Introduction

Lexical word formation is the formation of words using rules of morphology rather than other types of linguistic rules such as rules of syntax. Following this definition, lexical word formation does not apply to words formed by inflectional affixation, i.e., words containing grammatical suffixes such as -le0 了, -guo4 过, -zhe0 着, and 得/不 de0/bu4. The reason inflectional affixation is not considered a lexical word formation process is that a new lexeme is not created by the addition of these affixes. Lexical word formation either causes a new lexeme to be created (see further discussion in section 3.3.1.) or derives a word using derivational affixation, with the derived word often having a different part of speech (e.g., the verb gong1ye4hua4 工业化 work-profession-AFF ‘industrialize’ is derived from the noun gong1ye4 工业 work-profession ‘industry’ by affixation of the derivational suffix 化 -hua4 ‘-ize/-ify’).

Defining “word” in Chinese

In order to discuss lexical word formation, we must first define what a word is in Chinese.

“Word” in the Chinese language can be defined using the construct minimal free form – the smallest linguistic entity that can independently occupy a part-of-speech slot. Take, for example, the morpheme/character 椅 yi3 ‘chair.’ 椅 yi3 is a bound morpheme as it cannot be used alone as a word. 椅 yi3 either must be affixed with the nominal suffix -子 zi0 to derive the free noun 椅子 yi3zi0 ‘chair,’ or it must be used in combination with another morpheme, such as 轮 lun2 ‘wheel,’ to yield the two-morpheme word 轮椅 lun2yi3 ‘wheelchair.’ To take another example, the morpheme 机 ji1 ‘machine’ cannot be used as a word by itself, but must occur with another morpheme (e.g., 机器 ji1qi4 machine-utensil ‘machine’) to stand alone as a word.

It is important to note that the crucial property of a free form is its ability to stand alone in some context. A free form's ability to stand alone does not preclude its ability to combine with other elements to form a new word. Hence, words can combine, via composition and compounding (see discussion in sections 3.4.1. and 3.4.2 respectively), to form longer words. In addition, though there is no theoretical upper limit on the length of a word, in practical terms words do have a de facto length limit.

A grammar is the system of knowledge of the relation between what people do and what people know when they use a particular language. Since what people know in the context of their language use is often implicit, linguistic theories are proposed as a foundational hypothesis to enable the explicit explanation of a grammar of any particular language. This presents an underlying dilemma in the writing of any grammar. On the one hand, descriptive work is the foundation of any scientific study and is crucial to the language sciences. Modern linguistics emerged as a result of a conscientious effort to move from prescriptive to descriptive studies of language. On the other hand, once any theoretical framework or account is adopted, a grammar becomes prescriptive in the sense that it imposes a set of conceptual primitives and structure of rules prescribed by a sub-set of linguists. How to capture the system of implicit knowledge without prescribing an a priori theoretical framework remains the biggest challenge to any descriptive grammar.

A Reference Grammar of Chinese meets this challenge with an empirical approach focused on describing what people do when they use Mandarin Chinese, while allowing generalizations to emerge from our descriptions as well as from the readers’ observation of the data. We believe that a keenly observed description of the generalizations and tendencies based on the observation of the extensive data of language use will lead to capturing the implicit knowledge people share without prescribing an explicit rule. To achieve this goal, corpora and Web-extracted examples are used extensively, with an occasional supplementation of made-up sentences. These data have been carefully examined by our authors for their distributional patterns and tendencies. None of the examples cited in this grammar are single instances of language use; rather, they were chosen as an illustrative representation based on a set of similar examples selected by the authors. In other words, this reference grammar is intended to be read like a guide to the Chinese language, mediated by an extensive set of extracted examples for each grammatical point we make. Readers can consult the example database when they read the grammar to strengthen both their understanding of the generalizations and the complexity of language in use.

Chinese has an aspectual system signaled by the presence of aspect markers, contrasting perfective and imperfective aspects. This chapter gives an overview of aspect markers in Chinese.

Definition of aspect

Aspect is a syntactic system where some intrinsic parts of clause meanings are associated with the internal temporal constituency of a situation. The aspect of a predicate refers to how the situation denoted by the predicate is being viewed, such as whether all or part of the situation is viewed. The term “situation” (also known as “Aktionsart” in the literature) refers to states and events (such as activities, accomplishments, and achievements) expressed by predicates according to their temporal properties (see Chapter 4). When we speak of a situation, we usually view it as a process consisting of a series of stages and phases, including the beginning, the continuation, and the completion. Each of these stages is an aspect that can be viewed.

