The Phonology of Guangzhou Cantonese

Ming Chao Gui
The University of Oklahoma

Cantonese, also widely known as Yue Yu or Guangdong Hua in a much broader sense, is in fact one of the many varieties of the Yue Family of Chinese dialects. From the linguistic and historical linguistic point of view, it is generally viewed as the lingua fanca of this family. The variety being discussed in this book is the one spoken in the City of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, therefore it is known as Guangzhou Hua (Guangzhou speech), or rather, Guangzhou Cantonese as suggested by the title of this book.

This book is based on the author's Master's thesis completed at the University of Texas with up-dated information and language data. A sociolinguistic as well as historical linguistic account of this language is given in some detail, including a special section on the Creo-natured origin of Cantonese and its close varieties. Discussions in great detail have been given to the segmental and suprasegmental features of this language. The complex yet symmetrical tone system and the unique tone sandhi phenomena are treated with feature geometry framework. The major motivation for the tone change has been investigated. For the first time, presumably, some significant synchronic changes undertaken by modern Guangzhou Cantonese in the past fifty years have been probed.

The author Ming Chao Gui, also the author of two other books on Chinese dialects: Yunnanese and Kunming Chinese, published by LINCOM EUROPA in 2000 and 2001 respectively, is Associate Professor of Chinese and Linguistics at the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics of the University of Oklahoma, Norman campus, U.S.A. He lived and worked in Guangzhou from 1953 to 1983 and married a native Cantonese. In the past two decades, he has regular publications on Chinese dialects, Chinese language teaching methodology, and comparative studies of Chinese and English phonetics, phonology, and translation in China, the U.S. and abroad.

ISBN 9783895866432 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 56. 144pp. 2005.

Topic Chains in Chinese

Wendan Li
University of North Carolina

Chinese is a discourse-oriented language. It has relatively few morphological and syntactic rules, but more constructions and strategies at the discourse level for the organization of text. The topic chain is such a structure at the discourse level in which clauses are linked not by conjunctions, but by coreferential relationships between overt topic noun phrases and unspecified noun phrases in adjacent clauses. Since the topic chain is used frequently in Chinese, the understanding of the structure is important to the understanding of the language. This book analyzes the structural characteristics of topic chains, their functions in discourse organization and their commonly occurring patterns.

It demonstrates how the patterns are used either individually or in combination to build up units of text at the discourse level. The analysis also has its practical application in second language teaching. It is shown in the second part of the book that the patterns of topic chains can be used as a transitional measure to lead students’ production from the clause to the discourse level. The study is an attempt to investigate how discourse patterns, structures and strategies can be effectively taught in second language classrooms to reflect the discourse-oriented nature of the Chinese language. It bridges the gap between linguistic analysis and language pedagogy.
 

ISBN 9783862889754 (e-book, pdf)

ISBN 9783862889754 (e-book, pdf)

The Katuic Languages

Classification, Reconstruction and Comparative Lexicon

Paul Sidwell
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University

The Katuic languages are a branch of the Mon-Khmer family with more than a million speakers in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The present study compiles data from various sources, including recent fieldwork that has helped to reveal the extent and diversity of the family. Sixteen languages are compared to produce a comparative reconstruction of the Proto Katuic phonology and lexicon, including 1400 etymologies and reconstructions, and many wider MK comparisons. Katuic languages are particularly significant for their rich vowel systems, which are among the most complex in the world, and include contrastive phonation types or ‘registers’. In some cases these arose from the splitting of vowels in connection with changes in initial consonants. Interestingly it appears that register systems arose independently at least three times in the history of the Katuic family.

The reconstruction of Proto Katuic reveals an archaic phonological system not far removed from Proto Mon-Khmer, and the study is augmented with an index of Proto Mon-Khmer reconstructions by the late Professor Harry Shorto (previously unpublished).

The author is a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Pacific and Asian Studies of the Australian National University, where his work is supported by the Max Planck Institute (Leipzig).

ISBN 9783895868023 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 58. 250pp. 2005.

