The Handbook of Chinese Linguistics

The Handbook of Chinese Linguistics is the first comprehensive introduction to Chinese linguistics from the perspective of modern theoretical and formal linguistics. Containing twenty-five chapters, the book offers a balanced, accessible and thoughtfully organized introduction to some of the most important results of research into Chinese linguistics carried out by theoretical linguists during the last thirty years. Presenting critical overviews of a wide range of major topics, it is the first to meet the great demand for an overview volume on core areas of Chinese linguistics.

Authoritative contributions describe and assess the major achievements and controversies of research undertaken in each area, and provide bibliographies for further reading. The contributors refer both to their own work in relevant fields, and objectively present a range of competitor theories and analyses, resulting in a volume that is fully comprehensive in its coverage of theoretical research into Chinese linguistics in recent years.

This unique Handbook is suitable both as a primary reader for structured, taught courses on Chinese linguistics at university level, and for individual study by graduates and other professional linguists.

C.-T. James Huang is Professor of Linguistics at Harvard University. His research interests lie in natural language syntax, the relationship between syntax and semantics, and parametric syntax with special focus on Chinese and other East Asian languages. He has published articles in a range of journals, including Linguistic Inquiry, Language, and Natural Language Semantics, and is the author of Between Syntax and Semantics (2009), The Syntax of Chinese (with Audrey Li and Yafei Li, 2009), and founding co-editor of Journal of East Asian Linguistics.

Y.-H. Audrey Li is Professor of Linguistics and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. She has authored and edited several books, including The Syntax of Chinese (with James Huang and Yafei Li, 2009), Cambridge University Press, Chinese Syntax in a Cross-linguistic Perspective (edited with ndrew Simpson and Dylan Tsai, 2015), Oxford University Press. She has also published in a range of journals including The Journal of East Asian Linguistics, Language, Lingua, and Linguistic Inquiry.

Andrew Simpson is Professor of Linguistics and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Wh-Movement and the Theory of Feature Checking (2000), and editor of Chinese Syntax in a Cross-linguistic Perspective (2015, edited with Audrey Li and Dylan Tsai), and Sluicing: Cross-Linguistic Perspectives (2012 edited with Jason Merchant). He has published articles in a number of Linguistic journals, including Linguistic Inquiry, Language, and Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. He is also joint general editor of The Journal of East Asian Linguistics.

List of Figures vii

List of Tables ix

Notes on Contributors x

Foreword xiv

Part I Syntax, Semantics, and Morphology 1

1 Morphology 3
Wei-Wen Roger Liao

2 Classifiers 26
Francesca del Gobbo

3 Adverbial Adjuncts in Mandarin Chinese 49
Thomas Ernst

4 Light Verbs 73
T.-H. Jonah Lin

5 Topic and Focus 100
Shu-Ing Shyu

6 Aspect 126
Hooi Ling Soh

7 Sentence-Final Particles 156
Andrew Simpson

8 Wh-Expressions in Mandarin Chinese 180
Jo-Wang Lin

9 Quantification and Scope 208
Yen-Hui Audrey Li

10 The Syntactic Structure of Noun Phrases 248
Lisa L.-S. Cheng and Rint Sybesma

11 Ellipsis 275
Yen-Hui Audrey Li and Ting-Chi Wei

12 Causal VVs in Mandarin 311
Alexander Williams

13 Comparatives 342
Chen-Sheng Luther Liu

Part II Phonetics, Phonology, and Prosody 367

14 Chinese Phonetics 369
Wai-Sum Lee and Eric Zee

15 Segmental Phonology 400
Yen-Hwei Lin

16 Syllable Structure and Stress 422
San Duanmu

17 Tones, Tonal Phonology, and Tone Sandhi 443
Jie Zhang

18 Prosody and Syntax 465
Andrew Simpson

Part III Language Acquisition and Psycholinguistics 493

19 Bilingual and Multilingual Acquisition of Chinese 495
Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip

20 Neurocognitive Approaches to the Processing of Chinese 511
Ping Li, Hua Shu, and Youyi Liu

Part IV Historical Linguistics 535

21 Historical Syntax of Chinese 537
Shengli Feng

22 Historical Phonology of Chinese 576
Zev Handel

Part V Morpho-Syntax of Other Non-Mandarin Varieties of Chinese 599

23 Aspects of Cantonese Grammar 601
Sze-Wing Tang and Siu-Pong Cheng

24 Taiwanese Hokkien/Southern Min 629
Miao-Ling Hsieh

Index 657

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