Li, W. 1989. "A Dependency Syntax of Contemporary Chinese", BSO/DLT Research Report, the Netherlands.
[TXT1] [TXT2] [TXT3] (encoded in Chinese GB. Its abstract published in Computer World 1989/7/26 [JPG])
NOTE:
1. This is the original version (in English with some Chinese characters in GB) of
Li, Wei (1989) "A Dependency Syntax of Contemporary Chinese", BSO/DLT Research Report,
the Netherlands. Its outline published in China Computerworld, 07-26-1989, Beijing.
2. This research project was funded by BSO Software Company, Utrecht, the Netherlands ,
for use in its DLT Multilingual MT system.
3. The author, Mr. Wei LI, was a researcher at Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences. He can be contacted by email (liwei999 AT gmail DOT com).
4. The author welcomes any academic use of this research. If you use it, please list in
your reference as follows: Li, Wei (1989) "A Dependency Syntax of Contemporary Chinese",
BSO/DLT Research Report, Utrecht, the Netherlands. For commercial use, please contact the author first.
5. In order to view it properly, please use the Chinese GB encoding.
======================================================
Li, Wei (1989) "A Dependency Syntax of Contemporary Chinese", BSO/DLT Research Report, Utrecht, the Netherlands:
A Dependency Syntax of Contemporary Chinese
(For Use In DLT)
Li Wei
Institute of Linguistics
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
5, JIANGUOMENNEI DAJIE, BEIJIGN, P.R. CHINA 100732
Beijing, July 1989
0. Foreword
0.1 Object: Standard Contemporary Written Chinese
0.1.1. Chinese writing system
A set of characters constitutes Chinese writing system. The system of
PINYIN (Chinese alphabet), which is based on Latin alphabet, is often used to
represent the pronunciation of the characters. The standard system PINYIN
includes a mark over the vowel u to differentiate the pronunciation [y] from
[u] and four special signs above the vowels, denoting Chinese four tones: 1.
high level tone; 2. rising tone; 3. falling-rising tone; 4. falling tone; e.g.
MA, MA, MA, MA. What often happens is that there are many characters with same
pronunciation, e.g. ZHI: 芝, 枝, 支, 吱, 蜘, 知, 肢, 脂, 汁, 之, 织. In order
to be practically used in DLT, we suggest that a coding principle be set up
that all the characters with same pronunciation, regardless of tones and
the differentiation in pronunciation between [y] and [u], should be queued
and numbered according to their order in authoritative dictionaries so that
they can be differentiated by the different number at the end of a syllable,
e.g. ZHI1: 芝, ZHI2: 枝,... ZHI55:治. In this way, it will be very easy to
transform between Chinese characters and such codes at a Chinese computer
terminal.
0.1.2 Grammatical Characteristics of Contemporary Chinese [Lu Shuxiang 1981]
0.1.2.1 No gramatical endings
Just for this want of grammatical endings, Chinese seems more likely
to be syntactically ambiguous, resulting in two or more trees for most of
Chinese sentences. Chinese is essentially a semantics-bound language,
therefore, one can hardly expect to achieve much by syntactic analysis, which
can only be based on forms, explicit forms (function words and word order)
or implicit forms (word categories, subclasses and valencies). It is not
difficult to cite some sentences which lead to as many as a dozen trees, hence
the problem of combinational explosion in parsing.
0.1.2.2 Function words often omitted
0.1.2.3 Effect of syllable and character on structure
That can be regarded as extra-grammatical effect. The most typical is the
so-called 2-syllable tendency in word formation. That is why most Contemporary
Chinese notional words are considered as of two characters, which is the
common psychology of the Chinese language community, although, in strict
sense, there are quite some 2-character words especially verbs are really
word-groups, therefore can well be divided into two words.
0.2 Aim:
To provide a formal syntactic model of Contemporary Chinese based on
Tesniere's Depedency Grammar, so that it can be used in DLT machine
translation system.
1. Wordcategories of Contemporary Chinese
1.0 How to define Chinese words out of Chinese character-string
We define Chinese words as shortly as possible, i.e we shall not stop dividing
a character-string into smaller elements until and unless we are faced with
the following 3 contexts: 1) if the string represents a pure proper name, e.g.
华盛顿HUASHENGDUN (Washington) -- but a complex name may, of course, be further
divided, e.g. 中华人民共和国ZHONGHUARENMINGONGHEGUO (the People's Republic of
China) --> 中华ZHONGHUA (China) 人民RENMIN (people) 共和GONGHE (republic)
国GUO (country); 2) if the relation between the morphemes in the string, which
usually goes in accordance with the Ancient Chinese grammar, is contradictory
to the rules of Contemporary Chinese grammar, e.g. 瓦解WAJIE (disintegrate
like tile) -- here 瓦WA (tile), a noun, is used as adverbial of the verb 解JIE
(disintegrate) according to an Ancient Chinese rule, or if the character-group
functions in Contemporary Chinese as a member from a certain word category but
when considered as a word group, it really forms a phrase whose governor
belongs to some other word category, e.g. 亲眼QINYAN (by one's onw eyes), as a
single word, is no doubt an adverb quite often used in Contemporary Chinese,
but 亲QIN (own) 眼YAN (eye), as a word group, is bound to be a noun phrase
with 眼YAN as its governor and 亲QIN as its attribute dependant; (3) if the
morphemes (characters) A, B, and sometimes also C even D, interdependently
form a new concept by the form AB, or ABC or even ABCD, which can hardly be
made out by the simple combination of their individual meanings, either
because their original meanings are far away from, or totally (seem to) have
no relation with, the concept, or because A, B, C, or D, for themselves alone,
are too much ambiguous and uncertain, e.g.
(1) 工作GONGZUO (work), cf: 工GONG (work/worker/job/...)
作ZUO (do/write/works/...)
(2) 成绩CHENGJI (achievement), cf: 成CHENG (finish/up/over/success/...)
绩JI (accomplishment/result/...)
(3) 什么SHIME (what), cf: 什SHI (ten/various/...) 么ME (?)
(4) 时候SHIHOU (time), cf: 时SHI (time) 候HOU (wait/season/greet/...)
