Die Relativkonstruktionen im Chinesischen: Eine diachrone Studie (review)

Mandarin Chinese is well known for being a rare exception to one of the Greenbergian word-order correlations. While basic word order is SVO, relative clauses precede the head noun instead of following it, as would be expected. This is the starting point of Jingling Wang’s historical investigation of relative constructions in Chinese. W poses the question of whether prenominal relative clauses have been the rule throughout the whole of (documented) Chinese language history. Furthermore, she tries to elucidate other typological characteristics of Chinese relative constructions and the way they have changed historically.

The book is divided into six parts. After a short introduction, theoretical premises (Part 2) and a literature review (Part 3) follow. W identifies herself with a typological approach and adopts the framework laid out in Christian Lehmann’s seminal monograph on the topic, Der Relativsatz, (Tübingen: Narr, 1984). Part 4 presents the empirical study at the core of the book. A lengthy analysis of relative constructions in Modern Chinese is followed by descriptions of their counterparts in Classical Chinese (eighth century bc–first century ad), Middle Chinese (seventh century–thirteenth century), and Premodern Chinese (thirteenth century–eighteenth century). For each period, relative constructions are discussed with respect to the same parameters, the most important of which are subordination, attribution, restriction, contrastivity, gapping, possibility of relativization of arguments and nonarguments, and pragmatic functions. The results show that, while the concrete means of marking have changed over time, the constructions as a whole have been remarkably stable with respect to their structure and functions. Relative clauses have been prenominal throughout the history of the Chinese language. They are marked by (mostly) clause-final particles which are not always obligatory, depending on length of the subordinate clause, among other factors. There is a seamless cline between relative constructions functioning for object identification (Gegenstandsidentifikation) and those functioning for concept formation (Begriffsbildung). The constructions associated with the process of concept formation (which is essentially word formation) are usually short and occur without a final particle. By contrast, even very short relative clauses are marked by a particle if they are used contrastively. One of the major conclusions of this study is that the distinction between restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses, which is significant in English and some other languages, is practically irrelevant for Chinese from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. Chinese relative clauses, according to W, have always been essentially restrictive. By contrast, the above-mentioned parameter of object identification vs. concept formation, as espoused by Christian Lehmann, proves to be insightful when applied to Chinese.

The study shows furthermore that another remarkable feature of Chinese relative constructions, namely the possibility to relativize a vast range of argument and nonargument roles, has also been stable throughout the language’s history.

Part 5 provides a short overview of the grammaticalization of the relative clause markers (i.e. particles) in Chinese. Here the facts are not always straightforward, but it becomes clear that most of the markers were derived from lexical or other morphologically more independent material. Some brief conclusions follow in Part 6.

This monograph was originally written as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Mainz under the supervision of the Southeast Asian language specialist and typologist Walter Bisang. Typos and stylistic errors are rare. The choice of the corpus material for each historical period is explained in the introduction to the respective subsections. Example sentences are given in Pinyin with morpheme glosses and German translations. The Chinese script of the example sentences is provided as an appendix, followed by a subject index and a name index. The binding is good, adding to a favorable overall impression.