ASIA 386

CHINESE GRAMMAR AND USAGE I

 Teaching team
• Instructor: Liam Doherty
• Email: liam.doherty@ubc.ca

• Teaching Assistant: Miranda Zhang

• Email: miraclez@student.ubc.ca

• Teaching Assistant: Xiong Zhang

• Email: xiongzh@student.ubc.ca

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 What is Grammar?

• The sounds and sound patterns, the basic units of meaning,

such as words, and the rules to combine them to form new

sentences constitute the grammar of a language. The

grammar is an internalized, unconscious set of rules.

• (Pronunciation, word formation, syntax, etc.)

• 语法 / 文法

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 Important notes

Language is vigorous and dynamic and

constantly changing. All languages and
dialects are expressive, complete, and
logical.

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 Chinese languages

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 Course Description

Modern Chinese Grammar and Usage will cover:

– word formation and functions
– syntactic constructions
– discourse cohesions
– semantics,
– stylistic considerations

A functional approach:
link form and function, structure and usage in relation to social and
cultural contexts and implications.

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 Course Objectives

• To enhance students’ understanding of Chinese grammar

and learn how and where it differs from the grammars of
other languages, such as English or Japanese.
• To prepare for future professionals in Chinese language
education, classical Chinese or Chinese literature,
Chinese translation and interpretation, and Chinese
journalism.

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 Course Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate a good understanding/mastery of the

principles and patterns used to generate phrases,
sentences and discourse in contemporary standard
Mandarin Chinese.
• Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the structure
of Modern Standard Chinese to discuss and analyze
the major grammatical features of the language.

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 Course Learning Outcomes
• Define the nature of language variation as found in
Chinese social context and how it shapes communication
• Establish a solid basis for further use of Chinese language,
such as practical use in teaching Chinese or analytic use in
research on the Chinese language
• Gain meta-linguistic awareness and knowledge of the
differences between different grammatical systems,
especially those of modern standard Chinese and English.

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 Course Requirements
Attendance:

• Students are expected to attend all classes on time and to participate actively in

class activities. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or

emergencies should report to their instructors as soon as possible. Email is the

best means of communication.

• Students are allowed 1 unexcused absence. Additional absence will be

penalized 0.5% from the final grade per absence.

• Those who miss more than 1/4 of the entire course (3 class sessions) are not

allowed to take the final examination, and such students will not be eligible to

receive course credit.

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 Course Requirements

Assignments and Exams:

• 4 homework assignments

– To be completed online (Canvas)

– Late assignments not accepted

• Two exams:

– Midterm (90 minutes)

– Final (150 minutes)

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 Course Requirements

Makeup:

• No make-up quizzes will be given. Make-up exams are

allowed only in cases of documented medical or personal

leave

• Please inform your instructor in advance of any absence or if

you are not going to be able to submit an assignment by the

deadline.

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 Course Requirements

Academic Honesty:

• All forms of cheating/plagiarism are serious offenses and will result in a grade of zero on

the exams, quizzes, and assignments plus a report to the Office of Academic Discipline in

Asian Studies and the Faculty of Arts.

Academic Misconduct:

• Please carefully read the section of the syllabus on academic misconduct.

• Note the important difference between productive peer learning and discussion and

academic misconduct (copying answers or representing someone else’s work as your own).

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 Generative AI

– The normal academic rules for citing your sources also apply to text

produced by a generative AI (“artificial intelligence”)

●
Including: chat assistants, large language models, generative pre-trained

transformers, ChatGPT or similar

– ChatGPT and similar Ais are tools and must be cited every time you use them

– You must provide your own analysis and/or commentary when you quote

text produced by a generative AI, just like with a regular academic citation

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 Generative AI

How not to use ChatGPT...

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 Generative AI

How to properly cite your use of ChatGPT:

– According to ChatGPT-4, "XYZ is because of ABC"

(June, 2023). However, as we have learned in class,

DEF and GHI are more significant factors affecting XYZ.