(5) 东西DONGXI (thing), cf: 东DONG (east) 西XI (west)
(6) 条件TIAOJIAN (condition), cf: 条TIAO (piece/bar/strip/...)
件JIAN (piece/document/...)
(7) 老是LAOSHI (always), cf: 老LAO (old) 是SHI (be)
There are some characters which, for themselves, mean nothing in
Contemporary Chinese, and can only function as morphemes to help form multi-
character words. These bound morphemes can never be used independently.
Although it is generally agreed that in Contemporary Chinese words are most
often made up of two characters, however, in this model, there are perhaps
more single character words than usually granted, for we would like to analyse
Chinese sentences as deeply as possible -- hence the above-mentioned somewhat
too abstract principle for the definition of Chinese words -- "we define
Chinese words as shortly as possible".
Anyway, Chinese word syntax is essentially identical to sentence syntax.
Therefore, there is no clear-cut boundary between a word and a morpheme
(character).
How to automatically recognize words out of a character-string has now become
a special research topic (so-called word segmentation) in the field of Chinese
information processing (see "Word-recognition and Syntactic Analysis in Chinese
Information Processing" by Prof. LIU Zhuo)
1.1 How to define Chinese wordcategories
Syntactic distribution is the only criterion for the classification of Chinese
words. Therefore, we can only make out the wordcategory of a word by its
syntagmatic characteristics, i.e. what kinds of words it may govern and by
what kinds of words it may be governed. For such an inflexion-wanting language
like Chinese, it is no strange that nearly every word can function as two or
more categories, e.g.
这ZHE 项XIANG 工作GONGZUO 很HEN 重要ZHONGYAO 。
this ? work very important
This work [is] very important.
(GONGZUO is a noun because it is used after a classifier, its determiner.)
在ZAI 厂CHANG 子ZI 里LI 工作GONGZUO 很HEN 累LEI 人REN 。
at factory ? ? work very tire man
To work in a factory is very tiring.
(GONGZUO is a verb because it has an adverbial as its dependant.)
Note: the question mark "?" signifies that one can hardly find out the
corresponding to a Chinese word. In all the following examples, Chinese
sentences or phrases are expressed by both HANZI (i.e. Chinese characters)
and PINYIN (i.e. Chinese alphabet), the latter always in capitalized letters.
The problem of category ambiguity for Chinese words is so serious and striking
that there used to be a prevailing view in Chinese grammar circle that "there
are no grammatical categories for Chinese words, and categories can only be
defined in a sentence".
We find that there are two kinds of category ambiguity, the first might be
called potential ambiguity, which arises simply for the fact that some words
cover syntagmatic definitions of two or more categories, and the second is
dynamic ambiguity which occurs when the language user makes elastic or
temporary use of some words. Accordingly, there are two ways. For words of
potential category ambiguity, we should list all their potential categories as
their static codes in dictionary, and sentences with such words in them will
call a subroutine of category disambiguating rule set to help solve most of
the problem and try to determine the only correct category in this very
context erasing the other improper categories. Words of dynamic category
ambiguity can not be predicted, they are therefore attached with only one
category in dictionary, which will be dynamically changed into another
category during the execution of some special rules (often related closely to
certain special function words). For example, the rule X + 了LE --> V + 了LE
will dynamically change any category before LE into a verb because the function
word LE can only be used after its governor verb as its aspect adjunct
(perfect aspect). One more example, the rule S + N1 + N2 --> S + Ln + N2
奵hanges a noun into classifier.
Note: the codes like S (numeral), N (noun), L (classifier), Ln (noun-
classifier) stand for word categories defined in Section 2.
The essential prerequisite for the set-up of a wordcategory is that there must
be similar dependency patterns inside the members of the category, which is the
distinctive feature we can see in one category against another. However, the
dependency patterns of members in a same category are not necessarily identical
to each other, the valency information under each entry in the lexicon well
indicating the special possible patterns of its own.
1.2 Wordcategories of Contemporary Chinese
There are two kinds of words, one called Open words, the other Closed. Open
words forms the subset of the vocabulary, whose members are theoretically
unenumerable and constantly in change, from time to time involving in some new
members and discarding a few old. The latter, mostly function words, remain
stable over a long period, so that we can define their clasess simply by
enumerating, based, of course, on the same criterion of similar syntactic
characteristics.
Note: we use OP. for Open Class, while CL. for Closed Class in the following.
1.2.01 Verb (V): OP. 学习XUEXI (study), 吃CHI (eat), 叫JIAO (call) ...
A verb usually takes the position of an axis for a sentence or a clause,
predicate as it is named traditionally, which usually has a subject as sort of
its complement (SUB), and as head of a clause, can therefore be used as a
complement for some conjunctions (CC). e.g.
尽管JINGUAN (though) 他TA (he) 走ZOU (go) 了LE (perfect ptl.)
although he has gone
尽管JIGUAN
\ CC
走ZOU
SUB / \ AspA
他TA 了LE
Note: the codes like SUB (subject), CC (complement of conjunction), AspA (Aspect
Adjunct) etc, are about syntactic dependant types, to be defined in the list of
patterns in Section 2.
Besides its subject, a verb may also take a topic (TOP) as its adjunct, e.g.
他TA 头TOU 痛TONG
he head ache (He has a headache)
痛TONG
TOP / \ SUB
他TA 头TOU
A verb may have any number of adverbials (AdvA) or postmodifiers (PMOD) as its
adjuncts. Depending on different subclasses where a verb belongs, it may govern an
object, or two objects, or a subobject plus a subobject complement. It takes no
object if it belongs to intransitive verb or if its logical object takes the form
of Ba-complement (BaC) in surface structure.
Subclasses:
1. V0 (intransitive verb): OP. 服务FUWU (serve) 去QU (go) 在ZAI (exist) ...
为WEI 人民RENMIN 服务FUWU
for people serve (serve the people)
2. V1 (one-object verb): OP.
教育JIAOYU (educate/give a lesson to) 去QU (go-to) 象XIANG (be-like)
有YOU (have/there be) 喜欢XIHUAN (like) ...