Adverbials in Turkish

The Third Parameter in Aspectual Interpretation

Mine Güven
Boğaziçi University

The main argument of the present study is that T/A adverbials in Turkish constitute the third parameter in aspectual interpretation along with the other two parameters, namely situation type and viewpoint aspect. Concerning the expression of viewpoint aspect in Turkish, (i) the semantic distinctions denoted by Turkish T/A morphology and (ii) the basic opposition between perfective vs. imperfective and their extended interpretations are considered. As for the second parameter, the interaction of situation type with objects, Turkish perfective vs. imperfective morphology and T/A adverbials is analyzed. A time-relational analysis/ categorization of T/A adverbials is proposed. The data suggest that T/A adverbials constitute one of the core elements of aspectual interpretation and that a combination of the insights of B. Comrie, C. Smith, W. Klein and M. Krifka is required to account for Turkish data adequately.

In conclusion, it is argued that aspectual oppositions derive from universal properties of time intervals, relations between intervals and mereological structure and that aspect is a linguistic instantiation of boundedness. The opposition between perfective and imperfective is argued to be an instantiation of a total vs. partial overlap relation between the reference interval and the time of the situation, in analogy to one that obtains between an adverbial interval and the time of the situation. This, in turn, suggests that from a wider perspective aspect is a linguistic reflection of the basic conceptual/perceptual contrast between figure and ground in the sense of L. Talmy and H. Demirdache & M. Uribe-Etxebarria.

Contents:

CH. 1: Introduction
CH. 2: Theoretical Framework
CH. 3: A Time-Relational Analysis of
Tense/Aspect Morphology In Turkish
CH. 4: Viewpoint Aspect in Turkish
CH. 5: Situation Aspect in Turkish
CH. 6: A Time-Relational Account for Turkish
Temporal/Aspectual Adverbials
CH. 7: Conclusion
Appendix: The Data
Bibliography

ISBN 9783895868092. LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 59. 260pp. 2005.

Studies on Ba Resultative Construction

A Comprehensive Approach to Mandarin Ba Sentences

Picus Sizhi Ding
Simon Fraser University

The present work represents a comprehensive approach to the perennial problem of Mandarin ba sentences. In the light of typological studies of resultative, the ba-construction is identified as the Ba Resultative Construction (BRC), in which ba is argued to have developed an abstract meaning of ‘bringing about a resultative state’. Ba is consequently argued to be the head of the periphrastic resultative construction, where its verbal status has remained after the grammaticalization. The complexity of the ba problem is elucidated in semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic studies of BRC. Semantically, a ba sentence in BRC is complex in that it typically involves an underlying action and a resultative state. Considering ba as a verb, a complex structure naturally arises in the syntactic analysis of BRC. Finally, ba sentences in BRC also possess a pragmatically complex structure: an embedded topic structure.

The monograph is organized as follows: Chapter 1 presents a general introduction of the ba problem; Chapter 2 briefly reviews literature on Mandarin ba sentences, including studies available as recently as 2005; Chapter 3 concerns the constructional meaning of BRC; Chapter 4 represents a lexical study of a itself, discussing how the resultative meaning of the verb has evolved and its syntactic properties in BRC. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are devoted to the overall syntactic structure of BRC. The former investigates relations between arguments of the matrix verb ba and the embedded verb in the complement clause under the Government-Binding Theory, while the latter addresses a parsing experiment of BRC in the cooking domain implemented within the framework of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Chapter 7 focuses on the pragmatic features of BRC. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Chapter 8.

ISBN 9783895864919. LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 62. 100pp. 2007.

Ga: Japanese Conjunction

Its Functions and Sociolinguistic Implications

Tatsuya Fukushima
University of Arkansas

This book presents results of the historical, pragmatic, and variation analyses of the Japanese conjunction ga “but; however” in an attempt to identify its functions as well as to reveal their situational and sociocultural implications. The historical analysis finds that ga, which initially functioned as a nominative case marker for a nominalized clause, developed the conjunctive function as a result of its occurrences in increasingly complex sentence patterns. The pragmatic analysis identifies five functional categories of ga based on data from a popular live TV talk show.

