Book contents
- An Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
- An Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Chinese and Linguistics
- Chapter 2 Phonetics and Phonology
- Chapter 3 Morphology
- Chapter 4 Lexicon
- Chapter 5 Lexical Semantics
- Chapter 6 Syntax: Basic Concepts
- Chapter 7 Syntax: Special Topics
- Chapter 8 Change and Variation
- Chapter 9 Writing: Early Chinese Writing
- Chapter 10 Writing: Modern Chinese Writing
- Chapter 11 Sign Language and Braille
- Index
- References
Chapter 6 - Syntax: Basic Concepts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2026
Book contents
- An Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
- An Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Chinese and Linguistics
- Chapter 2 Phonetics and Phonology
- Chapter 3 Morphology
- Chapter 4 Lexicon
- Chapter 5 Lexical Semantics
- Chapter 6 Syntax: Basic Concepts
- Chapter 7 Syntax: Special Topics
- Chapter 8 Change and Variation
- Chapter 9 Writing: Early Chinese Writing
- Chapter 10 Writing: Modern Chinese Writing
- Chapter 11 Sign Language and Braille
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter focuses on topics in syntax. It first introduces a general but important topic—part of speech—and how linguists determine part of speech in general and for Chinese. It then delves deeper to examine syntactic features of Chinese nouns and noun phrases. Measure words and classifiers are distinguished; types of classifiers and dialectal variations in classifiers are discussed. In describing Chinese verbs and verb phrases, important notions such as verb arguments, syntactic and semantic roles, verbal complements and verbal aspects are introduced. Syntactic behaviors of Chinese adjectives and verbs are also compared. Finally, this chapter discusses the word order of Mandarin.
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- An Introduction to Chinese Linguistics , pp. 157 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
Primary Sources
Payne, T. (1997). Grammatical categories. In Payne, T.. Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists (pp. 32–70). Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Secondary Sources
Cheung, C. C. (2016). Parts of speech in Mandarin: The state of the art. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, L.L. and Sybesma, R. P. E. (1998). Yi-wan tang, yi-ge tang: Classifiers and Massifiers. Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, 28, 3, 385–412.Google Scholar
Lü, S. X. 吕叔湘 (2000). Chapter 9, Measures 第九章 数量. In Complete works of Lǚ Shūxiāng, vol. 1 吕叔湘全集，第一卷. Liaoning Education Press 辽宁教育出版社 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Comrie, B. (1976). Aspect: An introduction to the study of verbal aspect and related problems. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, C. (1997). The aspectual system of Mandarin Chinese. In Smith, C. (1997), The parameter of aspect (pp. 263–296). Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, C. (2019) Chinese aspectual particle le: A comprehensive guide. The Hong Kong University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comrie, B. (1981). Chapter 4, Word order. In Language universals and linguistic typology: Syntax and morphology. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
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