Adobe Systems
ARTS023 Chinese
doc. Wei-lun Lu, Ph.D.
Department of Chinese Studies

Overview of Chinese language
1. Section of THE CHINESE TIME: Please find out (through Google Translate) how to express "last
week" and "next week" in Chinese. Also find out (also through Google Translate) what the individual
components mean.
2. Section of THE CHINESE TIME: Find out the definition of "grammatical tense" online.
3. Section of TONE: Find out the definition of "lexical tone".
4. Section of PLURICENTRICITY: Find out where Standard Chinese is spoken.

Overview: linguistic facts
Sinitic (Sino-Tibetan language family)
Chinese and Mandarin?
Mandarin being a form of Chinese (a standard variety).
Mandarin spoken as an official language in:
China (incl. Hong Kong, Macau); Beijing
Singapore; Singaporean
Taiwan; Taiwanese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJj5BWB1ai0
Also used in various parts of the world (lg of the diaspora).
 Thailand
9,392,792 (2012)[2]
 Indonesia
8,010,720 (2011)[1]
 Malaysia
6,712,200 (2021)[3]
 United States
5,143,982 (2018)[4]
 Singapore
2,675,521 (2020)[5]
 Myanmar
1,725,794 (2011)[1]
 Canada
1,715,770 (2021)[6]
 Australia
1,390,639 (2021)[7]
 Philippines
1,350,000 (2013)[8]
 South Korea
1,070,566 (2018)[9]

Dialects
Proportions of first-language speakers[24]
  Mandarin (65.7%)
  Min (6.2%)
  Wu (6.1%)
  Yue (5.6%)
  Jin (5.2%)
  Gan (3.9%)
  Hakka (3.5%)
  Xiang (3.0%)
  Huizhou (0.3%)
  Pinghua, others (0.6%)

Grammar
Chinese as an analytic language (very little inflection).
Inflection: word formation through modification of word form (tense, case, person, number, gender,
etc.)
Show class notes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kl9gM8OL1EKaOuWquGqoCp64iwtAegzPXh6VgR-_1qw/edit?usp=sharing
Vague language…

The Chinese TIME
Grammatical: (lack of) tense marking
Cultural: metaphorical understanding of TIME

How would you communicate without tense?
•In-class Task 1: Try to write a short passage (3-4 sentences) of what you did yesterday/last
week/last month, without using tense.
•
•In-class Task 2: Try to communicate indirectness (which is a tense-related phenomenon) without
using tense. Can you come up with a way?
•

Time, tense and narrative viewpoint
•Dancygier, Barbara, Wei-lun Lu and Arie Verhagen (eds.). 2016. Viewpoint and the Fabric of
Meaning: Form and Use of Viewpoint Tools across Languages and Modalities. Berlin: De Gruyter.
•
•Lu, Wei-lun. 2019. Time, tense and viewpoint shift across languages: A Multiple-Parallel-Text
approach to “tense shifting” in a tenseless language. Cognitive Linguistics 30.2: 377-397.

Case 1: Tense and Narrative Viewpoint
•Tense in narratives extensively studied in SAE languages.
•Past as narrator’s and (historical) present as character’s consciousness (Fleischman 1990;
Fludernik 2012).
•
•

STR in a glimpse
N: “Wei-lun: ‘From now on I will do the job myself!’”
Narrator: distant, less involved in narration; little trace of narrator in narration.
Direct discourse.
N: “Wei-lun shouted that from then on, he would do the job himself.”
Narrator: distant, less involved in narration; little trace of narrator in narration.
Indirect discourse.
N: “Wei-lun shouts that from now on, he will do the job himself.”
Narrator: proximal (even embedded), more involved in narration.
Free indirect discourse (FID).
Tense marking as an important tool in STR.
“From now on I will do the job myself!”
[USEMAP]

Comparing STR (FID) across languages
-STR (FID) research done in single languages (using monolingual texts).
-No way to compare FID across lgs with methodologically controlled commensurability.
-Use of Multiple Parallel Texts (Multi-ParT; Knotková & Lu, 2020; Lu & Verhagen, 2016; Lu et. al,
2018; Lu, 2019; Lu, 2020; Lu et. al, 2020).
-Useful for studying how multiple users of target lg (TL) render an ideational content with a
stylistic effect from source lg (SL).
-One text in SL and its multiple renditions in TL.
-Stability and variation of user choices within TL (in producing same content, same effect).

Research issue
-Tense shifting (past/present) being a hallmark of FID (among other lexico-grammatical cues).
-TIME being an important dimension in the encoding of narrative distance.
-Chinese being a language without systematic tense marking.
-Question: Does Chinese operate on narrative distance using TIME?

