The Syntax of Chinese
The Syntax of Chinese
Y.-H. Audrey Li, University of Southern California
Yafei Li, University of Wisconsin, Madison
The past quarter of a century has seen a surge in Chinese syntactic research that has produced a sizeable literature on the analysis of almost every construction in Mandarin Chinese. This guide to Chinese syntax analyses the majority of constructions in Chinese that have featured in theoretical linguistics in the past 25 years, using the authors' own analyses as well as existing or potential alternative treatments. A broad variety of topics are covered, including categories, argument structure, passives and anaphora. The discussion of each topic sums up the key research results and provides new points of departure for further research. This book will be invaluable both to students wanting to know more about the grammar of Chinese, and graduate students and theoretical linguists interested in the universal principles that underlie human languages.
- The most comprehensive guide to Chinese syntax in recent years
- Accessible to specialists and non-specialists as it integrates detailed background information with in-depth analysis
- Inspires comparative studies of Chinese dialects as it also contains data in dialects of Chinese other than Mandarin
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9780521599580
404 pages
229 × 152 × 20 mm
0.65kg
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Categories
- 2. Argument structure
- 3. The verb phrase
- 4. Passives
- 5. The ba construction
- 6. Topic and relative constructions
- 7. Questions
- 8. Nominal expressions
- 9. Anaphora.