喜欢XIHUAN 音乐YINYUE
like music
3. V2 (Two-object Verb): OP. 给GEI (give) 教JIAO (teach) ...
教JIAO 我WO 英语YINGYU
teach me English
4. Vv (Verbobject Verb): OP.
爱AI (love) 喜欢XIHUAN (like) 渴望KEWANG (long) ...
爱AI 看KAN 书SHU
love read book (love reading)
5. Vso (Subobject Verb): OP.
请求YAOQIU (ask) 让RANG (let) 教育JIAOYU (instruct) 教JIAO (teach)
使SHI (make) 喜欢XIHUAN (like) 认为RENWEI (think) 想XIANG (think)
感到GANDAO (feel) ...
教JIAO 我WO 唱CHANG 歌GE
teach me sing song (teach me to sing)
A verb can well belong to several subclasses just as a word often belongs to 2
or more categories. For example, 去QU (V0/V1:go/go-to) takes both V0 and V1 as
its potential possibilities; 教育JIAOYU (V1/Vso/N: educate/education) belongs
both to V1 or Vso and to N, but its synonym 教JIAO (V2/Vso: teach) can only be
used as a verb (V2 or Vso). Besides, all the members from V2 can necessarily
take up the pattern of V1, i.e. V2 --> V2/V1, as if one of the two objects,
mostly the indirect, were omitted. 服务FUWU (N/V0: serve) in Chinese is both a
noun and an intransitive verb -- we use the preposition 为WEI (for) to
introduce its logical object, although its translation in Indo-European
languages is most likely to be a transitive verb. All the members from Vv can
also take an abstract noun or pronoun as its object, i.e. Vv --> Vv/V1.
6. Vs (Linking-verb): CL. 是SHI (be)
There are so many special usages for the Chinese function verb 是SHI, for the
details please consult "800 Words of Contemporary Chinese" by LU Shuxiang.
The main usage of 是SHI, however, is its role as a linking word or affirmative
auxiliary. Since it seems no necessary in Chinese to differentiate object and
predicative, we define its following complement also as a kind of object,
therefore it also takes up the code V1 under its entry.
7. Vz (Auxiliary Verb): CL.
能NENG (can) 会HUI (can/be able to) 敢GAN (dare) 该GAI (should/must)
肯KEN (agree-to) 要YAO (want-to) 可以KEYI (may) 必须BIXU (must)
来LAI (be going to) 去QU (be going to)
Since it is no necessary in Chinese to differentiate object and predicate
complement, we define the notional verb after auxiliary verb also as a kind of
object, therefore Vz also takes up the code Vv under its entry.
Similar to that of the Indo-European languages, discontinuity exists in
object-preceding patterns as OBJ-(SUB)-auxiliary verb-V, e.g.
1. 这ZHE (this) 人REN (man) 该GAI (should) 杀SHA (kill).
This man should be killed.
2. 鸡JI (chicken) 我WO (I) 打算DASUAN (plan) 让RANG (let)
病人BINGREN (patient) 吃CHI (eat)
I'm planning to let the patients eat the chickens.
1. 该GAI
\ OBJ
杀SHA
\ OBJ
人REN
DetA /
这ZHE
2A. 打算DASUAN
SUB / \ OBJ
我WO 让RANG
\ SUBOB \ SOC
病人BINGREN 吃CHI
\ OBJ
鸡JI
A possible simpler analysis for Chinese which might eliminate the head-ache
discontinuity of this kind in parsing is to take the object as topic, reducing
the transitive verb to intransitive as with its object omitted:
2B. 打算DASUAN
TOP / SUB / \ OBJ
鸡JI 我WO 让RANG
\ SUBOB \ SOC
病人BINGREN 吃CHI
8. Vq (Particle-verb for Direction): CL.
Vq1. 上SHANG (up) 下XIA (down) 出CHU (out) 回HUI (back) 开KAI (away)
进JIN (into) 过GUO (across)
Vq2. 来LAI (come/in) 去QU (go/away)
Often in Chinese one finds the pattern V + Vq1 + Vq2, in which the phrase Vq1
+ Vq2 is of much abstract sense, used as Vq-complement (VqC), being attached
to the previous verb. However, Vq1 + Vq2 can also be used independently of a
previous V, its meaning being much more concrete just as an ordinary verb.
哭V 得Z 说V 不F 出Vq 话N 来Vq。
KU DE3 SHUO BU CHU HUA LAI
cry so-that say not out word come
([Sb.] cried so much as not to be able to say a word out.)
哭KU
PMOD /
得DE3
\ CDe3
说SHUO
VqC / \ OBJ
出CHU 话HUA
AdvA / \ VqC
不BU 来LAI
9. Vj (Particle-verb for Result): CL. 完WAN 好HAO 毕BI 住ZHU ...
All these words can be used after a verb as a post-modifier (PMOD) to denote
the accomplishment of the action, something like the English words
"up/out/over" and when they are used independently they mean "finish/end".
1.2.02 Adjective (A): OP.
美丽MEILI (beautiful) 好HAO (good) 勇敢YONGGAN (brave) ...
Adjectives in Chinese enjoy similar syntactic characteristics to intransitive
verbs, they are both often used as predicate. Their difference lies in that
adjectives often function as adverbials or postmodifiers of a verb, while only
the verbs followed by the particle 着ZHE might be used as adverbial of a verb
and only particle-verbs for result (Vj) or repetitive verbs or verbs followed
by the particle 着ZHE and preceded by a comma can play the role of verb's
postmodifier. Besides, a 2-syllable adjective AB may duplicate itself in the way
AABB (for emphasis, such duplication is one of the ways to form so-called
vivified adjective), but a similar verb only in the way ABAB (to show the
shortness of the action).
Subclass: Non-predicate Adjective (An): OP.
大型DAXING (great: 大 big, 型 dimension)
初级CHUJI (junior: 初 elementary 级 grade)
万能WANNENG (all-powerful) 共同GONGTONG (common) 个别GEBIE (individual)
天然TIANRAN (natural) 人为RENWEI (man-made) ...
Non-predicate adjectives can never be used as predicate, and they can not be
modified by the negative adverb 不BU (not) -- some of their negative forms are
formed by the particle 非FEI (non). In fact, most of the non-predicate
adjectives are made of two morphemes, the first morpheme is adjectival and the
second nominal, therefore they might be considered as sort of noun phrase
which is usually used as attribute.
