Why should men break all the rules?
A new approach to the analysis of the plural marker men in Mandarin Chinese
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i2.129Keywords:
Language Change, Plural Suffix men, Lexical DiffusionAbstract
This paper presents the results of a detailed investigation of grammatical inflexion for number in spoken Modern Standard Chinese and explores whether the use of the plural marker men conforms to the guidelines laid down in standard grammar reference works. For the purposes of studying morphological features in context a new source of spoken language samples is identified: published transcripts of television broadcasts. This study focusses on spoken Modern Standard Chinese in mainland China, as exemplified in a popular Chinese chat show over the period 2003 to 2006. The analysis of the data shows significant discrepancies between the traditional grammatical analysis of the plural marker men and its actual use in real-life situations, with the so-called plural suffix employed to perform many more functions than have traditionally been ascribed to it. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the contexts in which the plural suffix is used suggests that to maintain that inflexion for number is optional in Chinese, as many grammar textbooks do, may be somewhat misleading.
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Ba, D. (unknown) Jianyu wangshi jianwen [A personal account of prison]. Bai Lu Shuyuan. Retrieved on 20 October 2010 from http://www.oklink.net/online/tougao/100268/ 189766.htm
Bakema, P. and Geeraerts, D. (2000) Diminution and augmentation. In G. Booij, C. Lehmann and J. Mugdan (eds) Morphology: An International Handbook on Inflection and Word-formation, 1045–52. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Biq, Y.-O. (2004) Construction, reanalysis, and stance: ‘V yi ge N’ and variations in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics 36 (9): 1655–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. pragma.2003.11.009
Chao, Y. R. (1968) A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Chappell, H. and Thompson, S. (1992) The semantics and pragmatics of associative DE in Mandarin discourse. Cahiers de linguistique – Asie orientale 21 (2): 199–229.
Chen, M. Y. and Wang, W. S.-Y. (1975) Sound change: actuation and implementation. Language 51 (2); 255–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412854
Chui, K. (2003) Is the correlation between grounding and transitivity universal? Studies in Language 27 (2) 221–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.27.2.02chu
Cook, A. (2004) Neueste Einflüsse des Englischen auf das Hochchinesische in taiwanischen Unterhaltungsshows. Master’s thesis.
Cook, A. (2011) Recent developments in the use of the plural marker men in Modern Standard Chinese in Taiwan. Chinese Language and Discourse 2 (1): 80–98. http://dx.doi. org/10.1075/cld.2.1.04coo
DeFrancis, J. (1963) Beginning Chinese. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Guo, H.-J. (2007) Xiandai Hanyu ouhua yanjiu zongshu [Overview of research into the Europeanisation of Modern Chinese]. Xi’an Waiguoyu Daxue Xuebao 15: 1–4.
Guo, H.-J. and Zhou, G.-Q. (2003) 20 nian nai Yingyu dui Zhongguo dalu Xiandai Hanyu cifa he jufa de yingxiang [The influence of English on the morphology and syntax of Modern Chinese in mainland China over the last 20 years]. Waiyu Jiaoxue 24: 18–22.
He, Y. (2004) Gaige kaifang yilai Yingyu dui Hanyu jufa de yingxiang [The influence of English on Chinese grammar since the Reform and Opening policy]. Journal of Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages 3: 127–33.
Hu, K.-B. (2006) Han-wai yuyan jiechu yanjiu jin bai nian: huigu yu zhanwang [100 years of research into language contact between Chinese and other languages: reflections and predictions]. Waiyu yu Waiyu Jiaoxue 206: 53–57.
Huang, S. (1985) Social climbing effects: The case marking system in Mandarin. Anthropological Linguistics 27 (2): 141–55.
Iljic, R. (2001) The problem of the suffix men in Chinese grammar. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 29 (1): 11–68.
Kubler, C. C. (1985) A Study of Europeanized Grammar in Modern Written Chinese. Taipei: Student Book Co., Ltd.
Li, C. N. and Thompson, S. A. (1981) Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Maury, F. (1992) Du nombre dans la langue chinoise: à propos de -men. Cahiers de linguistique – Asie orientale 21 (1): 101–131.
McMahon, A. M. S. (1994) Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ross, C. and Ma, J.-H. S. (2006) Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide. London and New York: Routledge.
Si, G. (1994) Fanyi Yanjiu [Studies in Translation]. Taipei: Dadi Publishing Company.
Si, G. (1996) Gongfu zai Shi wai: Fanyi Outan [The Skill Lies Outside the Poem: A Discussion of Translation]. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
Song, Z. and Tao, H. (2009) A unified account of causal clause sequences in Mandarin Chinese and its implications. Studies in Language 33 (1): 69–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ sl.33.1.04son
Tagliamonte, S. and Roberts, C. (2005) So weird; so cool; so innovative: The use of intensifiers in the television series Friends. American Speech 80 (3): 280–300. http://dx.doi. org/10.1215/00031283-80-3-280
Taiwan Guangbo Zhongxin (2010) Taiwan shou ge yinyue jianzhu zhan: Lingting lao fangzi xintiaosheng [Taiwan’s first exhibition of musical architecture: listening to the pulse of old buildings]. Nihao Taiwan Wang. Retrieved on 20 October 2010 from http://www. nihaotw.com/twdxs/shwx/201009/t20100925_611822.htm
Thompson, S. A. and Tao, H. (2010) Conversation, grammar, and fixedness: Adjectives in Mandarin revisited. Chinese Language and Discourse 1 (1): 3–30. http://dx.doi. org/10.1075/cld.1.1.01tho
Van de Velde, H., van Hout, R. and Gerritsen, M. (1997) Watching Dutch change: A real time study of variation and change in standard Dutch pronunciation. Journal of Sociolinguistics 1 (3): 361–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00021
Wang, L. (1984a[1943]) Zhongguo Yufa Lilun [Chinese Grammar Theory]. Jinan: Shandong Jiaoyu Chubanshe.
Wang, L. (1984b[1943]) Zhongguo Xiandai Yufa [Modern Chinese Grammar]. Jinan: Shandong Jiaoyu Chubanshe.
Wu, R.-J. R. (2005) ‘There is more here than meets the eye!’: The use of final ou in two sequential positions in Mandarin Chinese conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 37 (7): 967–995. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2004.12.006
Xie, Y.-J. (2001) Hanyu yufa ouhua zongshu [A summary of the Europeanisation of Chinese grammar]. Yuwen Yanjiu 78: 17–22.
Yang, X.-M. (ed.) (2006) Yiren – Luyu You Yue [Women of Talent: A Date with Luyu]. Beijing: Zhongguo Youyi Chuban Gongsi.
Yip, P.-C. and Rimmington, D. (2006) Chinese: An Essential Grammar, 2nd edn. London and New York: Routledge.
Zhonghua Dianshi Gongsi (04.08.2002) Chaoji Xingqitian di 336 Ji [Super Sunday, Episode 336]. Taipei: China Television Service.
Zhonghua Dianshi Gongsi (25.08.2002) Chaoji Xingqitian di 339 Ji [Super Sunday, Episode 339]. Taipei: China Television Service.
Zhonghua Dianshi Gongsi (28.07.1996) Chaoji Xingqitian di 22 Ji [Super Sunday, Episode 22]. Taipei: China Television Service.
Published
2012-01-24
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Cook, A. (2012). Why should men break all the rules? A new approach to the analysis of the plural marker men in Mandarin Chinese. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 5(2), 129-167. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i2.129
