Difference between revisions of "Chin Poetry 2024"

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Please note the two different pronounciations of 為: wéi do, serve as, be, become. wèi for, on account of
 
Please note the two different pronounciations of 為: wéi do, serve as, be, become. wèi for, on account of
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==Some basic grammatical rules, from: Alex, Chinese Notes==
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Source: https://chinesenotes.com/classical_chinese.html (CC Licence)
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Basic Grammatical Principles
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'''word classes'''
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As pointed out by Rouzer (2007, p. 8) parts of speech, such as noun, verb, and so on, are useful but you should bear in mind that words are used flexibly in literary Chinese. Also, the flexible use of some words in some contexts does not mean that there is no grammar and that any word can be used in any grammatical context. The notes here are intended to be helpful but please do not take them as strict rules.
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The general rules of '''word order''' are
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#subject precedes predicate
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#a modifier precedes the word it modifies
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#a verb precedes its object
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#Words can shift grammatical function in classical Chinese within certain patterns. Here are a few constant rules to help distinguish grammatical function.
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===Negations===
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'''Nouns are negated by 非，無.'''
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For example,
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雖寶非用。 Even jewels have no use. 左思《三部賦序》 (From Zuo Si, Three Part Poetic Essay)
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無衣無褐，何以來歲？ Without clothes or hemp, how will we pass the years? 《詩經》 (From the Book of Songs)
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'''Verbs are negated by 未，不，勿，某'''
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However, direct objects can be placed after a negating word and before the verb, which can make this rule less obvious to recognize.
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The topic is often omitted when it is understood.
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A verbal construction must follow 所.
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之 is often used to mark subordination. Placing it between the subject and verb of a subject-predicate phrase turns it into a nominal phrase.
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Most words that we think of as adjectives in English can act as static verbs. That is verbs that describe state.
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===Grammatical Relationships===
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There are five types of grammatical relationships: topic-comment, verb-object, coordination, subordination, and number complement.
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====Topic-Comment====
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This is a variation of the subject-predicate relation but a little more broad. The topic is the focus of the phrase and most often is placed first. The comment is a statement about the topic. The simplest type of topic-comment phrase is a nominal sentence that identifies one noun with another. Nominal sentences with the pattern A B 也 most frequently mean A is a B or A is a type of B. A 猶 B 也 (A is like B) is another form of nominal sentence.
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Topicalization is the transfer of the usual order of a sentence to change the element that is being stressed. This is an important tool in classical Chinese rhetoric. For example, from Zhuang Zi 莊子,
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臣之所好者道也
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What I, your servant, like is The Way.
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Topicalization is one type of a broader movement of sentence elements to the front called exposure. Exposure is often used for rhetorical emphasis or to mark a contrast.
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====Verb-Object====
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The simplest case of a verb-object is a verb and a direct object. For example, 飲酒 (to drink wine). Sometimes the object of a verb is another verb. For example, 使歸 (to cause to return).
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Time and place information usually expressed through prepositional phrases in English and modern Chinese are expressed using verb-object relations in classical Chinese. The time and place words are locative objects of verbs. For example, 居山中 (to live in the mountains). Sometimes the locative particle 於 will be used. However, some references classify 於 as a preposition in the context of literary Chinese.
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Auxiliary verbs are used in a similar way to modern Chinese. Frequently used auxiliary verbs are 應， 能， 必， 肯， 須. For example, 應歸 (should return).
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====Coordinate Relationships====
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In a coordinate relationship two terms of the same type are used together. The elements may be nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or phrases. The conjunctions 與， 且， 而， 或， and 將 are frequently used to join terms in a coordinate relationship. However, conjunctions are also often omitted.
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====Subordinate Relations====
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In a subordinate relation the first element modifies the second. The first element is the modifier and the second element is called the head. For example, 青草 green (modifier ) grass (head). The elements of a subordinate relation can be nouns, verbs, or phrases.
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之 is a marker for explicit subordination to a noun. It turns a verbal phrase into a nominal phrase. For example, 日出之陽 (the sun at sunrise, from 說苑 Garden of Stories).
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====Number Complements====
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A number complement relation has the form (number) + (measure). Here the measure is a noun that is a measure of some kind of quantity. For example, 二人 (two people). Measure words, as found in modern Chinese, originated from this form.
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===Punctuation===
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Punctuation in classical Chinese has mostly been added at a later date to make reading easier. In particular, question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons were not used at all in literary Chinese. Some literary Chinese text used no punctation at all, making it very difficult for modern readers. Some texts used periods in place of both periods and modern commas. This web page uses basic periods and commas in order to make text a little more readable but avoids more modern additions like question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons.
  