1.2.03 Noun (N): OP.
桌ZHUO (table/desk) 思想SIXIANG (thought/ideas) 工人GONGREN (worker)
任务RENWU (task)...
A noun is most often modified by a classifier phrase or DE-phrase, which is
the typical distributional distinctive feature for noun, e.g.
一YI (S) 条TIAO (L) 狗GOU
one ? dog
五WU (S) 十SHI (S) 斤JIN (L) 西瓜XIGUA
five ten jin watermelon (fifty jin of watermelon)
这ZHE (Dz) 项XIANG (L) 工作GONGZUO
this ? work
这ZHE (D) 三SAN (S) 位WEI (L) 老LAO (A) 同志TONGZHI
this three ? old comrade
(these three old comrades)
Besides, it can also be modified by an adjective, a verb or another noun, e.g.
学生XUESHENG (N) 运动YUNDONG
student movement
白BAI (A) 雪XUE
white snow
教师JIAOSHI (N) 阅览YUELAN (V) 室SHI
teacher read room (teachers' reading-room)
中国ZHONGGUO (N) 劳动LAODONG (V) 人民RENMIN
China labor people (Chinese laboring people)
In Chinese, all the modifiers always precede the noun, their governor.
Subclasses:
1. Nt (time noun): CL. 今天JINTIAN (today), 早上ZAOSHANG (morning) ...
Besides the general functions of a common noun, time noun is often used as
adverbial.
2. Nz (proper noun): OP. 北京BEIJING (Peking) ...
3. Ns (countable noun): OP. 书SHU (book) ...
4. Na (affix noun): CL. 者ZHE (-er), 性XING (-ness), 度DU (-ness) ...
In Contemporary Chinese, there have come to be a few morphemes (characters)
functioning very similarly to some suffixes in English, e.g. 性XING works just
like "-ness", changing a noun or an adjective into an abstract noun,
N/A/X + 性XING --> N: 历史LISHI (N:history) + 性XING --> 历史性LISHIXING (N:historicity);
实用SHIYONG (A:practical) + 性XING --> 实用性SHIYONGXING (N:practicalness, practicality);
严肃YANSU (A:serious) + 性XING --> 严肃性YANSUXING (seriousness);
可KE (can) 读DU (read) + 性XING --> 可读性KEDUXING (N:readability).
Such quasi-suffixes as 性XING, 度DU (similar to 性XING), 化HUA (=-ization),
though very few, are much creative and therefore highly worthy of great attention.
1.2.04 Pronoun (D): CL.
A pronoun enjoys similar syntactic function to a noun. However, as a function
word, it can not govern an attribute or a determiner as a noun does, and,
besides, as a substitute of a noun or a nominal clause, it may be modified by
an apposition adjunct (AppA).
工人N 和C 农民N, 他D 们Z 是V 劳动V 者N 。
GONGREN HE NONGMIN TA MEN SHI LAODONG ZHE
Workers and peasants, they are laborers.
是SHI
SUB / \ OBJ
他TA 者ZHE
AppA / \ MnC \ AtrA
和HE 们MEN 劳动LAODONG
AppA-C / \ AppA-C
工人GONGREN 农民NONGMIN
1. Dr (Personal Pronoun):
我WO (I/me) 你NI (you) 他TA (he/him) 她TA (she/her) 它TA (it) 您NIN (you)
咱ZAN (I/me) 大家DAJIA (everybody/all) 自己ZIJI (self)
2. Dz (Demonstrative Pronoun):
这ZHE (this) 那NA (that) 每MEI (every/each) 哪NA (which) 各GE (each) ...
A demonstrative pronoun is often used before a classifier as its adjunct (LA)
just as a numeral does.
1.2.05 Preposition (P): CL.
Preposition is always followed by a noun (pronoun) or a postpositional phrase,
or sometimes a verb phrase, its dependant, to form a prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrase is mainly used as adverbial (AdvA), postmodifier (PMOD)
or circumstantial adjunct (CirA).
When used as complement (PC), a specific preposition in a specific position is
required by its governor verb or adjective, e.g. 为WEI x 服务FUWU (serve x);
给GEI x 以YI y (give y to x); 以YI x 著名ZHUMING (famous for x). A verb
immediately followed by its preposition complement is often considered
together as an independent transitive verb: V0+P --> V1, just like English
phrasal verbs, e.g 在ZAI (V) 于YU(P) (lie in) / 来LAI (V) 自ZI (P) (come from).
1. Preceding Preposition (PQ: always precedes its governor)
把BA (?) 被BEI (by) 由YOU (by) 在ZAI (at) 将JIANG (?) 从CONG (from)
向XIANG (towards) 对DUI (to/for) 给GEI (to) 以YI (for) 关于GUANYU (about)
对于DUIYU (to/for) 由于YOUYU (due to) 至于ZHIYU (as for) ...
2. Following Preposition (PH: always follows its governor)
于YU (at) 自ZI (from) 成CHENG (into), 给GEI (to) 在ZAI (at)
向XIANG (towards) ...
以YI 来LAI 去QU (to / in order to)
Similar to the infinitive symbol TO in English, these 3 words are used to
introduce a purpose for the previous action (verb), e.g.
努力NULI 学习XUEXI 以YI (来LAI/去QU) 报效BAOXIAO 祖国ZUGUO。
Study hard to serve the motherland.
Most prepositions precede their governor verb, but the ancient prepositions
于YU (at) and 自Zi (from), which are still quite often used in Contemporary
Written Chinese, usually follow the governor verb. The prepositions 给GEI
(to), 在ZAI (at) and 向XIANG (towards) can be put either before or after the
verb, with some nuance.
The prepositional phrase can not directly modify a noun. It must first form a
DE-phrase, i.e. P+N+的DE, to play the part of attribute.