Additionally, the first variation analysis employs data from newspaper articles, public speeches by prominent elected officials, and message boards on the World Wide Web, and reveals a number of situational and sociocultural characteristics of ga occurrences. Furthermore, the second variation analysis compares ga occurrences in press conferences with three Japanese prime ministers and finds their relevance to premiers’ attempts in varying degrees to craft a party-friendly image at home and to demonstrate their “true colors” abroad. The conclusion of this book discusses the role of the ga historical development in its common functional feature in Modern Japanese and evaluates the relationship between ga occurrence patterns and characteristics of Japanese language, people, and culture.

ISBN 9783895863219. LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 63. 178pp. 2006

Endangered Languages of the Andaman Islands

Anvita Abbi
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi


The only typological work ever undertaken on the Andamanese languages


This is a book on the languages of one of the world’s most endangered and ancient linguistic groups - the Andamanese. Andamanese, a language isolate, is considered the fifth language family of India. Based on fieldwork conducted in the impregnable jungles of the Andaman Islands, the author brings out a comparative linguistic sketch of Great Andamanese, Jarawa, and Onge. The book provides the first detailed description of phonology, word formation processes, morphophonemic processes, lexicon containing words from various semantic fields, and syntax of the three languages. Similarities and differences between Great Andamanese, Jarawa and Onge are discussed to suggest possible genealogical affiliations and language contact. In addition, the book contains information on the nature of the field work pursued by the author, as well visual materials, which help contextualize the different tribes and their languages, in terms of civilization and environment. This is very relevant in the context of Tsunami-havoc that led to dislocation of some of the Andamanese tribes. The provided CD-Rom contains sound files, which help to provide more detailed phonetic and prosodic information as well as phonetic variation among the speakers of the dying and ‘mixed’ language such as Great Andamanese.

This is an important book as the speakers of these languages [8 Great Andamanese, 250 Jarawa, and 94 Onge] represent the last survivors of the pre-Neolithic population of the Southeast Asia. Latest research by geneticists (Science 2005) indicates that the Andamanese tribes are the remnants of the first migration from Africa that took place 70,000 years before present. These languages are highly endangered, especially Great Andamanese where not more than 6-8 speakers are left. Even these few speakers have stopped speaking the language amongst themselves. Very little work on these languages has been carried out so far. While a cross linguistic study in the present book has generated a good description of typological similarities and differences among languages, the comparative study of the lexicon and word formation processes draw reader’s attention to the genetic similarity between Onge and Jarawa. As Andamanese data have been analyzed against the parameters provided by the most current theoretical research in linguistic typology, the linguistic data and its analysis reported in the current book are of utmost importance theoretically, typologically, and historically. The accompanying CD-Rom exposes, for the first time, the sounds and pictures of the tribes in their natural surroundings that may serve as a rare audiovisual treat to the users of the book. Some important sociohistorical events, which happen to take place during the author’s field trip, are also included in the CD, providing an indispensable insight into the lives and culture of these ancient peoples.

Structure of the book

The book is divided into six chapters followed by bibliographical reference and indices.

[1] Introduction.
[2] A Great Experience: From the Field Diary.
[3] Where Have All the Speakers Gone? The Great Andamanese Language
[4] Touch Me Not. The Jarawa Language
[5] Lost In the Jungle. The Onge Language
[6] Conclusions: A Typology of the Andamanese Language
[7]Two appendices containing demographic figures, maps and pictures follow.
[8] References
[9] Index

Each chapter on grammatical sketch is complete in itself as it deals with all the aspects of grammar from sound system to syntax to a large inventory of lexical items and sociolinguistics. The current book is rich in visual representation. It has thirty one tables and figures, seven maps and substantial number of photographs of tribes taken in their natural surroundings.

Because of the unique and rare nature of the data the book is launched with a CD-Rom containing pictures, first-hand raw linguistic data, sound files of songs and narrations, short video clippings shot in the local habitat.

ISBN 9783895868665. LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 64. 175 pp + CD-ROM. 2006

Brahui, a Dravidian Language

Mikhail S. Andronov
Institute of Oriental Studies, The Russian Academy of Sciences

The Brahui language, spoken by some 1,5 million people in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, is the earliest offshoot of the Dravidian stock. Isolated from the kindred languages for several thousand years, it combines ancient features inherited from the Proto-Dravidian ancestor with numerous borrowings from its Iranian and Indo-Aryan neighbours.

