Fundamental Structures of the Chinese Language

Taciana Fisac is Professor of East Asian Studies, specializing in Chinese language and literature, and the founder of the Center for East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid. She has dedicated herself to the advancement of East Asian studies. She has been a visiting scholar at various institutions including Stanford University, Oxford University, Leiden University, Ohio State University, and also in China at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, and Beijing Foreign Studies University. She is the author of numerous publications, primarily on literature, women, and society in China, as well as translations of Chinese literature.Riccardo Moratto PhD, FCIL, is Professor of Translation and Interpreting Studies at the Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation (GIIT), Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), AIIC member, Chartered Linguist and Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL). Author and translator of numerous publications, professor Moratto is general editor of Interpreting Studies for Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, general editor of Routledge Studies in East Asian Interpreting and Routledge Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Approaches to Chinese Literature. Professor Moratto is also honorary professor at the College of Foreign Studies of Nanjing Agricultural University, Honorary Research Fellow at the Center for Translation Studies of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, expert member of the Translators Association of China (TAC), and honorary member of the Associação de Tradutores de Macau. Professor Moratto is a conference interpreter and renowned literary translator. He has published extensively in the fields of translation and interpreting studies and Chinese literature.

• ForewordPrefaceIntroductionI. Importance of the “topic-comment” structure1.1 Topics occupy a fixed position at the beginning of the sentence1.2 Topics are definite or identifiable references1.3 Topics consist of one or more words1.4 Topics do not necessarily correspond to the “grammatical subject” of the verbal action1.5 Phonological elements marking the topic1.6 Topics can be marked by specific terms1.7 Single topic, multiple topics or a string of topics1.8 Elision of the topic1.9 Topics are independent from comments1.10 Comments may consist of one or more words1.11 One comment or a string of comments1.12 Comments can be marked1.13 Comments cannot be omitted1.14 Comments as predication1.15 “Topic-comment” structures in coordinated clauses1.16 Interrogative clauses1.17 The identification of the "topic-comment" structure is essential for constructing negation1.18 Initial expressions of time or place can serve as a topic or establish a frame of reference for an event1.19 Constructions with bǎ 把 as double-topic clause1.20 Constructions with bèi 被 as double-topic definite reference clauses1.21 Constructions with shì是 as topic-focus clauses1.22 Constructions with jiù 就 as clauses with a focus marker1.23 Constructions with dōu 都 as clauses with focus and definite reference1.24 The “topic-comment” structure and punctuation marks1.25 The “topic-comment” structure in Classical Chinese1.26 The structure of dialogues1.27 The “topic-comment” structure in translation1.28 SummaryII. Verbal aspect: a fundamental category in the Chinese language2.1 Stative verbs2.2 Auxiliary verbs2.3 Verb-object incorporation compounds2.4 Aspect: fundamental category of Chinese verbs2.5 The unmarked form of the verb2.6 The perfective aspect suffix le 了2.7 The experiential aspect suffix guo 过2.8 The progressive aspect suffix zhe 着2.9 The use of the infix de 得2.10 The tentative, limiting, or punctual nature of the verb and its reduplication2.11 Verbs of movement that specify the direction of the action2.12 Verbs incorporating the result of the action2.13 Verbs incorporating the feasibility or impossibility of the action2.14 The specification of the action or result of movement in a figurative sense2.15 Summary2.16 Summary table of the most frequent Chinese aspectual markers2.17 Model of “aspectual conjugation” in ChineseIII. The arrangement of phrasal constituents and grammatical markers3.1 The arrangement of elements around the nominal phrase3.2 Grammatical markers for noun identification3.3 The order of elements in the verbal phrase3.4 The position of the adverb3.5 Coverbs or prepositions?3.6 The position of comparison terms3.7 The arrangement of expressions and terms related to time and place3.8 The spatial and temporal positioning through postpositions3.9 The conjunction of words and sentences3.10 Interrogative markers3.11 Modal clause markers3.12 Summary table of the order of elementsIV. Identification of structures, grammatical markers, and word order in a written text4.1 Topic-comment structure4.2 Use of de 的 as a noun phrase marker4.3 Demonstratives, numerals or quantifiers, and classifiers as markers of the noun phrase4.4 Adjectives and noun modifiers4.5 Place references and postpositions4.6 Temporal references4.7 Verbs and aspect4.8 Markers of the verb phrase: adverbs4.9 Conjunctions of words and clauses4.10 Comparison terms4.11 Clause markers4.12 Summary of the “topic-comment” structure4.13 A literary translationReferencesIndex