 
==Textbook: Classical Chinese for Everyone, van Norden 2004==
 
==Textbook: Classical Chinese for Everyone, van Norden 2004==

Revision as of 20:22, 21 March 2024

Welcome to our course website Chin_Poetry_2024!

Session 1: Organizational issues FRI Mar 1, 8:00-9:30 s. 400, WORD CLASSES

FRI (8:00-9:30 s. 400) 9:45-11:15 SIN III s. 424 中國文學-詩歌 Język chiński klasyczny – proza lub poezja Chin Poetry 2024 1.3.-7.6.2024 (S1 1.3., S2 8.3., S3 15.3., S4 22.3., S5 29.3., S6 5.4., S7 12.4., S8 19.4., S9 26.4., S10 3.5., S11 10.5., S12 17.5., S13 24.5., S14 31.5., S15 7.6.)

What we learn in this class

  • We learn to differentiate between classical/premodern and modern Chinese.
  • We learn to differentiate between traditional and simplified characters.
  • We learn grammatical rules of classical/premodern Chinese including word classes, sentence structures etc.
  • We learn classical/premodern vocabulary.
  • We learn motifs and social-historical backgrounds in classical/premodern Chinese poems.

At the end of this semester, we will read, understand and translate some classical/premodern Chinese poems, especially the seemingly best ones in world literature, Tang and Song poems (premodern).

The course to learn to read classical Japanese for beginners is an example that we do not need to start from the quotation and explain grammar and vocabulary while we are working through the quotation, but instead we can first ignore the texts and start to learn the basics and get a basic understanding of wenyanwen.

So we are not going to start with the texts, but first will lay a foundation of understanding classical/premodern Chinese including grammar, vocabulary, images used in poems etc.

In order to plan a diverse semester with different sorts of explanations and exercises, we first will have a look at existing concepts for learning wenyanwen for beginners. This ensures to also incorporate the newest learning material and media forms.

Preliminary course schedule and topics for this semester

Praktyczna nauka języka chińskiego – kompozycja tekstu SIN II MGR

Sessions Fridays (if not otherwise indicated) in s. 400/424

  1. Sess1 Mar 1 8:00-9:30
  2. Sess2 Mar 1 9:45-11:15
  3. Sess3 Mar 22, 8:00-9:30
  4. Sess4 Mar 22, 9:45-11:15
  5. Sess5 Apr 5, 8:00-9:30
  6. Sess6 Apr 5, 9:45-11:15
  7. Sess7 Apr 26 8:00-9:30
  8. Sess8 Apr 26, 9:45-11:15
  9. Sess9 May 10, 8:00-9:30
  10. Sess10 May 10, 9:45-11:15
  11. Sess11 June 14, 8:00-9:30
  12. Sess12 June 14, 9:45-11:15
  13. Sess13 TUE Jun 18, 8:00-9:30
  14. Sess14 TUE Jun 18, 9:45-11:15
  15. Sess15 Jun 21, 8:00-9:30
  16. Final Exam Jun 21, 9:45-11:15

Suggested changes for this semester

Teacher provides explanation, systematic approach with tables to classical Chinese grammar and vocabulary. Students need to memorize the word classes in the tables and the usage of the word classes (pronouns, verbs etc.).

Session 1: Getting a first overview of classical Chinese grammar

Typological overview

Cf.: English, German and Chinese Introduction to classical Chinese grammar on Wikipedia.

Classical Chinese has long been noted for the absence of inflectional morphology: nouns and adjectives do not inflect for case, definiteness, gender, specificity or number; neither do verbs inflect for person, number, tense, aspect, telicity, valency, evidentiality or voice. However, in terms of derivational morphology, it makes use of compounding, reduplication and perhaps affixation, although not in a productive way. (See Peyraube 2008, p. 995; Schuessler 2007, p. 16). Most of the affixes in Old Chinese also have counterparts in Tibeto-Burman languages; they are therefore of Sino-Tibetan heritage. Most are unproductive in Old Chinese. There is also an extensive use of zero-derivation.