Apart from a detailed practical grammar, illustrated with copious examples from Brahui texts, the book offers the latest comparative-historical information on the evolution and origin of the main elements of the language. The Brahui phonemes are traced to their Old Dravidian sources, the origins of case Suffixes and other nominal desinences are expounded, the Brahui numerals and pronouns are also traced to their ancient archetypes, and so are the personal suffixes of the verb. The primary systems of gender, tense and mood, lost or modified in the contemporary language, are reconstructed in comparison with those of Old Tamil and other classical languages.

The Brahui syntax, although basically Dravidian, lost many original constructions, particularly those with nonfinite verbal forms. However, Brahui suffered the greatest losses in its vocabulary, where the layer of Dravidian words is remarkably thin. Etymologies of those which were retained can be referred to in the book.

The position of Brahui within the Dravidian family and its relationship ties with kindred languages are discussed at large in the final chapter.

General Information on Brahui is given in the Introduction. The history of its study is also briefly outlined there. A bibliography of earlier works on the Brahui language is appended in the end. The subject index will make the use of the book easier. (Revised and enlarged version of the 2001 edition (ISBN 3 89586 412 9 )).

ISBN 9783895863486 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies In Asian Linguistics 65. 160 pp. 2006.

A Grammar of Shanghai Wu

Xiaonong Zhu
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Wu dialect of Chinese is used by 80 million people in eastern China. Shanghai is the lingua franca of Wu, and is the least conservative among Wu dialects.

This book is a descriptive grammar of Shanghai Wu, concise but comprehensive. It covers various topics in Shanghai grammar: the phonological system, morphology, and syntax. In addition, two special topics in Shanghai grammar, tone sandhi and compounding, are included. Tone sandhi in Shanghai is a morpho-phonological process to produce prosodic words, while compounding is a syntactic means to make lexical words.

Like other Chinese dialects, Shanghai is an isolating language. There is no grammatical agreement or case markers, nor tense, gender or numeral differences, or anything like those called inflection in European languages. That does not mean there are no morphological processes at all: reduplication, tone sandhi, and affixation are common in Shanghai. Of course, compounding is the most productive in making new words.

Morphologically and syntactically Shanghai has something different from Mandarin. For example, adjective reduplication in Shanghai is AAB, while it is ABB in Mandarin. The word order in Shanghai is ‘V + direct O + indirect O’, different from Mandarin’s ‘V + indirect O + direct O’. The author, Dr. Xiaonong Zhu, is currently teaching at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He published widely in Chinese historical phonology, Chinese dialectology, and experimental phonetics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER TWO
SYLLABLE AND PHONOLOGY
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Initials
2.3. Finals
2.3.2. Rhymes
2.4. Tones
2.5. Transcriptions
2.6. Phonotactics
2.7. Syllable

CHAPTER THREE
TONE SANDHI AND PROSODIC WORD
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Left-Dominant Sandhi
3.3. Right-Dominant Sandhi
3.4. Tone Sandhi And Stress

CHAPTER FOUR
WORD AND MORPHOLOGY
4.1 Introduction
4.2. Nominal Mophology
4.3. Verbs And Other Parts Of Speech

CHAPTER FIVE
COMPOUNDS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Subject-Predicate Compounds
5.3. Coordinate Compounds
5.4. Subordinate Compounds
5.5. Verb-Object Compounds
5.6. Verb-Complement Compounds
5.7. Verb-Localizer Compounds
5.8. Complex Compounds

CHAPTER SIX
SYNTAX
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Word Order
6.3. Phrasal Structure
6.4. Sentence Types
6.5. Complex Sentences
6.6. Compound Sentences

CHAPTER SEVEN
SAMPLE TEXTS
7.1. A Story About The North Wind And The Sun
7.2. Father's Riddles

REFERENCES

ABBREVIATIONS

ISBN 9783895869006 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 66.190pp. 2006.