Chinese prepositions are the results of long abstraction of ancient verbs. We
have quite limited number of pure prepositions. There are not few words of
both preposition and verb:
在ZAI (at / be at) 叫JIAO (by / tell) 让RANG (by / let) 拿NA (about / hold)
给GEI (to / give) 替TI (instead of / substitute) 比BI (than / compare)
1) 我D 在V 家N 2) 我D 在P 家N 看V 书N
WO ZAI JIA WO ZAI JIA KAN SHU
I [am] at home. I at home read book. (I read at home)
在ZAI 看KAN
SUB / \ OBJ SUB / AdvA / \ OBJ
我WO 家JIA 我WO 在ZAI 书SHU
\ CP
家JIA
1.2.06 Postposition (W): CL.
Chinese postposition forever follows a noun (pronoun) or another postposition,
its dependant, to form a postpositional phrase. Postpositional phrase enjoys
similar syntactic functions to prepositional phrase, i.e. mainly used as
adverbial or modifying a noun with the help of the particle 的DE (attribute
in DE-phrase: N+W+的DE). What is worth noticing here is that postposition is
quite often used as complement of a preposition (CP), more often than a noun
or pronoun does, e.g. 在ZAI + N + 中ZHONG/上SHANG/下XIA, 就JIU + N +
而言ERYAN/来说LAISHUO. Thus the internal tree structures of the phrases 在ZAI
学习XUEXI 中ZHONG (in study) and 就JIU 我WO 而言ERYAN (speaking of me / as for
me / as far as I am concerned) are shown as follows:
P 在ZAI 就JIU
\ CP \ CP \ CP
W 中ZHONG 而言ERYAN
CW / CW / CW /
N 学习XUEXI 我WO
1. Wf (Postposition for position):
前QIAN (ago/before) 后HOU (later/after) 上SHANG (on/over) 下XIA (below/under)
里LI (in) 外WAI (outside) 内NEI (inside/within) 中ZHONG (among/in)
旁PANG (beside/by) 左ZUO ([on the] left [of]) 右YOU ([on the] right [of])
东DONG ([in/to the] east [of]) 南NAN ([in/to the] south [of])
西XI ([in/to the] west [of]) 北BEI ([in/to the] north [of])
边BIAN ([on the] side [of]) 面MIAN ([on the] surface [of])
头TOU ([at the] head [of]) 间JIAN (between) 顶DING ([at the] top [of])
底DI ([at the] bottom [of]) ...
2. Wv (Special Postposition):
来说LAISHUO 而言ERYAN 而论ERLUN: correlated with the prepositions 就JIU or
对DUI meaning "speaking of ...".
一样YIYANG 这样ZHEYANG 那样NAYANG: correlated with the prepositions 象XIANG or
如RU meaning "same as ..."
The difference between the two subpostpositions Wf and Wv is that the former
still carries on the function of its origin noun in that it can govern an
attribute while the latter, coming from verb or adjective, surely can not,
and, moreover, it can never be independently used without its precedent
prepositions, that is to say, it forever functions as complement of
preposition (CP).
1.2.07 Adverb (F): CL.
Adverb is always used to modify a verb, an adjective as adverbial (AdvA) or a
whole sentence as circumstantial adjunct (CirA). Unlike Indo-European
languages, Chinese adverbs are all primitive: there are no derivative adverbs
(from adjectives) in Chinese. Therefore they can be easily enumerated.
1. Exclamatory Adverb: 多么DUOME (how/what) 何等HEDENG (how/what)
Exclamatory adverb is used before adjectives or a few verbs to help express
exclamatory mood.
2. Negative Adverb: 不BU (not) 别BIE (Don't) 没MEI 没有MEIYOU 未WEI (not) ...
别BIE is always used in Chinese imperative sentence.
没MEI/没有MEIYOU/未WEI are used to denote a negative action in the past, more
accurately, in the perfect aspect:
他TA 没MEI 看KAN 电影DIANYING 。
He hasn't seen (didn't see) the film.
Cf: 他TA 看KAN 了LE (perfect aspect particle) 电影DIANYING 。
He has seen (saw) the film.
3. Scope Adverb: 都DOU (all) 也YE (also) 全QUAN (all) ...
4. Mood Adverb: 才CAI (?) 可KE (?) 却QUE (however) 倒DAO (?) 偏PIAN (?) ...
5. Time Adverb:
刚GANG 才CAI 刚才 GANGCAI (just now)
正ZHENG (at present/just) 恰好QIAHAO (just) 老LAO (always/forever)
总ZONG (always) 从来CONGLAI (ever) 曾CENG 曾经CENGJING (once/ever)
还HAI (yet) 仍然RENGRAN (still)...
6. Place Adverb:
处处CHUCHU 到处DAOCHU (everywhere) 这儿ZHEER 这里ZHELI (here)
那儿NAER 那里 NALI (there) ...
7. Degree Adverb:
很HEN (very) 极JI (extremely) 挺TING (rather) 真ZHEN (truly)
更GENG 更加GENGJIA (still more/even more) 非常FEICHANG (very/extraordinarily)
尤其YIUQI (especially)
8. Question Adverb (QF):
难道NANDAO (?) 怎么ZENME 怎样 ZENYANG 如何RUHE (how) ...
Only 难道NANDAO is used at the beginning of a yes-no negative question to
emphasize the interrogative mood. The other question adverbs are all used in
wh-questions.
1.2.08 Numeral (S): CL.
The numeral can not directly modify a noun unless first grouped together with
a classifier to form a classifier phrase (S+L). To express a multidigital
number, two or more numerals may form a numeral phrase (S + ... + S). Chinese
is much similar to Esperanto in the way to make up a numeral phrase for a
multidigital number.
大A 教室N 里W 有V 二S 百S 五S 十S 张L 桌N 子Z 。
DA JIAOSHI LI YOU ER BAI WU SHI ZHANG ZHUO ZI
big classroom ? have two hundred five ten ? desk ?
(There are two hundred fifty desks in the big classroom.)
有YOU
AdvA / \ OBJ
里LI 桌ZHUO
CW / NC / \ LCN
教室JIAOSHI 子ZI 张ZHANG
AtrA / LA /
大DA 二ER
\ SA
百BAI
\ SA
五WU
\ SA
十SHI
1. Basic Numeral:
一YI (1) 二ER (2) 三SAN (3) 四SI (4) 五WU (5) 六LIU (6) 七QI (7)
八BA (8) 九JIU (9) 零LING (0) 两LIANG (two)
Generally LIANG is more colloquial and less mathematical.