ChatGPT-4’s analysis neglects to account for DEF and

GHI, and in my opinion is therefore not accurate. A

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 Course Requirements

Routine Preparation and Active Participation

• Preparation for class includes:

– Previewing course materials (10-20 pages/class)

– Checking the glossary/dictionary for any unfamiliar terms

– Preparing questions for clarification and discussion

– Reviewing previous classes, etc.

Students are expected to participate actively in all course activities.

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 Course Evaluation

Class Attendance (iClicker quizzes) 25%

Participation (in-class activities) 10%

Four Assignments @3.75% each 15%

Midterm Examination 20%

Final Examination 30%

TOTAL 100%

●
Bonus points: active participation on Online (Canvas) Discussion Forum

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Course Work: iClicker Quizzes
●
Purpose:
– Encourage attendance and preparation for class
– Stimulate peer and class discussion
–

Points 0 0.5 1
Response No answer Wrong answer Right answer

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 Course Work: Assignments (Canvas)

• 4 graded assignments

• Open-book

• Short, specific answers

• Usually available on Canvas for approximately one week

• You can “save” your answers and make multiple attempts

• Grades won’t be calculated until you “submit” the answers

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 Course Work: In-class activities (Canvas)

• Each class there will be simple in-class activities on Canvas:

– Grading:
●
1% each
●
Complete/incomplete
– Requirements:
●
Must be completed during class
●
Must be substantive attempts to answer the question

– Goal:
●
Practice using concepts learned in-class to analyze real-world data from
pop culture, literature, and everyday life

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 Course Work: Exams

Midterm and Final Examination:

• Focus: Ability to use what you have learned to

analyze and explain issues in Chinese grammar.

• Scope: Cumulative, covering all course content

prior to date of exam.

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 Chinese Grammar and Grammar Books

• The Chinese traditional philological studies 语文学 focused on

phonology 音韵 , script 文字 and interpretation of word meaning 训诂 .

• The first grammar book 马氏文通 was written by Ma Jianzhong

(1898) ， which marked the beginning of formal grammatical studies

of the Chinese language.

• The non-existence of grammar books does not mean the non-

existence of grammar. Every language has its own rules.

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History of Chinese Grammar Studies

The first stage

• 马建中 (1898): 馬氏文通

[Mr. Ma’s Grammar]
• Studies of classical
Chinese (Based on Latin
grammar)

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History of Chinese Grammar Studies

The second stage

• 王力 (1936)
– 中国文法学初探 [The
Preliminary Studies of
Chinese Grammar].
– Studies of modern Chinese,
based on the theory of
modern linguistics

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 Well-known Works on Chinese Grammar

Chao Yip &

(1968) Rimmington
Wang Li Li & (2016)
(1943) Thompson
(1981)
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Issues in Applying Western Grammar Terms to
Chinese Language

• 过了三天 （过了 preposition ？ )

• 美丽，聪明 （ adjectives or stative verbs?)

• 从，到，由，跟，对，用 （ verbs or

prepositions?)

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 Characteristics of Chinese Grammar

• Topic-prominent
• No word inflection (number, gender, tense, case)
• No tense, (but aspect )
• Word order (SVO, Time sequence)
• General before specific/individual
• Left-branching (modifier - the modified) (end-focus)

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Topic Prominent vs. Subject Prominent

• The subject-prominent languages (e.g., English, French etc.) put the

subject first. The subject is the doer of the action in a sentence. The
relationship of the subject and predicate is that of an “actor” and
“action”.

• All languages have subjects. Most European languages are described as

subject prominent, and have an SVO word order (subject, verb, object).
The subject is usually placed first as the most prominent item.

– The manager drank it.

– The manager is drunk.
– The manager is fired.

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Topic Prominent vs. Subject Prominent

• A topic-prominent language is a language that organizes its syntax to emphasize

the topic–comment structure of the sentence (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Turkish, Hungarian, etc.)

• The topic is often not the subject of the sentence. It is whatever the sentence is
about

– Sakana-wa tai-ga oishi-i desu.

– 魚は 鯛が おいしい です。
– Among fish, red snapper is [most] delicious

– 那个人，大事做不来，小事又不做。
– 饭做好了。
– 饭我已经吃过了。

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 Topic-prominent
(cf. subject prominent)

• 这本书，我看了三遍了。
• I have read the book three times.