Aspect is traditionally classified as either “perfective” or “imperfective.” When the perfective aspect is used, a situation is viewed in its entirety without explicit reference to any internal individual stages that make up the situation, namely, a complete situation with a beginning, middle, and end all included. Note that the notion of “completion” does not necessarily imply that the situation is “completed.” The perfective aspect focuses on all stages of the situation as a single whole, not just the end of the situation. Highlighting the end of a situation is just one of the possible meanings of the perfective aspect.

When the imperfective aspect is used, part of a situation is viewed with explicit reference to the internal temporal constituency of the situation. The situation described in a clause is not presented in its totality but instead is viewed from within, with a focus on the internal temporal structure or on some subinterval of time within the situation. Hence, the imperfective aspect is incompatible with situations that lack internal temporal structure.

Aspect can be represented by aspect markers. Two main kinds of aspect markers are distinguished to express perfectivity and imperfectivity, respectively, namely, the perfective markers 了 le0 and 过 guo4 on the one hand, and the progressive marker 在 zai4 and the continuous marker 着 zhe0 on the other hand.

Introduction

Clauses consist of subjects and predicates. Common instances of predicates are verb phrases, which are headed by verbs. Chinese verbs do not inflect for tense, person, gender, or number, but they can be immediately followed by aspect markers. The general lack of morphological clues has obscured the boundaries between verbs and other related lexical categories, such as adjectives, prepositions, and modal auxiliaries, in Chinese.

A verb phrase may be a simple structure with just a head verb or a complicated structure with the head verb and various dependent elements, such as arguments and modifiers. There are constraints on the number of elements appearing in the post-verbal position. Such constraints can be met by putting relevant elements into some other positions via topicalization, passivization, and verb reduplication, as well as by using the ba construction. In contrast, constraints on the types of elements that may appear in the post-verbal object position are less restrictive. Instrumental, temporal, and locative phrases, which typically appear as part of adverbial preposition phrases, may appear in the post-verbal object position under certain circumstances.

Summary of defining properties of verbs

1. Verbs can be suffixed with aspect markers 一 the perfective aspect marker 了 le0, the imperfective progressive/durative marker 着 zhe0, and the experiential marker 过 guo4 (see Chapter 5).

2. Some monosyllabic verbs can be reduplicated. The reduplicated forms can be Aa, A-yi-a with infix yi1 ‘one’ 一 or A-le-a.

3. A disyllabic verb AB can also be reduplicated. The reduplicated form is ABab.

4. Verbs can appear in the form of V-not-V to form alternative questions.

5. Verbs can serve as simple answers to both yes–no questions and some variable questions.

6. Verbs can be followed by objects.

7. Verbs can combine with other words to form compounds according to various types of morphological and syntactic principles.

8. Verbs can be classified into different subtypes according to the number and type of arguments they have.

9. Some emotion verbs and epistemic verbs are gradable in that they have relative degrees. They can enter comparison and can be modified by degree adverbials.

This chapter describes classifiers, which consist of sortal classifiers and measure words and are found in noun phrases in Chinese. The three semantic classes of sortal classifiers are individual classifiers, event classifiers, and kind classifiers; and the three semantic classes of measure words are container measure words, approximation measure words, and standard measure words. The classifier system is an important characteristic of Chinese. In this chapter, we will give examples of the most commonly used classifiers and discuss how sortal classifiers may coerce different interpretations from nouns.

Definition of classifiers

Classifiers [CL] in this chapter refer to the morphosyntactic category serving the semantic function of marking noun classes. Chinese has a particularly rich nominal classifier system that requires classifiers to occur in a noun phrase using the following construction:

A noun may select only one classifier (either a sortal classifier or a measure word) in any given context. Thus, sortal classifiers and measure words occur in complementary distribution and cannot co-occur. In what follows, we will first introduce a set of criteria to establish and differentiate the different types of classifiers based on their semantic functions and syntactic distribution.

Note that “classifier,” as well as its corresponding Chinese term 量词 liang4ci2 (literally, measure + word), is often used to refer to both the broader grammatical category given above and its narrower subcategory with the specific semantic function of identifying a class. We will maintain the convention of using “classifier” (or 量词 liang4ci2) exclusively to refer to the grammatical category and will use the unambiguous terms of “sortal classifier” and “measure word” to refer to its subcategories.

Semantic properties of classifiers

Taxonomy of classifiers according to their semantic functions

Sortal classifiers (often referred to as 分类词 fen1lei4ci2 ‘classifier’ in Chinese literature) are usually considered the prototypical type of classifier, as they linguistically mark conventionalized conceptual noun classes. Sortal classifier selection may be motivated by the inherent properties of the noun, which are often conceptually salient and intuitive, as 只 zhi1 selects animals, whereas 张 zhang1 selects thin, broad objects. Measure words, on the other hand, are not typical classifiers, as they do not directly refer to noun classes.