2. Digit Numeral:
十SHI (ten/-ty) 百BAI (hundred) 千QIAN (thousand) 万WAN (ten thousand)
兆ZHAO (million) 亿YI (hundred million)
3. 半BAN (half)
BAN is surely not a pure numeral, for in the usual structure S + L + N, BAN
should be inserted between L and N, e.g. 一YI (S: one) 米MI (L: metre)
半BAN (half) 布BU (cloth), but when it appears independently, it goes exactly
in accordance with the above general structure, e.g. 半BAN 米MI 布BU.
4. Quasi-numeral: 点DIAN (point) 分之FENZHI (over) 又YOU (and)
DIAN is only used in numeral phrase to help express a decimal, while FENZHI
and YOU only a fraction or complex fraction. For example, 三SAN 点DIAN 一YI
四SI (3.14); 三SAN 分之FENZHI 二ER (2/3); 五WU 又YOU 三SAN 分之FENZHI 二ER
(5 and 2/3).
5. Question Numeral (QS): 几JI (how many) 多少DUOSHAO (how many/how much)
1.2.09 Classifier (L):
A classifier is usually modified by a numeral or a demonstrative pronoun to
form a classifier phrase, which is used to modify a noun either as its
complement (LCN) or determiner adjunct (DetA), and which sometimes directly
plays the role of the noun as if the noun had been omitted.
A one-syllable classifier X may duplicate itself to form a two syllable classifier
phrase XX, with the first classifier X used as the demonstrative pronoun 每MEI (every)
or 各GE (each), an adjunct of the second classifier X.
1. Feature Classifer (Lt): CL.
个GE (?) 种ZHONG (kind [of])
枝ZHI (?) 块KUAI (cake [of]) 条TIAO (piece [of]) ...
GE is the most abstract of the feature classifiers, acting as a default
classifier for nouns, especially for countable nouns. ZHONG is often used
with highly abstract and uncountable nouns instead of GE. ZHONG, however,
can also be used for countable nouns, refering to "kind/sort of".
Feature classifier is sort of patent for the languages in Han-Tibetan family.
In Contemporary Chinese, many nouns have their particular feature classifiers
as their valencies. There are, however, a few nouns which have no such
valencies, and which therefore ought to be modified by the most abstract and
least rhetorical all-powerful classifier GE or ZHONG.
It is possible that a noun may have two or more classifiers in its valency,
either with or without a difference in sence, e.g.
1) 鱼YU (fish): 尾WEI/条TIAO (no change in sence, only with rhetoric nuance)
2) 汽车QICHE (bus): 辆LIANG/路LU (of different meaning)
三SAN 辆LIANG 汽车QICHE (three buses) <> 三SAN 路LU 汽车QICHE (Bus No. 3)
It is not always easy, even for a Chinese native, to select a proper
classifier for a certain noun. Although we can use GE, and sometimes ZHONG,
almost universally, the proper use of a more suitable feature classifier will,
of course, make a sentence sound more idiomatic, rhetorical and vivid. Feature
classifier is a result from noun through long abstraction in some way, which
in turn modifies a noun, making it concrete and vivid in some other way, e.g.
一YI 尾WEI 鱼YU cf: 一YI 条TIAO 鱼YU ? 一YI 个GE 鱼YU
a [tail of] fish a [piece of] fish a [?] fish
The classifier WEI evidently takes its form from the noun WEI (tail), which is
considered by Chinese as the most striking feature for these animals. Compared
with another possible selection of a more abstract classifier TIAO (piece),
WEI sounds more vivid and embodying, and therefore is a more idiomatic
expression. The worst selection of the highly abstract classifier GE, although
understandable, can hardly be accepted by a Chinese native. From these
examples we can see that there are different degrees of abstraction between
Chinese classifiers, the more concrete, the more vivid and more limited in its
possible correlations with nouns; the more abstract, the more widely used with
less rhetorical effect. For the noun YU, both WEI and TIAO are its valency
classifiers.
一YI 头TOU 猪ZHU 一YI 头TOU 牛NIU 一YI 头TOU 羊YANG
a [head of] pig a [head of] ox a [head of] sheep
but cf: 一YI 只ZHI 虎HU 一YI 条TIAO 狗GOU
a [?] tigre a [piece of] dog
The classifier TOU evidently takes its form from the noun TOU (head), which is
considered by Chinese as the most striking feature for the animals ZHU, NIU,
YANG, but not for HU and GOU, perhaps because the former are more often killed
with a knife on the head as a sorce of man's food.
The different selection of classifiers for a certain noun is also subjected
to different dialects of Chinese. There are 8 major dialects and hundreds
of, or even thousands of, subdialects in Chinese. Each dialect has more or
less of its own characteristics in phonetics, vocabulary and syntax. But in
this paper we shall only deal with PUTONGHUA (standard Mandarin Chinese).
2. Unit Classifier (Ld): CL.
斤JIN (jin) 两LIANG (liang) 尺CHI (chi) 寸CUN (cun) 元YUAN (yuan)
米MI (metre) 公里GONGLI (kilometre) ...
3. Noun Classifier (Ln): OP.
This subclass of classifer is in the same form as noun. In the structure S +
N1 + N2, N1 should be changed into classifier, for in Contemporary Chinese S
can not directly modify a noun. Therefore, in this case, we have S + N1 + N2
--> S + Ln + N, for example,
一 "杯" 水(a CUP of water); 两 "盒子" 糖(two BOXES of sugar)
A noun classifiers may also be used as complement of some verb (LCV), e.g.
打DA (beat) 一YI (one) 巴掌BAZHANG (palm); 看KAN (look) 两LIANG (two) 眼YAN
(eye) (take two glances); 踢TI (kick) 一YI (one) 脚JIAO (foot).
他Dr 打V 了Z 我Dr 一S 巴掌N/Ln
TA DA LE WO YI BAZHANG
he beat ? me one palm
He gave him a slap.
打DA
SUB / AspA / \ OBJ \ LCV
他TA 了LE 我WO 巴掌BAZHANG
\ LA
一YI
Unit classifiers and noun classifiers are also found in non-Han-Tibetan
languages, most often in the form of a noun plus a particle as N + OF in
English and N + DA in Esperanto.
