SIMPLIFIED AND TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS
The Chinese government simplified hundreds of Chinese characters in mid-1950 by reducing the numbers of their strokes. Such simplified characters are called 简体字 jiǎntǐzì. This dictionary uses jiantizi. Traditional versions (also known as complicated characters) are still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and they are shown after “Trad” where applicable, e.g.:
学 xué Trad 學
3 VOCABULARY: Word-formation
Chinese words are either of one syllable or more than one syllable (mostly two syllables). When they are made up of two or more syllables, their meanings are usually transparent; that is, the way a word is formed tells you a lot about its meaning. Therefore it is very helpful to know the meanings of the components in a word and the way the word is formed, and it also makes understanding the word easier and more interesting.
There are six basic word-formation methods:
• Compounding: the components of a word are complementary to each other in meaning and are of the same status. For example:
重 once again + 复 repeat → 重复 repeat
• Modification: one component modifies the other. For example:
外 outside + 国 country → 外国 foreign country
• Verb+object: the word has a verb-and-object relationship. For example:
发 develop + 烧 burning, fever → 发烧 to run a fever
• Verb+complementation: the word has a verb-and-complement relationship, that is, the first component is a verb or an adjective and the second one modifies it. For example:
提 raise + 高 high → 提高 raise
• Suffixation: the word contains a suffix. For example:
本 a book + 子 nominal suffix → 本子 notebook
• Idioms: the word is an idiomatic expression. For example:
马上 → at once, immediately
4 GRAMMAR
4.1 Main features of Chinese grammar
TOPIC+COMMENT STRUCTURE
The basic principle in making Chinese sentences is to follow the “topic+comment” structure. “Topic” means the subject matter you want to talk about, and “comment” is the information you give about the subject matter. To make a Chinese sentence, you simply first mention the subject matter you want to talk about, and then say what you have to say about it. For example, you can say 那本书 nà běn shū (that book) first as the “topic” and then add “comment”:
那本书 Nà běn shū (that book) + 很有意思 hěn yǒu yìsi (very interesting) → That book is very interesting.
那本书 Nà běn shū (that book) + 卖完了 mài wán le (sold out)→That book has been sold.
那本书 Nà běn shū (that book) + 你有吗 nǐ yǒu ma (do you have) → Do you have that book?
那本书 Nà běn shū (that book) + 语言很优美 yǔyán hěn yōuměi (language is beautiful) → The language of that book is beautiful.
ELLIPSIS OF SENTENCE ELEMENTS
Chinese speakers may leave out words that are supposed to be understood, and therefore need not be spoken. Subjects and conjunctions are often omitted. For example, you may translate the English sentence If you like it, you may buy it, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to, into the Chinese sentence 喜欢就买, 不喜欢就别买。 Xǐhuan jiùmǎi, bù xǐhuan jiù bié mǎi. Literally, it means “Like it, and buy, don’t like then don’t buy.” Compare the two sentences, and you will find that some English words, such as if, you, it, and but are not translated.
WORD CLASSES: FLEXIBILITY, NO INFLECTION
Chinese words do not have inflections, i.e. they do not change to indicate grammatical categories. For example, the verb 去 qù (to go) is invariably 去 qù; there is no past form or any other inflected form of this verb. Neither do Chinese words normally have formal markers of word class. Consequently it is rather easy for a word to be used in more than one word class. This relative flexibility in word classes, however, does not mean that Chinese does not have word classes (see Section 4.2).
MEASURE WORDS AND PARTICLES
Measure words (量词 liàngcí) and particles (助词 zhùcí) are two word classes found in Chinese but not in English and most other languages.
Measure words are usually required when a noun is modified by a numeral. For example, 两书 liǎng shū is unacceptable; you must use the measure word 本 běn between the numeral and the noun: 两本书 liǎng běn shū (two books). Furthermore, Chinese nouns require specific measure words to go with them. For example, the noun 书 shū (book) must be used with the measure word 本 běn. See List 2 on pages xvi–xvii for the common measure words.
In Chinese grammar, particles are words attached to other words or at the end of a sentence to indicate grammatical concepts or to express emotions. For example, the particles 了 le, 着 zhe, 过 guo are attached to verbs to indicate, respectively, whether the actions denoted are completed, in progress or past experiences.
4.2 Word classes
Following are brief explanations of the basic terms in Chinese grammar used in this dictionary. (A word of warning: it is a rather complicated matter to define grammatical terms accurately. Here we will be content with some general but useful ideas.)
| ADJECTIVE | a describing word, a word that describes people, things or actions, typically used before a noun |
| ADVERB | a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb |
| CONJUNCTION | a word used to link two words, phrases or sentences, indicating certain relationships between them |
| IDIOM | a set phrase, the meaning of which cannot be readily derived from its components |
| INTERJECTION | a word that expresses strong emotions |
| MEASURE WORD | a word that connects a numeral to a noun. Measure words are a special feature of Chinese; a list of measure words is given in List 2 |
| MODAL VERB | a word used before a verb to indicate necessity, possibility, willingness, etc. |
| NOUN | a naming word, a word that names people, animals, plants, things, ideas, etc. |
| NUMERAL | a word that represents a number, typically used with a noun |
| ONOMATOPOEIA | a word that imitates the sounds of a thing or an action |
| PARTICLE | a word used with another word, phrase, or sentence to indicate certain grammatical meanings or to express strong emotions |
| PREPOSITION | a word used before a noun or pronoun to indicate time, place, direction, manner, reason of an action, etc. |
| PRONOUN | a word that is used in the place of a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc. |
| VERB | an action word, a word that indicates what somebody does or feels |
4.3 Other grammar terms
| ATTRIBUTE | the element that modifies the subject or object of a sentence; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that modifies a noun |
| ADVERBIAL | the element that is used before the predicate of a sentence and modifies it; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that precedes a verb or an adjective to modify it |
| COMPLEMENT | the element that is used after the predicate of a sentence and modifies it; or, in word-formation analysis, a word that follows a verb or an adjective to modify it |
| IMPERATIVE SENTENCE | a command or a request |
| OBJECT | the element that follows a predicative verb, typically to indicate the target of an action |
| PREDICATE | the comment or information about the subject, typically a verb or an
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