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  • Chinese: A comprehensive grammar by Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
  • Edward J. Vajda
Chinese: A comprehensive grammar. By Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington. (Routledge comprehensive grammars.) London: Routledge, 2004. Pp. xviii, 418. ISBN 0415150329. $52.95.

This concise yet detailed treatment of Standard Mandarin Chinese focuses almost entirely upon diverse aspects of phrase and sentence construction. It is not a basic learner’s grammar with a graduated presentation of material. Lacking any introduction to the phonology or writing, this book is intended for those already familiar with some form of Chinese orthography. All examples appear in Pinyin as well as in the simplified characters employed in the People’s Republic of China since 1956. This makes the reference material easily accessible to native speakers as well as to general linguists or students who have already studied some Chinese.

Each of the book’s twenty-seven chapters covers a specific facet of phrase or sentence structure, beginning with noun phrases and ending with an overview of stylistic considerations. Much attention is paid to describing how syntactic constructions are actually employed by contemporary speakers. The coverage of functional sentence perspective and other discourse aspects of languages contains valuable insights not found in other references to Chinese grammar. One useful feature is the book’s functional division of declarative sentence patterns into four basic types: narrative (those that recount past actions in an epistemically neutral fashion), descriptive (those that portray ongoing actions), evaluative (those that relate the speaker’s judgment of a situation), and expository sentences. The last category is defined as ‘factual statements that offer some sort of explanation for actual situations or experiences’ (306) and includes sentences ending in the particle le, which marks speaker awareness of a new situation. These four categories entail formal distinctions in syntactic arrangement unique to Chinese grammar, so that their explication is essential to a basic understanding of the language’s syntax.

Another valuable feature is the book’s clear explanation of how prosodic factors interact with syntactic patterns. For example, because spoken Chinese tends to require a prosodic alternation of heavy vs. light emphasis on successive syllables, a Chinese sentence can end with a monosyllabic verb plus monosyllabic or disyllabic object, but not with a disyllabic verb plus monosyllabic object (385–87). This accounts for the presence in the language of numerous monosyllabic vs. disyllabic synonyms. For example, the nouns shū and shūjí, both meaning ‘books’, appear in different rhythmic environments: kàn shū or kàn shūjí ‘read books’ but only liúlăn shūjí ‘browse books’ and not *liúlăn shū. The rhythmic pattern in Chinese sentence structure entails a ‘phonosyntactic’ layer that is completely lacking in most other languages. This important feature of the grammar is given full coverage here.

Other highlights include clear, thorough discussions of measure words, passive constructions, techniques of conveying old vs. new information and definite vs. indefinite reference, and the use of particles, coverbs, adverbials, and postpositions.

The authors’ theoretical approach is refreshingly eclectic, with an almost complete lack of formalistic jargon. Grammatical terms and categories specific to Chinese are clearly explained as they arise. I would highly recommend this book to any intermediate or advanced student who hopes to master the patterns used to generate phrases and sentences in contemporary Standard Mandarin Chinese.

Edward J. Vajda
Western Washington University
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