite reference 20.2 The bei construction 20.2.1 Rang and jiao 20.2.2 The bei construction with an agent 20.2.3 Negative bei sentences 20.3 The bei construction versus the notional passives 21 Serial constructions 21.1 General features of serial constructions 21.2 Semantic varieties in serial constructions 21.3 Adjectives or state verbs in serial constructions 21.4 Dative constructions 21.5 Causative constructions 21.5.1 Qing in a causative construction 21.5.2 Extended causative constructions 21.6 Extended serial constructions 22 Emphasis and the intensifier shi 22.1 Shi as an intensifier 22.2 The shi ... de construction 22.2.1 Subject and object emphasis in shi ... de sentences 22.2.2 Shi ... de construction and bu 22.3 Shi without de for progression and projection 22.3.1 Contexts for shi (without de) sentences 22.3.2 Shi and comparison 22.3.3 Shi and negation 22.4 Shi and topic-comment sentences 22.4.1 Shi implying reservation 22.4.2 'Verb/adjective + shi + verb/adjective' implying reservation 22.5 Repetition and emphasis 23 Abbreviation and omission 23.1 Three types of abbreviation 23.2 Conventional abbreviations as subjectless sentences 23.3 Contextual abbreviation 23.4 Cotextual omissions 23.4.1 Cotextual omissions and headwords 23.4.2 Cotextual omissions in answers 23.4.3 Contextual/cotextual omissions in extended passages 24 Composite sentences: conjunctions and conjunctives 24.1 Types of composite sentence 24.2 Conjunctions and conjunctives 24.2.1 Meanings and functions of composite sentences 24.2.2 Paired conjunctives 24.3 Composite sentences as parallel structures 24.4 Verbs taking object clauses 25 Exclamations and interjections; appositions; and apostrophes 25.1 Exclamations 25.1.1 Exclamations with tai 25.1.2 Question-word questions as exclamations 25.2 Interjections 25.2.1 Tone variations in interjections 25.3 Appositions 25.4 People being addressed [apostrophe] Part IV Paragraphs Introduction 26.1 A diary 26.2 A letter 26.3 A dialogue 26.4 A welcome speech 26.5 A description 26.6 An explanatory piece of writingThe way to learn Chinese words26.7 An argumentative piece of writing Part V Speech habits: meaning and formIntroduction27.1 Universal, cotextual or contextual omissions and abbreviations27.1.1 Sentence patterns (1)27.1.2 Sentence patterns (2) 27.2 Sentence extension following paragraph patterns27.3 Further features of sentence extension27.3.1 Sentences extended by illustration or exemplification 27.3.2 Sentences extended by reasoning27.3.3 Sentences extended by detailing or amplification27.3.4 Sentences extended by result or purposePart VI Writing conventions: classical quadrisyllabic patterns or idiomsIntroduction28.1 An overview of four-character or quadrisyllabic idioms28.1.1 The distinction between quadrisyllabic patterns and quadrisyllabic idioms 28.1.2 The internal structure of quadrisyllabic idioms28.2 Quadrisyllabic idioms at work28.3 How quadrisyllabic idioms mix comfortably with other rhythms in writingPart VII Contemporary developments in Chinese: new syntatctic and lexical tendenciesIntroduction29 Contemporary linguistic developments29.1 New syntactic tendencies29.1.1 Shift of word classes29.1.2 Extensive use of pseudo-)suffixes or (pseudo-)prefixes29.1.3 Multi-syllabic coinages on 'attributive + headword' syntactic pattern29.2 New ways of lexicalisation29.2.1 Direct borrowings29.2.2 Semantic/phonetic calques (total or partial)29.2.3 Intra-language transliterations29.2 4 Internet neologisms29.2.5 Neologisms occurring in conversational exchanges29.2.6 Abbreviations from quadrisyllabic idiomsGlossary of grammatical termsIndexshow more