The basic constituent order of Classical Chinese is subject-verb-object (SVO) (Peyraube 2008, p. 997–998), but is not fully consistent: there are particular situations where the VS and OV word orders appear. Topic-and-comment constructions are often used. Neither a topic, nor the subject nor objects are mandatory, being often dropped when their meaning is understood (so called Pro-drop language (pragmatically inferable)), and copular sentences often do not have a verb.

Within a noun phrase, demonstratives, quantifying determiners, adjectives, possessors and relative clauses precede the head noun, while cardinal numbers can appear before or after the noun they modify. Within a verb phrase, adverbs usually appear before a verb. The language, as analyzed in this article, uses coverbs (in a serial verb construction) and postpositions. Classical Chinese makes heavy use of parataxis where English would use a dependent clause (Pulleyblank 1995, p. 148). However, there are means to form dependent clauses, some of which appear before the main clause while others appear after. There are also a number of sentence-final particles.

Two simple coordinated nouns can be joined with a conjunction, but this is not always the case. This, combined with the fact that two nouns in a possessor-possessed construction are not always marked for their functions either, can lead to ambiguity: 山林 shān lín (literally: "mountain forest") could mean either "mountains and forests" or "the forest of a mountain". (Barnes, Starr, Ormerod 2009, p. 9).

With the absence of inflectional morphology, Classical Chinese is largely a zero-marking language, except that possessors and relative clauses are usually dependent-marked with a grammatical particle.

Negation is achieved by placing a negative particle before the verb. Yes-no questions are marked with a sentence-final particle, while wh-questions are marked with in-situ interrogative pronouns. There are a number of passive constructions, but passives are sometimes not marked differently from active constructions, at least when written. (Aldridge 2013).

The lexicon of Classical Chinese has been traditionally divided into two large categories: content words (實字 shí zì, literally: "substantial words") and function words (虛字 xū zì, literally: "empty words"). (Peyraube 2008, p. 999). Scholars of Classical Chinese grammar notably disagree on how to further divide these two categories exactly, but a classification using word classes similar to those of Latin (noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, etc.) has been common. (Zádrapa 2011, p. 2). However, this remains debated, as many words can be used as multiple parts of speech. Examples shown below.

Word class flexibility

  • adjective used as noun: 聖益聖 shèng yì shèng; lit: wise increase wise, actually means: a wise person becomes wiser
  • adjective used as verb: 勝地不常 shèngdì bù cháng; lit: a good place not constant, actually means: a good place will not last forever
  • adjective used as adverb: 白費 báifèi; lit vain cost, i.e. vainly cost (subject) ...
  • noun used as verb: 順流而東也 shùnliú ér dōng yě; lit: along the river East, actually means: rowing down the river to the East
  • noun used as adverbial: 犬坐於前 quǎn zuò yú qián; lit: (a wolf) dog sit in the front, actually means: (a wolf) is sitting in the front like a dog
  • verb used as noun (rare case): 乘奔御風 chéng bēn yùfēng; lit: ride gallop or wind, actually means: ride a galloping horse or wind
  • verb used as adverb (rare case): 爭割地 zhēng gēdì; lit: compete cede territory, actually means: "cede territory spontaneously and actively"

Session 2 FRI Mar 1, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III: PRONOUNS

Pronouns can be separated into the following groups:

  • Personal, e.g. 汝 rǔ 'you'
  • Demonstrative: 此 cǐ, 斯 sī, 兹 zī 'this, these'; 彼 bǐ, 夫 fú 'that, those'; 之 zhī, 是 shì (anaphoric) 'this, that'
  • Reciprocal: 彼此 bǐcǐ 'each other'
  • Reflexive: 己 jǐ, 身 shēn 'oneself, themselves'
  • Interrogative, e.g. 誰 shéi 'who'
  • Indefinite: 他 tuō 'another, others', 某 mǒu 'someone, so-and-so', 人 rén 'someone', 人人 rénrén 'everyone', 諸 zhū 'all'

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns
1st person singular and plural 吾 wú, 我 wǒ, 余 yú, 予 yú, 朕 zhèn. Humble term: 臣 chén ('servant')
2nd person 汝/女 rǔ, 而 ér, 若 ruò, 爾 ěr (friend/child). Terms: 公 gōng (Duke), 卿 qīng (friend, subordinate or minister), 汝曹 rǔ cáo (plural (!): friends/servants/soldiers)
3rd person in object position: 之 zhī (accusative), 其 qí (genitive). In subject position: distal demonstrative 彼 bǐ 'that, those', anaphoric demonstrative 是 shì. Terms: 子 zǐ (Master), 君子 jūnzǐ (Noble man),

Classical Chinese did not distinguish number in some of its pronouns, for example, 我 wǒ could mean either 'I, me' or 'we, us'. There was no 3rd-person personal pronoun form that could be used in subject position, but the distal demonstrative 彼 bǐ 'that, those' and the anaphoric demonstrative 是 shì frequently take that role. (Dawson 1984, p. 36, n. 5).

