Languages & Cultures of East Asia

Trad 101, Sections 18-19-20-21   Fall 2000


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Lecture Outline, 11/27/00 - Syntax-- Chinese

Putting words together 10 features of Chinese November 29, 2000

1. Basic word order
(1) Mao you huxu
     cat have whiskers
     'Cats have whiskers.'

(2)a. Wo xiuhao che le
         I fixed car perfective
         'I have fixed the car.'

    b. Wo ba che xiuhao le
         I car fixed perfective
         'I have fixed the car.'

2. Noun ellipsis
(3) A: Wangshang chi shenme?
         evening eat what
         'What are (we) going to have for dinner?'
     B: chuqu chi ba
         out-go eat Particle  
         ''(Let's) eat out.'

(4) Wo shi bingqilin
       am ice cream
     '(What) I (ordered) was ice cream.'

3. Classifiers (CL) /measure words
(5) yi tiao yu                     pidai 'belt', chong 'worm', he 'river', jie 'street',
     one CL fish                   xian 'line', lingdai 'tie'
     'one fish'

(6) yi   ba dao                  yizi 'chair', yaoshi 'keys',
     one CL knife                kuaizi 'chopsticks', san 'umbrella'
     'one knife'

4. Topic-comment
(7) Jiazhou qihou hao
     California climate good
     'As for California, its climate is good.'

(8) Zhe zhong pingguo yi bang yi kuai qian
     this kind apples one pound one CL dollar
     'This kind of apples are a dollar a pound.'

5. Definite and indefinite articles
No definite or indefinite articles. Consider (1), (2), and (8).

6. Adjectives
(9) Zhe ben shu hen gui
     this CL book very expensive
     'This book is very expensive.'

(10) Jintian tianqi hao
       today weather good
      'The weather today is good.'

7. Demonstratives
(11) Zhe zuo lou gao, na zuo lou ai
      this CL building tall that CL building short
      'This building is tall; that building is short.'

8. Negative question
(12) A: Ni bu he kafei ma
           you not drink coffee Question
           'Don't you drink coffee?'

       B: Shide, wo bu he kafei
           'Yes, I don't drink coffee.'

9. Plurals
(13)a. Xuesheng hen guai
          student very well-behaved
         'The student is well-behaved.'
         'The students are well-behaved.'

     b. Xuesheng men hen guai
         student plural very well-behaved
        'The students are well-behaved.'

(14)a. Shu dou mai le
         book all buy perfective
        'The books were all bought.'

     b. *Shu men dou mai le
          book plural all buy perfective
         'The books were all bought.'

10. Gender distinction
(15) Ta dui wo hen hao
      he/she to me very good
      'He/she is very good to me.'

Comparison of Chinese, Japanese and Korean on the 10 features of syntax

1. Basic word order
Chinese     SVO
Japanese   SOV
Korean      SOV

English      SVO

2. Ellipsis
Chinese Nouns can be left out as long as it is clear from the context
Japanese    same
Korea         same

English       usually not possible

3. Classifiers/measure words
Chinese large number of classifiers
Japanese     same
Korean        same

English        not obligatory

4. Topic-comment
Found in all three languages.
Chinese no special marker
Japanese topic marker -wa
Korean topic marker -n(un)

English     not common

5. Definite and indefinite articles
Chinese no definite or indefinite articles
Japanese    same
Korean       same

English       has definite and indefinite articles

6. Adjectives
Chinese   can function as verbs, not inflected
Japanese can function as verbs, inflected like verbs
Korean     can function as verbs, inflected like verbs

English     cannot function as verbs, not inflected

7. Demonstratives
Chinese   two-way distinction
Japanese three-way distinction: kono, sono, ano
Korean    three-way distinction: i, keu, cheo

English     two-way distinction

8. Negative questions
Chinese Answer is based on the literal meaning, rather than the speaker's implication
Japanese     same
Korean        same

English        answer based on the speaker's implication

9. Plurals
Chinese plural marking optional; mark on people only, cannot mark on objects
Japanese     same
Korean        same

English        plural marking obligatory

10. Gender distinction on pronouns
Chinese     no gender distinction on pronouns
Japanese   has gender distinction on pronouns
Korean      no gender distinction on pronouns

English      has gender distinction on pronouns