This chapter is concerned with the morphosyntactic and functional properties of adverbs. The major types of adverbs, including temporal adverbs, degree adverbs, scope adverbs, and attitudinal adverbs, will be described. Some of the most commonly used adverbs will also be discussed in detail. An adverb typically modifies the properties of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Non-derived adverbs are not morphologically marked, while derived adverbs undergo a word-formation process, such as reduplication or de-suffixation. It is also important to notice that many phrasal units can have the same modifying functions and they are called adverbials. In this chapter, we will only focus on the non-derived adverbs.

Distinctive properties of adverbs

1. • Adverbs are typically monosyllabic or disyllabic. A significant number of disyllabic adverbs are formed by the reduplication of monosyllabic adjectives or adverbs.

2. • Adverbs are typically positioned to the left of the main predicate of a clause and to the left of the unit it modifies. Some adverbs can occur at the sentence-initial position, but others can never do so. When there is more than one adverb in a clause, their occurrence is ordered.

3. • Adverbs in Chinese can be largely classified into two groups. Descriptive adverbs typically have content word characteristics, including having a big number of members in this group and being open to neologism. Functional adverbs typically have functional word characteristics, including being a small closed group with versatile high-frequency grammatical features.

Overview of adverbs

Similar to many other languages, adverbs in Chinese form a loosely defined category in which members can differ from one another in their morphology, syntax, meaning, and function.

Chinese adverbs can first and foremost be divided into two groups: descriptive adverbs and functional adverbs (also called “restrictive” adverbs). Descriptive adverbs have a specific meaning that describes a particular aspect of an action or a state, such as the manner or means of carrying out an action (e.g., 高声 gao1sheng1 ‘loudly,’ 亲自 qin1zi4 ‘in person’). Compared to functional adverbs, descriptive adverbs are more lexical, more of the “content” or “open-class” word type, and the majority of them are disyllabic or longer. Functional adverbs, on the other hand, are more of the “function” or “closed-class” word type.

Punctuation, strictly speaking, is part of the orthography and not a proper component of the grammar. In reading and writing, however, punctuation marks bring out the subtlety in grammar which is often inadequately expressed by textual representation. In this sense, punctuation is not unlike prosody in speech: something that is needed for understanding and has to be considered in conjunction with the perceived phonemic units. Punctuation is a relatively new innovation in Chinese writing. Traditional Chinese printed texts did not have punctuation and until the early twentieth century, readers of Chinese texts were required to break down the text into different units, as mentioned in Chapter 1. Punctuation marks are now an integral part of written Chinese. They are symbols to indicate pauses, the nature and function of certain expressions, and the structure and organization of sentences.

There are seventeen types of punctuation marks in written Chinese: period, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, caesura mark, semicolon, colon, quotation marks, emphasis marks, parentheses, dash, ellipsis points, connection mark, interval mark, separation mark (slash), book title mark, and proper noun mark. They can be classified into two major categories:

1 Punctuation marks that indicate boundaries, which are divided into three subcategories:

1. (a) markers of major (usually sentential) boundaries: period, question mark, and exclamation mark;

2. (b) markers of secondary boundaries between expressions or clauses: comma and caesura mark; and

3. (c) markers of boundary and relationship between two expressions: colon and semicolon.

2 Punctuation marks that indicate the nature and function of expressions, which are divided into five subcategories:

1. (a) markers to enclose a quotation or to indicate emphasis: quotation marks and emphasis marks;

2. (b) markers to indicate amendment or explanation: parentheses and dash;

3. (c) markers to indicate omission: ellipsis points;

4. (d) markers to indicate the relation between words: hyphen, interval mark, and slash mark; and

5. (e) markers to indicate the nature of certain expressions: book title mark and proper noun mark.

Boundary-marking punctuation marks

As mentioned above, there are three subtypes of boundary-marking punctuation marks.

Marks marking major boundaries

Period

A period “。” is a small circle at the bottom part of the line. It is different in appearance from the Western period “.” but has similar functions.

The description of Chinese grammar in this book is based on the following principles: sentences are composed of parts, which may themselves have parts; sentence parts belong to a limited range of types; and different parts of a sentence have specific roles or functions within the larger parts to which they belong. This description is divided into two major components: morphology and syntax. The former deals with how words are put together, while the latter deals with how words are combined to make phrases, clauses, and then sentences.

Morphemes, words, and word classes

A morpheme is the smallest unit with meaning. A word is the smallest unit that has independent functions in syntax, while a sentence is the largest syntactic unit. The main constituent of a sentence is a clause, or several coordinated clauses, which represents a proposition and usually appears in the form of a subject–predicate construction. The other constituents in a sentence are final particles, which are attached to the end of the main clause to form a sentence while providing additional and necessary information. A clause can function as part of another clause, namely, as a subordinate clause. The clause that is not contained in any other clause is the main clause. The subject, predicate, and their modifiers are phrases, while the object inside the predicate is also a phrase. A phrase has one or more words as its immediate parts and one of the parts is its head, which determines its syntactic status. For example, a verb phrase has a verb as its head and an adjective phrase has an adjective as its head.

