This is a preprint
Abstract

The claim that Mandarin is a topic-prominent language has been widely accepted and frequently cited in studies of Mandarin Chinese since its proposal in the 1980s. The validity of this claim, however, was questioned as early as 1984.To date, little progress has been made to resolve this question. This study aimed to revisit this long-standing debate by reviewing the formation of the typological view of Mandarin proposed by Li and Thompson. In addition, this study reviewed closely related studies to highlight a distinctive path for reassessing the validity of this influential view of Mandarin. This study aimed to contribute to future studies related to Mandarin.

Keywords

Typological view, Topic-prominent language, Mandarin Topic-comment sentences

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