Table Of ContentCognition-Based Studies on
Chinese Grammar
Introducing the English translation of eight selected research articles originally
written in Chinese by Professor Yulin Yuan, Cognition-Based Studies on Chinese
Grammar is essential reading for researchers in Chinese syntax.
Yulin Yuan is one of the very first Chinese scholars who introduced cognitive
sciences into the study of Chinese language some twenty years ago, and his work
is well-known and highly regarded in China for its originality and theoretical con-
tribution. The collection covers the core of his engagement with Chinese language
studies, ranging from lexical exploration to grammatical discussion.
Cognition-Based Studies on Chinese Grammar is designed for students or
researchers who specialise in the Chinese language, contemporary Chinese gram-
mar and cognitive linguistics. It can also serve as a reference book for instructors
or teachers engaged in Chinese language pedagogy or in teaching Chinese as a
second or foreign language.
Yulin Yuan is Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at
Peking University, China.
Guoxiang Wu is Associate Professor in the College of Foreign Languages at
Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China.
Routledge Studies in Chinese Linguistics
Series editor: Hongming Zhang
Titles in the series:
Modern Chinese Grammar
A Clause-Pivot Theoretical Approach
Fuyi Xing, translated by Yong Wang and Fangfeng Dong
Cognition-Based Studies on Chinese Grammar
Yulin Yuan, translated by Guoxiang Wu
Dimensions of Variation in Written Chinese
Zheng-Sheng Zhang
Lexical Ontological Semantics
Guoxiang Wu and Yulin Yuan
Mandarin Chinese Words and Parts of Speech
Corpus-Based Foundational Studies
Huang Chu-Ren, Keh-Jiann Chen and Shu-Kai Hsieh
Partition and Quantity
Numeral Classifiers, Measurement, and Partitive
Constructions in Mandarin Chinese
Jing Jin
Syntax-Phonology Interface
Argumentation from Tone Sandhi in Chinese Dialects
Hongming Zhang
Cognition-Based Studies on
Chinese Grammar
Yulin YUAN
Translated by Guoxiang WU
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
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English language translation © 2017 Yulin Yuan and Guoxiang Wu
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yuan, Yulin, author. | Wu, Guoxiang (Translator)
Title: Cognition-based studies on Chinese grammar / Yulin Yuan (author) ;
Guoxiang Wu (translator).
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
[2017] | Series: Routledge studies in Chinese linguistics | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016020632 | ISBN 9781138796379 (hardback : alk.
paper) | ISBN 9781315757919 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese language—Syntax—Research. | Chinese
language—Grammar—Research.
Classification: LCC PL1241 .Y836 2017 | DDC 495.15—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016020632
ISBN: 978-1-138-79637-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-75791-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
PART I
Nominal valency in Mandarin Chinese 7
1 The di-valent noun 9
2 The mono-valent noun 38
PART II
Referential rules 67
3 The implicit predicate and its syntactic consequence 69
4 Nominal representation of verb phrases and the fluctuation
of pronominal reference 98
PART III
Topic and topicalisation 119
5 The Chinese topic structure 121
6 Grammatical significance of Chinese topics and their degrees
of grammaticalisation 160
vi Contents
PART IV
Word order and lexical co-occurrence: A cognitive explanation 199
7 The order of attributives: A cognitive explanation and
its theoretical implications 201
8 Container metaphor, set metaphor and the image schema 227
References 264
Index 272
Acknowledgements
As a collection of translated papers, this book has undergone two stages, i.e., the
publication of the original papers in Chinese and that of the translated ones. In
either case, we have received a lot of help from our teachers, students and friends.
We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to them for their helpful com-
ments and constructive suggestions.
With regard to the publication of the eight original papers, we would like to
acknowledge support from the publishers and others. Chapter 1 is adapted from
the paper entitled ‘Xiàndài hànyǔ míngcí de pèijià yánjiū’ (现代汉语名词的配
价研究, On nominal valency in Mandarin Chinese), which appeared in Zhong-
guo Shehui Kexue (Social Sciences in China) in 1992. In this study, Prof. Zhu
De-Xi and Prof. Lu Jian-Ming have given us some instructions. Chapter 2 is
adapted from ‘Yījià míngcí de rènzhī yánjiū’ (一价名词的认知研究, A cogni-
tive study of mono-valent nouns), which appeared in Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies
of the Chinese Language) in 1994. Prof. Lu and Prof. Xu Tong-Qiang have made
a number of corrections in our manuscript. Chapter 3 is adapted from ‘Wèicí
yùnhán jí qí jùfǎ hòuguǒ’ (谓词隐含及其句法后果, Implicit predicate and its
syntactic consequence), which was published in Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies of the
Chinese Language) in 1995. Prof. Lu and Prof. Jiang Shao-Yi have provided a
number of constructive suggestions. Chapter 4 is adapted from ‘Míngcí dàibiǎo
dòngcí duǎnyǔ hé dàicí suǒzhǐ de bōdòng’ (名词代表动词短语和代词所指的
波动, Nominal representation of verb phrases and the fluctuation of pronominal
reference), which was published in Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies of the Chinese Lan-
guage) in 2002. Prof. Shen Pei has made a number of helpful comments. Chapter 5
is adapted from ‘Huàtíhuà jí xiāngguān de yǔfǎ guòchéng’ (话题化及相关的语