Morphemes

Most native Chinese morphemes are monosyllabic, like those in [1a]. Native disyllabic morphemes, such as those in [1b], are few in number and a large portion of them have either a consonant alliteration, such as 蜘蛛 zhi1zhu1 ‘spider,’ or a vowel rhyme, such as 迷离 mi2li2 ‘bewildered.’ Some disyllabic morphemes are borrowed from other languages, such as those in [1c]. Multisyllabic morphemes are predominantly loan items, such as those in [1d].

1. [1] a. 猪 zhu1 ‘pig,’ 山 shan1 ‘mountain,’ 铁 tie3 ‘iron,’ 花 hua1 ‘flower,’ 跑 pao3 ‘run,’ 哭 ku1 ‘cry,’ 扔 reng1 ‘throw,’ 杀 sha1 ‘kill,’ 追 zhui1 ‘chase,’ 好 hao3 ‘good,’ 旧 jiu4 ‘old,’ 脏 zang1 ‘dirty,’ 臭 chou4 ‘stinking,’ 大 da4 ‘big’

The category of adjectives consists of lexical items that characteristically represent properties of entities such as dimension, age, color, speed, etc. A full-fledged adjective phrase is typically composed of an adverb and an adjective. This chapter mainly deals with the modifying function of adjectives and adjective phrases.

Defining properties of adjectives

The properties that adjectives characteristically represent include the following:

1. Dimension (e.g., 长 chang2 ‘long,’ 宽 kuan1 ‘wide,’ 高 gao1 ‘tall’).

2. Age (e.g., 老 lao3 ‘old,’ 小 xiao3 ‘young/small,’ 年轻 nian2qing1 ‘young’).

3. Color (e.g., 红 hong2 ‘red,’ 白 bai2 ‘white,’ 绿 lü4 ‘green’).

4. Speed (e.g., 快 kuai4 ‘fast, quick,’ 慢 man4 ‘slow’).

5. Quantity (e.g., 多 duo1 ‘many/more,’ 少 shao3 ‘little/less,’ 足够 zu2gou4 ‘enough’).

6. Value/quality (e.g., 好 hao3 ‘good,’ 坏 huai4 ‘bad,’ 真 zhen1 ‘true,’ 假 jia3 ‘false/fake,’ 奇怪 qi2guai4 ‘strange,’ 重要 zhong4yao4 ‘important,’ 困难 kun4nan2 ‘difficult,’ 简单 jian3dan1 ‘simple’).

7. Personality (e.g., 大方 da4fang1 ‘generous,’ 小气 xiao3qi4 ‘miserly,’ 豪爽 hao2shuang3 ‘forthright,’ 阴险 yin1xian3 ‘sinister’).

8. Emotional, mental, psychological, physical, and physiological states (e.g., 高兴 gao1xing4 ‘glad,’ 恐惧 kong3ju4 ‘scared,’ 糊涂 hu2tu0 ‘confused,’ 冷 leng3 ‘cold,’ 热 re4 ‘hot,’ 疲倦 pi2juan4 ‘fatigued,’ 粗糙 cu1cao1 ‘coarse’).

The predominant function of adjectives is to serve as a prenominal modifier or as the head of a predicate in clauses. The defining properties of adjectives include the following:

1. Adjectives have no morphological markings for gender, number, case, tense, or any other functional features. The main morphological derivation that adjectives undergo is partial or total reduplication, which results not in new word classes but in more vivid, intensified, and mitigated meanings and different syntactic functions (see section 10.3.2.).

2. When performing a modifying function, adjectives and adjective phrases always appear before nouns. Derived adjectives, namely those formed via derivational processes such as reduplication and affixation (see section 10.3.2.), typically work as part of a 的 de0 ‘DE’ (attributive marker) phrase that modifies nouns, for example, 圆圆的脸 yuan2yuan2 de0 lian3 ‘roundish face’ and 干巴巴的饼干 gan1ba1ba1 de0 bing3gan1 ‘dreadfully dry biscuit.’ Non-derived adjectives are of two categories, each with distinct syntactic properties. Compound adjectives with an adverbial modifier generally require a 的 de0 ‘DE’ (attributive marker) when modifying nouns, such as those in 雪白的衬衫 xue3bai2 de0 chen4shan1 ‘snow-white shirt’ and 崭新的 玩具 zhan3xin1 de0 wan2ju4 ‘brand-new toy.’