This thesis gives a detailed overview of the Guīshān Mandarin sound system based on several thousands of monosyllables uttered in isolation. The analyses presented are both phonetic and...Show moreThis thesis gives a detailed overview of the Guīshān Mandarin sound system based on several thousands of monosyllables uttered in isolation. The analyses presented are both phonetic and phonological, combining quantitative and qualitative methods.Show less
Secondary schools in the Netherlands have been offering Chinese Language and Culture as an official exam subject for three years now. Studies on Dutch students SLA of Mandarin are very limited in...Show moreSecondary schools in the Netherlands have been offering Chinese Language and Culture as an official exam subject for three years now. Studies on Dutch students SLA of Mandarin are very limited in number, and established literature often studies participants in their twenties with English as their L1. This study aims to look at improvement shown in tonal production by Dutch teenagers aged 13-17 who follow the relatively new Mandarin course in secondary school, to provide deeper insight into SLA of Mandarin by Dutch teenagers, and into the effectiveness of the course. There were two groups of participants: students with four months of experience in Mandarin, and students from the same school with three and a half years of experience. They were asked to produce a selection of both monosyllabic and disyllabic words. Their tones were visualized using Praat, and compared to both the tonal production of native speakers to identify errors. The production of the two different grades was then compared to one another to identify points of improvement. The results showed that female students showed improvement mainly in pitch contour, and to some extent even acquired tonal coarticulation. The male students showed improvement in pitch height, and very little improvement in pitch contour. For both genders the production of tone 3 appeared most difficult, followed by tone 4, then tone 2. Tone 1 was the easiest to produce.Show less
In this thesis, the phenomenon of dangling topic sentences in Mandarin is investigated. These topics can appear without obvious marking in sentence initial position and are not related to a...Show moreIn this thesis, the phenomenon of dangling topic sentences in Mandarin is investigated. These topics can appear without obvious marking in sentence initial position and are not related to a resumptive pronoun or a gap in the comment. The goal is to explain that these sentences are actually not exclusive to Mandarin, but also appear in many other languages. Furthermore, I provide evidence that suggests that these topics receive a topic marker that is part of the numeration and are thus not as "bare" as they appear to be at first glance. This marker can either be realized prosodically or by a particle.Show less
In this thesis I focus on the system of word categorization in Mandarin. The discussion on this topic is an ongoing one. I try to shed some light on categoriality in Mandarin by discussing several...Show moreIn this thesis I focus on the system of word categorization in Mandarin. The discussion on this topic is an ongoing one. I try to shed some light on categoriality in Mandarin by discussing several different views and contrasting proposals which have been put forward by different authors. In order to obtain some new insight I conducted two experiments, based on Borer’s (2003) theory about the exo-skeletal approach, in which I tested verbal coercion on nouns. The results of these experiments have led me to adopt the term ‘categorical fluidity’ (Kwong & Tsou, 2003) to describe word classes in Mandarin. This fluidity proved to be accommodated by the high potential for innovative ambiguities, which, in turn is caused by characteristics of Mandarin when it comes to morphology and syntax. I then take a sidetrack and focus on one word category in particular to point out a peculiar similarity. The results of a third experiment show that the flexibility that is found between different word classes in Mandarin, is also found within the word category of classifiers and measure words.Show less
In this thesis the argument made is that Mandarin sentence-le is to be analyzed as the English nonfinite perfect "to have + -ed". First, by the use of the Reichenbach-Klein framework, a definition...Show moreIn this thesis the argument made is that Mandarin sentence-le is to be analyzed as the English nonfinite perfect "to have + -ed". First, by the use of the Reichenbach-Klein framework, a definition is given of the used terms such as 'tense' and 'aspect'. Then, also using the Reichenbach-Klein framework, a description is given of the main characteristics of the English nonfinite perfect "to have + -ed". Then, a description is given of the semantics of le, based on what is said about this in the literature. Finally, a native speaker is asked to answer questions about sentences in which sentence-le is used with different types of predicates in order to see how the meaning of these sentences differ or are similar to the meaning of sentences in which the English nonfinite perfect is used.Show less
In 1956, the Chinese government began to encourage people all over the country to speak Mandarin in accordance with government policy. This policy was regarded as an effective way to remove...Show moreIn 1956, the Chinese government began to encourage people all over the country to speak Mandarin in accordance with government policy. This policy was regarded as an effective way to remove linguistic barriers among the different provinces, but later it was found that it was also one of the most important reasons behind the vanishing of dialects. Shanghainese 上海话 (Shanghaihua), is the indigenous language in Shanghai. It developed rapidly in the first half of the last century and is regarded as a cultural symbol by the local people of Shanghai. It enjoyed a dominant position in the area until the implementation of the national language policy. After 2000, more and more local people in Shanghai have begun to speak Mandarin in daily life. This thesis aims to study political, social and cultural factors which have led to this kind of linguistic change. I will explore the social function of Shanghainese and give an analysis on why and how people speak specific languages in various social domains. After demonstrating that the social function of Shanghainese is at present rather limited, I will investigate the prevalence of the awareness that favors saving the language and promoting local culture in Shanghainese for the goal of retaining local uniqueness. The thesis will consist of five chapters. The first chapter will include the introduction of Shanghainese, the interdependent relationship amongst languages, society and people and the central question and research methods. The second chapter will be the literature review. Then, I will discuss about how the social context has impacted peoples’ attitudes to Shanghainese and Mandarin and explore incentives behind the switching of languages. Different public and private space, including schools, governmental institutions, media, work places, home and so on, will be analyzed respectively in the third chapter. In ‘Chapter Four’, I will sketch how people consider Shanghainese to be a key part of their cultural identity. The last chapter will be the conclusion of thesis.Show less
The thesis compares two non-canonical question types in Mandarin: Negative Wh-Constructions and causal/denial how-questions. The second chapter investigates their syntax. Based on a number of...Show moreThe thesis compares two non-canonical question types in Mandarin: Negative Wh-Constructions and causal/denial how-questions. The second chapter investigates their syntax. Based on a number of syntactic tests, they seem to share the same position in the Mandarin sentence. The third chapter aims to answer the question whether there are any differences between Negative Wh-Constructions and propositional negations. Negative Wh-Constructions prove to be metalinguistic negations, and as such, their use is limited by some conversational constraints. Also, as for the licensing of negative polarity items, they show a peculiar behavior. The fourth chapter looks at Mandarin 'how come' questions and the source of their causal and denial readings. Causality is explained in syntactic terms while for the denial reading, a semantic explanation is given based on modality. Mandarin data are compared to Hungarian ones.Show less
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the suffixes –er and –zi as encountered in modern Mandarin. What it aims to explore are the semantic and grammatical aspects of these two suffixes...Show moreAbstract: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the suffixes –er and –zi as encountered in modern Mandarin. What it aims to explore are the semantic and grammatical aspects of these two suffixes. The analyses touch upon questions such as: (1) What kind of word classes can –er and –zi be suffixed to? (2) Do –er and –zi imply diminutive meaning? (3) Is there a difference in meaning when a word allows for both –er and –zi suffixation? These and other questions are investigated with the help of two dictionaries, namely Wei (2005) and Jia (1990), on the basis of which a database of words suffixed with –er and –zi will be created.Show less