Hypothesis 1
If Chinese cares as much about TIME as English does in managing narrative vpt, in passages where
the English switches between tenses, we see elements that invoke TIME in the Chinese corresponding
passage.
In cases where multiple translations exist, the phenomenon should be consistent.
Chinese has a productive aspectual system, where the perfective aspect is reported to play a role
of expressing past events (Lin 2012; Liu 2014).
If we are able to identify constructions that invoke TIME in Chinese, PFV should be an important
part of it.
Hypothesis 2

Material choice
Published Commercial Translations.
Great Expectations (ST) and its 9 Ch translations.
David Copperfield (ST) and its 5 Ch translations.
“A&P” (ST) and its 2 Ch translations.
Random choice of 1 passage from each ST.
Charles Dickens

Results
Out of the 16 Chinese passages (2 + 9 + 5), only 1/16 uses a temporal adverbial construction.
Only 2/16 passages have PFV, but where the English passage involves the present tense.
Chinese does not care about TIME in managing narrative vpt.
The perfective aspect not used for managing vpt, at least not the way past tense is used in
English.

Sample FID feature (in SL): tense shifting



Renditions in TL: Reduplications
Out of the 9 renditions, 9 use reduplication.
Reduplication has a function of intensifying the perceptual content (Liu 2012; Melloni and Basciano
2018), which creates narrator involvement.
In addition to simple full reduplications (AA), other types of reduplications are identified:
AABB (e.g. 清清楚楚)
ABAC (e.g. 各式各样 and 有声有色)

Sample FID passage (2)



Perceptual deixis in TL
A perceptual deictic element consistently found in all translations: 在我（的）眼前; 5 out of 5.
Puts the narrator onstage (as an OoC); high degree of narrator involvement.

Summary
Multi-ParT helps identify variation of vpt strategies across lgs:
Overall absence of TIME adverbials and of PFV in Ch.
Ch: Reduplication (AA, AABB, ABAC)
Ch: Perceptual deixis 在我（的）眼前
En: tense shifting
Multi-ParT turns up the stability across the users
Reduplication 9/9
Perceptual deixis 5/5

Implications for cross-linguistic FID research
FID: varying degrees of narrator involvement in discourse
Varying degrees of subjectivity in the construal of the narrator (SoC)
Achieved via diff linguistic means in diff lgs (EN: tense; CN: reduplication)
Tense marking as obligatory; reduplication as optional
Vpt per sentence; less obvious demarcation of vpt
Switching/mixing of vpts; unspecified/context-dependent vpt
Language-specific vpt arrangement and perspectivization of the same(!) narrated content.

Case 2: Biblical texts
§RI: How does the conventionalized toolkit of CN allow its various users to render an FID effect in
narration?
§Multiple published translations of the Bible.
§5 versions used:
§Chinese Union Version 和合本, Revised Chinese Union Version 修訂和合本, Chinese Contemporary Bible 當代譯本,
Chinese Standard Bible 中文標準譯本, Chinese New Version 中文聖經新譯本.
§Passage chosen: 路加福音 Luke 19:1-10 (Yamazaki 2006, in Journal of Biblical Literature 125:1).
§

Finding 1: [V] – [V] reduplication
§Character’s vpt:
§他 要 看看 耶穌 是 怎樣 的 人… (RCUV)
§Tā yào kàn-kàn yēsū shì zěnyang de rén
§He MOD see-RED Jesus LK how LK man
§Compare:
§他要看耶穌是怎樣的人… (constructed from RCUV)
§他 要 看 耶穌 是 怎樣 的 人… (RCUV)
§Tā yào kàn yēsū shì zěnyang de rén
§He MOD see Jesus LK how LK man
§Verbal reduplication as a tentative aspectual construction, expressing ‘briefly or a bit’.
Pragmatically, it introduces Zaccheus’s mental state (of uncertainty).
§Elaborated in the Greek and English versions as an infinitive (e.g. wanted to see/was trying to
see) in irrealis mood.
§5/5 versions.

Finding 2: AABB reduplication (from AB)
§Character’s vpt:
§他 就 急忙 下來， 歡歡喜喜 地 接待 耶穌。(RCUV)
§Tā jiù jímáng xià-lái huān-huān-xǐ-xǐ di jiēdài yēsū
§He PRT hurried come down happy-RED LK receive Jesus
§Compare:
§他 就 急忙 下來， 歡喜 地 接待 耶穌。(constructed from RCUV)
§Tā jiù jímáng xià-lái huān-xǐ di jiēdài yēsū
§He PRT hurried come down happy LK receive Jesus
§Intensifying the emotion of the character.
§In other lgs as an adverbial (joyfully or gladly).
§5/5 versions.
§撒該連忙爬下來，興高采烈地帶耶穌回家。(CCB)
§N1-V1-N2-V2, where N1-V1 and N2-V2 are synonymous.
§

Summary
§Multi-ParT helps identify stylistic strategies (character-based vpt) in CN:
§CN: Reduplication
•VV: uncertainty (irrealis)
•AABB: (intensification of character emotion)
§
§Multi-ParT turns up the stability across users (influential versions).
§VV: 5/5 (100%)
§AABB: 5/5 (100%)

The tenseless nature of Chinese
§Consequence (class fill in):
§Viewpoint representation as vague
§Reduplication as an alternative strategy.
§

Metaphorical understanding of TIME in CH
Phrases
Last week
This week
Next week

Understanding TIME using UP-DOWN
•English: last month, next month
•Chinese:
•上個月 shàng-ge-yuè ‘up-CL-month’,
•下個月 xià-ge-yuè ‘down-CL-month’,
•Czech: minulý měsíc(?)
•
•English: first half of the year, second half of the year
•Chinese:
•上半年 shàng-bàn-nián ‘up-half-year’,
•下半年 xià-bàn-nián ‘down-half-year’
•Czech: první polovina roku(?)

