This four-volume set is an English translation for the first time of a Chinese linguistics classic on modern Chinese grammar by WANG Li, one of the most distinguished Chinese linguists.
Based on the corpus of two classic Chinese novels, the book describes the various linguistic patterns of modern Chinese grammar, encompassing syntax, lexis and the Western influence on modern Chinese. As a groundbreaking work of modern Chinese linguistics, the book highlights the special linguistic qualities of Chinese language, contrasting with those of Indo-European languages. These are embodied by the structure of book with a strong focus put on the syntax and a short yet reasonable length for lexis. It also examines the influence of Western languages on Mandarin Chinese, giving insights into the cultural and diachronic aspects of Chinese language. The author offered one of the first attempts in applying the ideas of Otto Jespersen and Leonard Bloomfield to the description of modern Chinese grammar and further developed their theory.
The set is a must read for both Chinese language learners as well as researchers and students studying Chinese linguistics and modern Chinese grammar.
This four-volume set is an English translation for the first time of a Chinese linguistics classic on modern Chinese grammar by WANG Li, one of the most distinguished Chinese linguists.
Volume 1
1. Introduction
2. Character and word
3. Word class
4. Word
rank
5. Phrase
6. Sentence
7. Sentence form and predicate form
8. Narrative
sentence
9. Descriptive sentence and determinative sentence
10. Composite
sentence
11. Optative form
12. Causative form
13. Dispositive form
14.
Passive form
15. Annexed form
16. Contracted form
17. Secondary complement
and tertiary complement Volume 2
1. Introduction
2. Copula
3. Negation
4.
Adverb
5. Marker
6. Aspect
7. Mood
8. Modal tertiary
9. Connective
10.
Relative tertiary Volume 3
1. Introduction
2. Personal pronoun
3. Indefinite
pronoun, reflexive pronoun, reciprocal pronoun and modified pronoun
4.
Demonstrative pronoun
5. Interrogative pronoun
6. Cardinal number, ordinal
number and inquiry about number
7. (yi; one) and (yi ge; one CLA)
8. Numeration method for person and thing
9. Numeration method for behavior
Volume 4
1. Introduction Part 1 Special forms
2. Reduplicated syllable,
reduplicated word and opposite term
3. Incorporation, agglutination and idiom
4. Onomatopoeia and scene-painting
5. Repetition
6. Continuation and omission
7. Inversion and parenthesis
8. Interjection of emotion and interjection of
meaning Part 2 Europeanized grammar
9. Coinage of disyllabic words
10.
Increase in subject and copula
11. Extension of sentence length
12.
Europeanization of potential form, passive form and marker
13.
Europeanization of connective constituent
14. New methods of substitution and
numeration
WANG Li (19001986) has been widely recognized as one of the founders of modern linguistics in China. He led extensive research on Chinese linguistics, covering areas such as phonetics, phonology, grammar, lexicography, historical linguistics and dialectal studies.