The use of some nouns as pronoun-like terms is also attested. Common examples in texts are the humble 臣 chén 'servant' in the 1st person, and 子 zǐ 'son; master' in the 2nd person.

Ways to address "you" in 文言文 Classical Chinese

子 (zǐ): This is a respectful way to address someone who is equal or superior to the speaker, such as a friend, a teacher, or a ruler. For example, “子曰：學而時習之，不亦說乎？” (zǐ yuē: xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū?) This means "The Master said: Is it not a joy to learn and practice what one has learned in due time?"

君 (jūn): This is a way to address someone who is the lord, the king, or the sovereign of the speaker, such as a ruler or a feudal lord. For example, “君子不器。” (jūnzǐ bù qì.) This means "The gentleman is not a vessel."

汝 (rǔ): This is a way to address someone who is equal or inferior to the speaker, such as a friend, a servant, or a child. For example, “汝何故遲也？” (rǔ hé gù chí yě?) This means "Why are you late?"

公 (gōng): This is a way to address someone who is a noble, a prince, or a high-ranking official, such as a duke or a minister. For example, “公之於國也。” (gōng zhī yú guó yě.) This means "Your contribution to the state."

卿 (qīng): This is a way to address someone who is a close friend, a lover, or a subordinate, such as a general or a minister. For example, “卿可謂善吏乎？” (qīng kě wèi shàn lì hū?) This means "Can you be called a good official?"

爾 (ěr): This is a way to address someone who is equal or inferior to the speaker, such as a friend, a servant, or a child. For example, “爾其學之。” (ěr qí xué zhī.) This means "You should learn it."

汝曹 (rǔ cáo): This is a way to address a group of people who are equal or inferior to the speaker, such as friends, servants, or soldiers. For example, “汝曹聽我令。” (rǔ cáo tīng wǒ lìng.) This means “You all listen to my command.”

Interrogative Pronouns

Classical Chinese interrogative pronouns and adverbs are notably polysemic, many of them bearing multiple meanings.

Interrogative pronouns
and adverbs, Pulleyblank 1995, pp. 91–97
Classical
Chinese		 Translation
誰 shéi who
孰 shú which
何 hé what, why, how
何故 hégù why, for what reason?
曷 hé when, what
奚 xī, 胡 hú where, how, why
安 ān, 焉 yān where, how
盍 hé why not
惡/烏 wū where, in what

An example where this polysemy is exploited is found in a tale in the Zhuangzi, chapter 17. Zhuangzi is asked "how do you know this?" (with the interrogative 安 ān), but being unable to answer the question, intentionally misinterprets it as "where did you (get to) know this?". (https://web.archive.org/web/20220724025954/https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/LaoJuang/JoyOfFish.html)

Homework until Session 3

Please memorize the types of pronouns, the personal and interrogative pronouns in the two tables. We will later use them to create sentences according to classical Chinese grammar.

Past exam papers and feedback questionnaire

hand back exam papers from last semester, please read comments/corrections Clarify difficult points.

Teaching feedback questionnaire: classic 2023/24 SZ.

Session 2 FRI Mar 1, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III: VERBS

The next word class we need to learn in order to build sentences in classical Chinese is the (Latin) class of the verb. Here, we can differentiate different usages of the verbs.

While an English sentence can be divided into active voice or passive voice depending on the form of the verb within the sentence, the verbs in classical Chinese have several usages based on the relationship between the verb and the object. These are separated into yìdòng 意動 (original meaning), shǐdòng usage 使動, wèidòng usage 為動, and bèidòng 被動 "passive" usage. Moreover, a verb does not change its form at different situations, with the exception of the beidong usage of verbs. Within the examples shown below, the words located within parentheses do not appear in the original Chinese sentence.

