The Grammar of Chinese Characters: Productive Knowledge of Formal Patterns in an Orthographic System

This book explores the grammar of Chinese characters, showing that they have a productive and psychologically real lexical grammar with non-trivial analogs of morphology, phonology, and phonetics. Evidence comes from quantitative corpus analyses and experiments on character reading, writing, and learning. It provides tools for exploring the full richness of Chinese orthography and offers new ways of thinking about the most fundamental question in linguistic theory.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 250 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Chinese characters is aware that they adhere to a grammar of sorts. While there are numerous characters, they are constructed from a much smaller set of fundamental components, many of which can be interpreted in terms of meaning or pronunciation. These components, in turn, are constructed from an even smaller set of strokes. This book goes far beyond these basic facts to demonstrate that Chinese characters possess a productive and psychologically authentic lexical grammar, similar to that found in spoken and signed languages, with non-trivial analogs of morphology (the combination of potentially interpretable constituents), phonology (formal regularities without implications for interpretation), and phonetics (articulatory and perceptual constraints). Evidence for this claim comes from a diverse range of sources, including quantitative corpus analyses and experiments on character reading, writing, and learning.

The grammatical approach is instrumental in capturing how character constituents combine and how strokes systematically vary in different contexts. It also sheds light on the evolution of character form from ancient times to the modern simplified system, as well as the cognitive processes involved in readers and writers processing or learning entirely novel characters.

In addition to providing valuable tools for exploring the intricacies of Chinese orthography, this book offers fresh perspectives on the most fundamental question in linguistic theory: what is grammar? By delving into the grammatical structure of Chinese characters, we gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and richness of the Chinese language and its role in shaping human communication.

Weight: 388g
Dimension: 155 x 231 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032092829