4. Classifier for Action (Lc): CL.
次CI 趟TANG 遍BIAN (time)
场CHANG 轮LUN 回HUI (time/round e.g. first round of talk)
Classifier for action can be used in two ways:
(1) before a verb, turning the verb into a noun, or before an abstract noun,
used as a determiner (DetA), e.g.
这ZHE 次CI 在ZAI 工厂GONGCHANG 劳动LAODONG 给GEI 了LE 我WO 一YI 次CI 很HEN
this time at factory work give ? me one time very
大DA 的DE 教育JIAOYU 。
big ? education
Working at factory this time gave me a big education.
The word LAODONG (work) is originally both a verb and a noun. While calling
the subroutine for category disambiguation, it is determined as a verb because
it governs before it an adverbial in the form of prepositional phrase. During
the processing of the word CI, the verb LAODONG is again dynamically changed
back into a noun.
(2) after a verb, used as a post-modifier (PMOD), e.g.
他TA 到DAO 黄山HUANGSHAN 去QU 了LE 三SAN 次CI 。
he toward Huangshan go ? three time
He has been to Huangshan three times.
1.2.10 Conjunction (C): CL.
1. Coordinating Conjunction (Cb):
和HE (and) 而ER (and/while/but) 并且BINGQIE 且QIE (and) 或HUO (or)
"," (comma) "、" (DUNHAO: mark used to set off items in a series)
The main coordinating conjunctions in Written Chinese are "、" (called DUNHAO,
forever used to coordinate closely parallel words or phrases), "," (often used
between clauses, i.e. predicates, or sometimes also between wordgroups), 和HE
(between nouns), 而ER (between adjectives), 并且BINGQIE (between verbs), etc.
Generally speaking, the system of punctuation marks in Contemporary Written
Chinese follows that of English in usage. The only noteworthy difference is
the special coordinating mark DUNHAO "、". In fact, Chinese comma and DUNHAO
together accomplish what English comma does.
In this model, as syntactic representative of the two coordinated constituents
(both marked by -C), the coordinating conjunction is stipulated to be their
head word, whose dependant type depends on that of the coordinated
constituents. e.g.
(1) 他TA (he) 去QU (go-to) 北京BEIJING、天津TIANJIN 和HE (and) 上海SHANGHAI;
(2) 美丽MEILI (pretty) 而ER 勇敢YONGGAN (brave) 的DE 姑娘GUNIANG (girl);
(3) 他TA 打DA (beat) 人REN (man) 并且BINGQIE (and) 吸XI (take) 毒DU (drug);
(4) 他TA (he) 来LAI (come) 了LE, 我WO (I) 走ZOU (go) 了LE 。
(1) 去QU (2) 姑娘GUNIANG
主语 / \ 宾语 定语 /
他TA 和HE 而ER
宾语-C / \ 宾语-C 定语-C / \ 定语-C
、DUNHAO 上海SHANGHAI 美丽MEILI 勇敢YONGGAN
宾语-C / \ 宾语-C
北京BEIJING 天津TIANJIN
(3) 并且BINGQIE (4) ,
主语 / -C / \ -C -C / \ -C
他TA 打DA 吸XI 来LAI 走ZOU
\ 宾语 \ 宾语 主语 / \ 时体 主语 / \ 时体
人REN 毒DU 他TA 了LE 我WO 了LE
There are similar problems in Chinese as those in English, like the ambiguity
in "happy students and workers": 1. (happy students) and workers; 2. happy
(students and workers). We sometimes employ a so-called ambiguity-untouched
strategy in the practice of our machine translation research from Indo-
European languages into Chinese, e.g. A and B of C --> C 的DE B 和HE A (C's B
and A). In default of other reliable means, this strategy in most cases may
lead to unexpectedly satisfactory results.
The English sentence "They washed and polished the table" may be translated
into Chinese in several ways:
1) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 了 且QIE 擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI 。
he -s wash -ed and polish -ed table noun-suffix
2) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 且QIE 擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI (with first particle LE omitted)
3) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 了LE 、擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI (using DUNHAO instead of QIE)
4) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 、擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI (in the way of both 2) and 3))
5) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI (with first LE, and QIE omitted)
6) 他TA 们MEN 洗XI 了LE, 擦CA 了LE 桌ZHUO 子ZI (using comma instead of QIE)
Only sentence 1) is ambiguous, the same as in the original sentence. Sentences
2), 3), 4) and 5) mean that they washed the table and polished it too.
Sentence 6) corresponds to the second reading that they washed (themselves or
something other than the table) and polished the table. If we want to get both
readings, the comma in 6) should be replaced by the conjunction 且QIE or 而且
ERQIE as in 1); if to get the first reading only, the conjunction should
be a DUNHAO instead of the comma as in 3). Here lies the slight difference
between these coordinating conjunctions in usage. Sentence 2) has come to be
disambiguated because the omitted LE makes the second LE necessarily modify
the two coordinated verbs, thus eliminating the possibility of the second
reading.
In Chinese, there are few elliptical sentences like "Hans liebt Anna, und
Peter auch", "Peter claims that Paul likes beer and Sandy does too" or "Sam
sent Pam to Mary and Paul to Sara" as in Indo-European languages. It then
becomes a tough problem for the machine to properly recover what has omitted
in the original sentences when our system translates them into Chinese. (see
the doctoral dissertation by Xiuming HUANG, U.S.)
2. Clause Conjunction (Cdp):
不但BUDAN (not only)... 而且ERQIE (but also)...,
因为YINWEI (because)...所以SUOYI (so)...,
虽然SUIRAN (although) ... 但是DANSHI (but) ...,
Note: in English, we cannot write sentences like "Because ..., so ..." or
"Although ..., but ...", but in Chinese, they are often used together in
correlation, e.g.