Yidong usage (used in the original meaning)

In classical Chinese, it is common for nouns or adjectives to be used as verbs or adjectives, and most of these cases involve a yidong usage of verbs.

One peculiarity is that a word that is originally a verb does not share the same usage. In addition, there are slight differences in meaning between the noun and the adjective in the usage.

For a noun, it becomes an action done by the subject which indicates the subjects opinion about the object in the form "consider (object) as + (the noun)". 父利{其然也} fù lì {qí rán yě} [Zhongyong's] father profit {the thing} (that he be invited): The father considered the thing as profitable.

For an adjective, it becomes an observation in the form of "consider (object) (the adjective)". 漁人甚異之 yú rén shèn yì zhī, fish man very strange {the thing} (that there was a beautiful land): The fisherman considers the thing very strange.

Shidong usage

In this case, nouns, verbs and adjectives share usage, but with different meanings.

For a noun, it means "make ... + (the noun)". For instance:

  • 先破秦入咸陽者王之

xiān pò qín rù Xiányáng zhě wàng zhī, first break Qin enter Xianyang (particle) king it: He who defeated Qin and entered Xianyang would be crowned.

Literal translation: (Fulfilling the agreement that) the person who defeated the Qin dynasty and entered Xianyang first, [people] would king him. (Note: Such scenarios are rare, though historical cases exist in ancient China. The translation of the sentence is rather controversial; the interpretation provided above represents the most widespread consensus.) cf. 書、書者

For a verb, it could mean "make... + do/done/to do", depending on the sentence. For instance:

  • 泣孤舟之嫠婦
Literal translation: (The music was so sad that) cry the widow in a lonely boat; Semantic translation: (The music was so sad that it) made the widow in a lonely boat cry.

For an adjective, it means "make... + (the adjective)". For instance:

  • 既來之，則安之
Literal translation: Since you have been here, then calm yourself here; Semantic translation: Since you have been here, make yourself calm here.

Weidong usage

The following examples demonstrate weidong usage of verbs. Such usage may occur:

  • to express a motion that is based on a purpose. For instance:
等死死國可乎？
Literal translation: It's equally death (delay for work and protest the rule of the Qin dynasty), is die country an option?; Semantic translation: It's death in any case, is dying for the country an option?
  • to express an action due to a particular reason. For instance:
便苦咳嗽
Literal translation: He suffer (v.) cough; Semantic translation: He suffered from a cough.
  • to help the object do something. For instance:
自序其詩
Literal translation: Himself introduction his own poem; Semantic translation: He wrote the introduction to his own poem .
  • to execute a motion to the object. For instance:
泣之三日
Literal translation: Cry it for three days; Semantic translation: Mourn over it for three days.

Recommendations for further reading

As an introduction to Classical Chinese for beginners, please decide which of the following links you want to follow, to read and then to introduce to the fellow students:

(Please ignore the advertisement for their 16 session video course in Classical Chinese.)

(This is blog-like Reddit contents.)

This is an open text book for learning Chinese with a grammar part and a text part. We will use the grammar part for some basic understanding of

  1. Pronouns,
  2. Particles,
  3. Nouns,
  4. Adjectives,
  5. Adverbs,
  6. Verbs

Although we will need to correct some of its translations (子、君、...), since they are not fully accurate, it is helpful for learning.

  • Video Introductions:
  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6x4l3LW3fU
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2Nf4davZWo
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlPUaKGu-Oc

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1MX4y1n7fF/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=55485085dc7182aa31aa0e7478de747b

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Mu411E7Mw/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.1&vd_source=55485085dc7182aa31aa0e7478de747b

这个有500多集，b站也不全。讲的也不错。都是古代的文学作品的讲解。有字幕

https://www.163.com/dy/article/IHUF2S3Q0552OQUI.html

https://www.xuboke.cn/p/301.html

https://www.thn21.com/wen/yufa/

Introductions

Tools

Session 3 FRI Mar 22, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Repetition and extension of the personal pronouns and interrogative pronouns (see above).

Repetition of the verbs.

