Studies on Modern Chinese Syntax
The period of modern Chinese –from the early Tang Dynasty to the middle Ching
Dynasty--is the important time when Chinese language inherited from the past
and carried on for the future. The modern Chinese inherited the ancient Chinese
and the Middle Ages Chinese, as a result, it has led to a dramatic change; that
is, after the development of more than 1000 years, the modern Chinese pattern
has gradually formed.
The research on modern Chinese is not only a necessary condition to construct
an integral history of Chinese language but also has a close relation with the
research on contemporary Chinese, in that, the contemporary Chinese was formed
directly from the development of modern Chinese.
Ever since the 20th century, the domestic and foreign scholars have gradually
conducted the research on modern Chinese more thoroughly. In this course, we
will try to summarize the important achievements of the research on modern Chinese
by the domestic and foreign scholars in order to have a systematic introduction
on the development of the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of modern Chinese.
This is a one-semester course; the course content will be divided into 16 units
altogether, the time needed for the instruction of each unit will be determined
according to the total instructional hours designated by the Department of Chinese
Literature. The course will be held primarily through lecturing and with a few
discussions as the go-betweens.
1. Present situation of the research on modern Chinese
2. Material for the research of modern Chinese
3. Research on the phonetics in the Tang and the Five Dynasty
4. Research on the phonetics in the Sung Dynasty
5. Research the phonetics in the Yuan Dynasty
6. Research on the phonetics in the Ming Dynasty
7. Common vocabulary of modern Chinese
8. Pronouns of modern Chinese
9. Dynamic auxiliary and structural auxiliary
10 The predicative structure and the auxiliary structure
11 Disposing type
12 Passive form of modern Chinese
13 Words of tone of modern Chinese
14 Historical evolution of the word order of Chinese
15 The general research development of modern Chinese vocabulary
16 The research methodology of modern Chinese vocabulary
(2) Course content
1. Based on the summary of the research achievement of modern Chinese made
by domestic and foreign scholars, the content of this course will be divided
into 16 units. Through the instruction of 16 units, we wish to lead to a systematic
introduction on the phonetics, the syntax and the development of vocabulary of
modern Chinese.
A. The phonetics: through the study on material regarding the phone and rhythm
of modern Chinese, for example, ‘Tang Wu Tai Han Tsiang Tuei Yin ‘ (the Chinese-to-Tibet
phone of the Tang and the Five Dynasty), Shao Yong’s ‘Sheng Yin Chang He Tu’
( Chart of the Responding between phone and Music), ‘Chu Hsi Fan Chie’ (phonetic
notation of Chu Hsi), ‘Chung Yuan Yin Yuin’ ( the phone and rhythm of Yellow
River area), ‘Den Yuin Tu Chi’ ( Chart of Den-Yun) and so on, we will discuss
the development and rules of the phone of modern Chinese as well as the formation
of the common vocabulary of modern Chinese.
B. The syntax: through the study on important issues of modern Chinese, such
as the pronoun, the dynamic auxiliary and the structural auxiliary, the predicative
and auxiliary structure, the disposing tense, the passive sentences, words of
tone, word order and so on, to discuss the development of syntax and rules of
modern Chinese, as well as the tendency of evolution of the structure of Chinese
syntax from ancient time to present.
C. The vocabulary: the research outcomes on modern Chinese vocabulary system
do not match up with the research on the phonetics and syntax, thus, the vocabulary
cannot be the key point of this course. We will only provide a general introduction
on the present situation of the research in this area and to discuss possible
approaches and methods for future research.
2. As a course for graduate students, this course is responsible for the inspiration
of student's thinking and discussion. This course is not merely an introduction
of the conclusion made on the research of the modern Chinese syntax; moreover,
it pays great attention to the exploration of the research methodology on modern
Chinese syntax. It is to guide the student to ponder on how these conclusions
are obtained, and to think over what the strong point and the weak point of each
research technique are. As to the different academic viewpoint on the research
of modern Chinese syntax, we would encourage students to state their own points
of view.
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