Grounding in Chinese Written Narrative Discourse

Wendan Li, Ph.D. (1996), is Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has published monographs and articles on Chinese language, discourse structure and pedagogy, including Topic Chains in Chinese (Lincom Europa 2005) and Chinese Writing and Calligraphy (University of Hawai’i Press 2010).

• ContentsPrefaceList of TablesList of FiguresSymbols and Glossing Conventions1 Introduction1.1 Theoretical Framework1.2 Methodology1.3 Organization of the Book2 Grounding: A Literature Review2.1 The Notion of Grounding2.2 Grounding in Linguistics2.3 Semantic Characteristics of Grounding2.4 Grammatical Indications of Grounding2.5 Narrative Discourse and Grounding2.6 Chapter Summary3 Grammatical Features of Chinese and Previous Grounding Analysis3.1 The Important Notion of Topic3.2 Units in Written Discourse3.3 Constituent Order3.4 Indication of Temporal Location3.5 -Le and Le3.6 Previous Grounding Analysis of Chinese3.7 Chapter Summary4 At the Verb Phrase Core: Foregrounding Through Bounding4.1 Aspect in Chinese4.2 Grammatical Aspect Markers and Grounding4.3 Situation Aspect and Grounding4.4 Bounded Events and Narrative Advancement4.5 Chapter Summary5 In Single-Verb Clauses: Constituent Order and Grounding5.1 Clause Types Under Examination5.2 Analysis of Constituent Order and Clause Types5.3 Statistical Verification5.4 Discussion5.5 Chapter Summary6 In Complex Predicates: Grounding of Verb Phrases6.1 Serial Verb Constructions 6.2 Multiple Aspectually Marked Verb Phrases6.3 Discussion6.4 Chapter Summary7 In Complex Sentences: Margins Versus Nucleus7.1 Literature Review: Margins and Subordination7.2 Adverbial Margins in Chinese7.3 Discussion: Sentence-Initial Margins With Zero Subject7.4 Chapter Summary8 Related Issues8.1 Coercion in Semantic and Aspectual Reinterpretation8.2 Interpretations of Postverbal Zai-PPs8.3 Foregrounding Function of jiu8.4 Clause Integration and Backgrounding8.5 Chapter Summary9 Concluding Remarks9.1 Major Findings9.2 Contributions of the Study9.3 Remaining IssuesReferencesSources of Data and Examples

"Taken as a whole, the book is notable in three aspects. First of all, it has considerable significance for typological studies on the grounding phenomenon. [...] Second, as the first study to apply grounding theory in the study of Chinese discourse grammar, this work is both theoretically and methodologically rewarding for Chinese grammar study. [...] Third, the book is user-friendly because it is very well organized." ~ Yurong Zhao, Northeastern University of China, in Chinese Language and Discourse, Vol. 9/2 (2018), pp. 251–255