On reasoning about TIME
•Fish race experiment (Boroditsky 2001):
•Task: Below you will see a picture and a statement. Based on the picture, please decide whether
the statement is true.

You will see a picture and a statement. Raise your left hand if the statement is true. Raise your
right hand if the statement is false. Be as fast as you can.
•
•

You will see a picture and a statement. Raise your left hand if the statement is true. Raise your
right hand if the statement is false. Be as fast as you can.
•
•

Mandarin-English bilinguals
•Mandarin Chinese as L1, English as L2.
•Strong vertical bias for CN-EN bilinguals who started English late.
•Learning EN gives those CN speakers a “horizontal bias”.
•Learning a different language does make one reason about TIME differently.
•
•Lera Boroditsky’s TED talk (recommended!)

Summary of Chinese TIME
•Tenseless
•Analytic
•Grammatical consequence
•
•
•Up-down temporal orientation
•Metaphorical (SPACE > TIME)
•
•

Next week
3. Section of TONE: Find out the definition of "lexical tone".
4. Section of PLURICENTRICITY: Find out where Standard Chinese is spoken.

Tonal language
What is a lexical tone?
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or meaning – that is, to distinguish
words.
(East) Asian tonal languages: Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, among others.
4 lexical tones in Chinese (marked by diacritics over vowel):
High tone (mā)
Rising tone (má)
Dipping/low tone (mǎ)
Falling tone (mà)

Tonal tongue twister
Tongue twister with tonal variation:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoJJz5VA6kt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
Māma qí mǎ
Mom ride horse
Mǎ màn
Horse slow
Māma mà mǎ
Mom scold horse
“”

Mandarin Chinese spoken and script used
Standard Chinese spoken as an official language in:
- China (incl. Hong Kong, Macau)
- Singapore
- Taiwan
Used by the United Nations as one of the official languages.
The simplified version.

Writing system
Evolution:
Traditional version used till end of WWII.
In 1950s, 1960s, the Chinese communist gov. started simplification process, resulted in the current
system.
- Used also in Singapore and Malaysia.
Traditional version has remained:
- Taiwan
- Hong Kong
- Macau

Varieties of Chinese used in Western countries
 France
Chinese French
600,000
1%
2018[143]
 United Kingdom
British Chinese
433,150
<1%
2011
 Russia
Chinese people in Russia
28,943
<1%
2010[144]
 Italy
Chinese people in Italy
288,923
<1%
2020[145]
 Spain
Chinese people in Spain
197,390
<1%
2020[146]
 Germany
Chinese people in Germany
145,610
<1%
2020[147]
 Netherlands
Chinese people in the Netherlands
94,000
<1%
2018[citation needed]
 United States
Chinese American, American-born Chinese
5,025,817
1.5%
2017[157]
 Canada
Chinese Canadian, Canadian-born Chinese
1,769,195
5.1%
2016[158][159]
Cantonese (+ trad. script) for earlier arrivals (1984, 1989)
Standard Chinese (+ simp. script) for later arrivals

Manners of simplification (selected)
Omitting entire components:
廠 → 厂; 廣 → 广; 飛 → 飞; 習 → 习; 滅 → 灭; etc.
Further morphing a character after omitting some components:
婦 → 妇; 麗 → 丽; 歸 → 归; etc.
Preserving the basic outline or shape of the original character:
繼 → 继; 龜 → 龟; 齒 → 齿; 奪 → 夺; etc.

More examples: Chinese Numbers
•8
•八
•Think of MUSTACHE in terms of EIGHT. Conceptual association motivated by imaginstic similarity
(based on the writing system)
•10
•十
•Think of CROSS in terms of TEN. Conceptual association motivated by imaginstic similarity (based
on the writing system)
•
•Writing system helps people understand the world!

Language in Cultural Conventions
•春
•Homophony of 到 dào “arrive” and 倒 dào “reverse”
•“Spring arrive”
•
•Homophony of 魚 yú “fish” and 餘 yú “remain”
•“Every year we have so much that remain.”
•
•Linguistic basis of cultural convention and reasoning.

Language in New Year’s Food
•Homophony of 糕 gāo “cake” and 高 gāo “high”
•“Every year we go up (in career)”
•
•Homophony of “dumplings” and “change of the midnight hours”
•
•Linguistic influence of how people think about food.

Summary (fill in with class)
•Chinese as a Tonal language
•
•
•Variation of Chinese (esp. writing system)
•
•
•Writing system

•
•
•Questions? Comments?

Next week
- Please review the basic geographical information about Korea.
- Please watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDPpssj0h0