• 北京从三月到五月是春天。
• Spring is from March to May in Beijing.

• 这个地方可以跳舞。
• (We/people) can dance here.
• This place can be used for dancing.
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In English, almost every sentence requires a subject
and a verb (not necessarily the case in Chinese)

• It’s raining.
• 下雨了。

• There is a tree in front of the house.

• 房子前面有一棵树。

• It’s not easy to learn a foreign language.

• 学好一门外语很不容易。

• It is apparent that oil reserves will be exhausted by 2050.

• 很明显石油储藏不到 2050 年将被全部耗尽。

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 Chinese Sentence Structures

Subject-predicate structure （主谓句）

• Subject （主语） + Predicate （谓语）

• 他在看电视。

Topic-comment structure （主题句）

• Topic （主题） + Comment （评论）

• 他很聪明。

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 Chinese Sentence Structures

“ 指导组发的调查表，大家都好好填一下，别糊弄啊。”

Topic + comment

Note:

●
Is 指导组发的调查表 the subject of the sentence?

●
Is this sentence about something that the 指导组发的调查表 did?

●
Who is performing the action in this sentence?

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 Chinese Sentence Structures

“ 大家都好好填一下。”

Subject + predicate

Note:

●
Is 都好好填一下 a comment describing 大家 ?

●
Who is performing the action in this sentence?

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 Chinese Grammar: No Inflection
(number, gender, tense, case)

• English
– Be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been,

• Chinese
–是

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 Chinese has no tense, but aspect is
marked

• TENSE refers to the absolute location of an event or action in

time, either the present or the past.
• ASPECT refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with
respect to time, rather than to its actual location in time. The
aspect of a verb is determined by whether the action is on going
or completed. E.g.
– He took the photos.
– He had taken the photos when I arrived.
– He was taking the photos when I arrived.
– He had been taking photos before I arrived

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 Chinese Aspect

• 了 (perfective): 她已经看了三本法文小说。

• 在 (durative, progressive): 她在看书呢。

• 过 (experiential): 我没看过这部电影。

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 Word Order
（ Time Sequence, End Focus)

• 大为每天坐公车去学校上课。
• David goes to school by bus every day.

• Compare:
– 大为坐车去学校。
– 大为去学校坐车。

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 General before
specific/individual
• Time: 1998 年 3 月 20 日下午 5 点 30 分
• Space: 中国北京海淀区苏州街 36 号

Compare (English):
• Time: 5:30 on the afternoon of March 20th in 1998
• Space: 3518 West 41st Ave. Vancouver, BC, Canada

• 上海是世界上最大的现代城市之一。
• Shanghai is one of the biggest modern cities in the world.

Number: 三分之一 , 百分之五十

Location: 广场中央，马路旁，树上，教室里

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 Left Branching
(modifier before the modified, end focus)

Chinese: (left branching)

●
我的书。
●
我在那家新书店买的书。
●
大为喜欢带他的狗去公园跑步。

English: (right branching)

● My book
● the book I bought at the new bookstore.

● David likes to jog in the park with his dog.

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 Which of the following expressions are not
appropriate? Why?

A. 购买书籍 B. 买书 C. 买书籍 D. 购买书

A. 拥有钱财 B. 有钱 C. 拥有钱 D. 有钱财
A. 触犯法律 B. 犯法 C. 触犯法 D. 犯法律

The prosodic ( 韵律） feature of Chinese language

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 How would you translate the following? Why can the
same structure not be translated in the same way?

A. The window was broken by him.

B. The window was made by him.

C. The book was borrowed by him.

D. The book was burnt by him.
E. The book was written by him.
F. The book was well received by young people.

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Which ones sound odd? Why?

A. 住在城里 穿在城里
B. 躺在床上 哭在床上
C. 坐在门口 看在门口
D. 站在树下 唱在树下

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HOMEWORK:

READ THE INTRODUCTION AND CHAPTER ONE

(BE PREPARED FOR THE ICLICKER QUIZ NEXT CLASS, AND BRING A
QUESTION TO ASK ABOUT THE READING.)

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