法过程, Topicalisation and related grammatical processes), which was also pub-
lished in Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies of the Chinese Language) in 1996. Chapter 6
is adapted from ‘Hànyǔ huàtí de yǔfǎ dìwèi hé yǔfǎhuà chéngdù’ (汉语话题的
语法地位和语法化程度, The grammatical status of topical elements in Chinese
and the degree of their grammaticalisation), which was included in a collection
entitled Forum of Linguistics (25) by The Commercial Press in 2002. Chapter 7 is
adapted from ‘Dìngyǔ shùnxù de rènzhī jiěshì jí qí lǐlùn yùnhán’ (定语顺序的认
知解释及其理论蕴涵, The order of attributives: A cognitive explanation and its
theoretical implications), which appeared in Zhongguo Shehui Kexue (Social Sci-
ences in China) in 1999. Chapter 8 is adapted from ‘Róngqì yǐnyù, tàojiàn yǐnyù jí
viii Acknowledgements
xiāngguān de yǔfǎ xiànxiàng’ (容器隐喻、套件隐喻及相关的语法现象, Con-
tainer metaphor, set metaphor and related grammatical phenomena), which was
published in Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies of the Chinese Language) in 2004. This
study was supported by the ‘Trans-century Training Program Foundation for Tal-
ents’ and the ‘Tenth Five-Year Plan’ Project (01JB740006), both funded by the
Chinese Ministry of Education. With regard to the graphic and semantic analyses
of Chinese characters in section 5, Prof. Shen has provided some comments and
suggestions. With regard to how the semantic rules of linguistic expressions can
be constructed and formulated, Dr. Zhan Wei-Dong has given suggestions. For the
journals, publishers and our colleagues, we hereby extend our heart-felt thanks
to them.
With regard to the translation of the eight original papers, our thanks, first of
all, go to Prof. Wendy Bowcher (Sun Yat-sen University). Prof. Bowcher is the
first expert who proofread and revised the sample translation. We also thank Prof.
Kuo-Ming Sung (Lawrence University) and Prof. Chao-Hsien Wang (Peking Uni-
versity) for proofreading the first two chapters of this book. It is worth mentioning
Prof. Sung also invited his wife and his son to proofread these two chapters. Spe-
cial thanks go to Prof. Wu Haibo (Shandong Agricultural University) and Prof.
Wu Yicheng (Zhejiang University) for their careful proofreading of the whole
manuscript. Finally, we want to thank the following scholars for offering vari-
ous forms of support for the translation of this book: Prof. Gao Yi-Hong (Peking
University), Prof. Jiang Wang-Qi (Peking University), Prof. Zhou Ren (Beijing
Language and Culture University) and Prof. Wu Jianming (Shanghai International
Studies University).
This translation work is an important part of the translator’s postdoctoral pro-
gram. We gratefully acknowledge funding support from National Social Science
Foundation Grant (12&ZD175) and Huaqiao Huaqiao University’s Academic
Project Supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Univers-
ities (15SKGC-QG09).
Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Sun Lian for offering us
much help and support during the whole process of translation and publication.
Our deep-felt thanks also go to our dear families. Without their omnipresent sup-
port, encouragement and love, we could not have finished this translation work.
Introduction
This is a collection of eight translated papers originally written in Chinese. The
earliest original paper was published in 1992 and the latest one in 2004. The
time spans over a decade. During the past two decades, the original works have
had considerable influence in China’s linguistic circle. These works are the most
widely distributed and highly cited among more than 100 papers written by the
author. According to the latest (2014) statistics of China National Knowledge
Infrastructure (CNKI), the total citations of the original author amount to 3600,
and the H-Index is 33. In terms of successive publications, on the basis of the
original papers, the following five related monographs (in Chinese) have been
published in recent years:
(1) Cognition-based Studies on Chinese Computational Linguistics. (Yuan Yulin,
2008). Beijing: Peking University Press.
(2) A Handbook of Classification of the Parts of Speech in Chinese. (Yulin Yuan,
2009). Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
(3) Studies on Chinese Nominal Valency Grammar. (Yulin Yuan, 2010). Beijing:
The Commercial Press.
(4) Cognitive Studies and Fuzzy Classification of the Parts of Speech in Chinese.
(Yulin Yuan, 2010). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press.
(5) Self-selected Papers by Well-known Middle-aged Linguists Yuan Yulin. (Yuan
Yulin, 2013). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press.
The eight selected original papers constitute the core of these five monographs.
With regard to the papers, the monographs either provide further exemplification
(e.g., Cognition-based Studies on Chinese Computational Linguistics and Studies
on Chinese Nominal Valency Grammar) or make thorough application (e.g., A
Handbook of Classification of the Parts of Speech in Chinese and Cognitive Stud-
ies and Fuzzy Classification of the Parts of Speech in Chinese). Apparently, the
original papers still maintain its academic excellence and vitality, since they are
the guidelines of the successive studies.
The grammatical studies as conducted in the original papers have four
aspects of academic values. They have focused on the characteristics of the
Chinese language, inherited the academic traditions in Chinese grammar,
adopted widely-accepted cognitive and empirical approaches, and employed the