尽管C 那D 天N 星期N 天N ,C 但C 他D 却F 不F 在V 家N 。
JINGUAN NA TIAN XINGQI TIAN DAN TA QUE BU ZAI JIA
though that day Sunday, but he however not at home
,
-C / \ -C
尽管JINGUAN 但DAN
CC / \ CC
天TIAN 在ZAI
SUB / \ AtrA SUB / AdvA / \ AdvA \ OBJ
天TIAN 星期XINGQI 他TA 却QUE 不BU 家JIA
DetA /
那NA
1.2.11 Interjection (T): CL. 啊A 哎哟AIYO 扑通PUTONG ...
Interjections rarely appear in written text. Interjections mainly function as
circumstantial adjunct (CirA) in a sentence.
啊A is used at the beginning of a sentence and usually followed by a comma,
to express the speaker's exclamation, e.g.
啊A, 大DA 海HAI ! 我WO 爱AI 你NI !
Oh, great sea! I love you!
1.2.12 Particle (Z): CL.
The particle is a default category for Chinese function words which involves
those which cannot be classified as of the above 11 categories. Therefore, its
syntactic function as a whole can hardly be clearly defined.
1. Syntactic Particle (Zj):
的DE (attribute particle) 地DE2 (adverbial particle)
得DE3 (postmodifier paticle) 之ZHI (attribute particle)
Syntactic particles are of particular importance in the syntactic analysis for
Chinese. 的DE, 地DE2, 得DE3, although pronounced the same, are of great
difference in Written Chinese. DE is the typical symbol for attribute, DE2
for adverbial and DE3 for postmodifier (of degree or result). 之ZHI is about
the same in syntactic function as DE, only ZHI is sort of Ancient Chinese
remains. The word or phrase before DE/ZHI, or before DE2, or after DE3 is used
as their corresponding complement (CDe, CDe2, or CDe3), e.g.
应该Vz 科学N 地Z 、历史N 地Z 看待V 一切Dz 问题N。
YINGGAI KEXUE DE2 LISHI DE2 KANDAI YIQIE WENTI
should science history treat all problem
[We] should treat all the problems scientifically and historically.
应该YINGGAI
\ OBJ
看待KANDAI
AdvA / \ OBJ
、 问题WENTI
AdvA-C / \ AdvA-C \ DetA
地DE2 地DE2 一切YIQIE
CDe2 / CDe2 /
科学KEXUE 历史LISHI
2. Aspect Particle (Zt):
着ZHE (continuous) 了LE (perfect) 过GUO (once/ever)
Aspect particles forever follow a verb, used as its aspect adjunct (AspA).
They can dynamically change any category of the preceding word into verb, i.e.
X + ZHE/LE/GUO --> V + ZHE/LE/GUO,
for instance, 哎哟AIYO: T --> V.
他TA 哎哟AIYO 了LE 一YI 声SHENG
He auched. / He gave a cry auch.
There are three kuasi-aspects for verbs in Chinese, i.e.
1) continuous: with the help of the adverbs 在ZAI/正ZHENG/正在ZHENZAI and/or expressed by 着ZHE;
2) perfect: expressed by 了LE;
3) experiential: with the help of the adverbs 曾CENG/曾经CENGJING and/or expressed by 过GUO.
3. Passive Particle (Zbei): 被BEI
The particle BEI, just as the passive prepositions 被BEI, 由YOU, 让RANG, is
alwaysused as explicit form of passive voice for a Contemporary Chinese
transitive verb (BeiA), e.g.
1. 他TA (he) 被BEI 打DA (beat) 了LE
He has been beaten.
2. 他TA (he) 被BEI 人REN (man) 打DA (beat) 了LE
He has been beaten by a man.
1. 打DA 2. 打DA
OBJ / \ BeiA \ AspA OBJ / \ BeiA \ AspA
他TA 被BEI 了LE 他TA 被BEI 了LE
\ CP
人REN
4. Mood Particle (Zyq):
吗ME 呢NE 了LE 吧BA 嘛MA 啊A 呀YA 哪NA 哇WA
All these mood particles appear at the end of a sentence, to help express a
mood for the predicate verb.
ME is the typical particle for yes-no question, something similar to
Esperanto's "chu", but "chu" is used at the beginning of a sentence.
NE is used as an interrogative symbol either with wh-question or or-question.
With it, the question seems to be much more leisurely in mood although one can
well put it without the particle. The other usage for NE in an indicative
statement is to remind the listener of a fact, e.g.
下XIA 着ZHE 雨YU 呢NE 。
fall -ing rain
You see, it's raining.
BA is a possible way to show imperative mood, especially for a suggestion
or request.
啊A, including its phonetic variants YA, NA and WA due to the effect of
the final phoneme of the preceding syllable, is used to express exclamatory
mood.
嘛MA is used to help express:
(1) an obvious reason in the mood represented in English by "you see", e.g.
他TA 早ZAO 就JIU 来LAI 了LE 嘛MA, 难道NANDAO 你NI 没MEI 看见KANJIAN ?
he early ? come -ed ? you not see
You see, he came quite a time ago, didn't you notice it?
(2) a suggestion or some advice in the mood of anticipation or begging,
therefore there is sometimes a why-not-question used before or after it, e.g.
走ZOU 嘛MA , 为WEI 什么SHIME 不BU 快KUAI 点DIAN 走ZOU 呢NE ?
go for what not quick a-little go
Let's go, why not go a little soon?
开KAI 慢MAN 一点YIDIAN 嘛MA 。
drive slow a-little
Drive a little slowly, please.
了LE at the end of a sentence usually denotes a change of state, which is
different from its usage immmediately following a verb as a symbol of perfect
aspect, e.g.
下XIA (fall) 了LE 雨YU (rain) 。
It has rained.
下XIA (fall) 雨YU (rain) 了LE 。
It's beginning to rain.
5. Affix Particle (Zyz):
们MEN 子ZI 儿ER 头TOU 第DI
MEN is a possible plural suffix for human nouns, while ER, ZI and TOU are
possible noun suffixes for, especially, one-syllable nouns. DI makes a
cardinal numeral ordinal one, e.g.
第Z 八S 个L 是V 铜N 像N 。
DI BA GE SHI TONG XIANG
eight ? be bronze statue
The eighth is bronze statue.
是SHI
SUB / \ OBJ
个GE 像XIANG
LA / \ AtrA
八BA 铜TONG
DiC /
第DI
( to be continued in the next file YF2.txt )
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