Basic grammar rules: Word order

The grammar of Classical Chinese, in many aspects, is close to English/Polish etc.:

  • The subject precedes the verb: 朋來 péng lái 'friend(s) come'
  • The object comes after the verb: 習之 xí zhī 'practice it'
  • Adjectives used attributively precede nouns: 遠方 yuǎn fāng distant place

However, there are notable differences:

  • Chinese does not inflect for tense or number. In this example,
    • 子曰 has no explicit tense: it could be 'Confucius says' or 'Confucius said', or even "The Master said".
    • 有朋自遠方來 has no explicit number: it could be 'Friends have come from distant places' or 'A friend has come from a distant place'
  • Questions are formed by adding a marker at the end (usually it's 乎 hū, but other markers also exist)
  • No linking verb is used with adjectives: 說乎 yuè hū 'is it pleasant?'; 遠方 yuǎn fāng 'distant place'
    • In fact, Chinese adjectives are close to verbs 說 yuè 'pleasant, 遠 yuǎn 'distant'. As you will see, adjectives and verbs share many similar features, including the fact that they both can be negated with 不 bù, unlike nouns.

If you looked up words in the dictionary, you may have noticed that sometimes part of speech marked there doesn't match that in the dictionary:

  • 君子 jūn zǐ is given as the noun ('noble man'), not as an adjective ('noble', 'like a noble man should act')

It is because of a process called conversion: one part of speech can become another one. This process can also occur in English: "I love her" (a verb) versus "my love" (a noun).

The particle 也 yě to express A is B

English sentence of the type: A is B (A was B, etc.), where A and B are nouns, is rendered in Classical Chinese this way: AB也

Note that 也 (yě) is a particle, not a verb like and English is. (Were it verb, it would have been placed between A and B).

Construction «AB也» is used if A is always B in any case. So, for example, you can say «I am a man» — «吾人也», but not 吾臣也* wú chén yě* «I'm a minister»*, because it´s something that can be taken from you.

In this case the verb 為 (wéi) is used, and it is a verb, not a particle (therefore it´s put between two nouns, line in English): A為B

For example, «吾為臣» wú wéi chén — «I´m a minister».

Note that 為 (wéi) doesn´t change its forms like English verb does (am, is, are, be).

Please note the two different pronounciations of 為: wéi do, serve as, be, become. wèi for, on account of

Some basic grammatical rules, from: Alex, Chinese Notes

Source: https://chinesenotes.com/classical_chinese.html (CC Licence)

Basic Grammatical Principles

word classes

As pointed out by Rouzer (2007, p. 8) parts of speech, such as noun, verb, and so on, are useful but you should bear in mind that words are used flexibly in literary Chinese. Also, the flexible use of some words in some contexts does not mean that there is no grammar and that any word can be used in any grammatical context. The notes here are intended to be helpful but please do not take them as strict rules.

The general rules of word order are

  1. subject precedes predicate
  2. a modifier precedes the word it modifies
  3. a verb precedes its object
  4. Words can shift grammatical function in classical Chinese within certain patterns. Here are a few constant rules to help distinguish grammatical function.

Negations

Nouns are negated by 非，無.

For example,

雖寶非用。 Even jewels have no use. 左思《三部賦序》 (From Zuo Si, Three Part Poetic Essay)

無衣無褐，何以來歲？ Without clothes or hemp, how will we pass the years? 《詩經》 (From the Book of Songs)

Verbs are negated by 未，不，勿，某

However, direct objects can be placed after a negating word and before the verb, which can make this rule less obvious to recognize.

The topic is often omitted when it is understood.

A verbal construction must follow 所.

之 is often used to mark subordination. Placing it between the subject and verb of a subject-predicate phrase turns it into a nominal phrase.

Most words that we think of as adjectives in English can act as static verbs. That is verbs that describe state.

Grammatical Relationships

There are five types of grammatical relationships: topic-comment, verb-object, coordination, subordination, and number complement.

Topic-Comment

This is a variation of the subject-predicate relation but a little more broad. The topic is the focus of the phrase and most often is placed first. The comment is a statement about the topic. The simplest type of topic-comment phrase is a nominal sentence that identifies one noun with another. Nominal sentences with the pattern A B 也 most frequently mean A is a B or A is a type of B. A 猶 B 也 (A is like B) is another form of nominal sentence.

Topicalization is the transfer of the usual order of a sentence to change the element that is being stressed. This is an important tool in classical Chinese rhetoric. For example, from Zhuang Zi 莊子,

臣之所好者道也

What I, your servant, like is The Way.

Topicalization is one type of a broader movement of sentence elements to the front called exposure. Exposure is often used for rhetorical emphasis or to mark a contrast.

Verb-Object

The simplest case of a verb-object is a verb and a direct object. For example, 飲酒 (to drink wine). Sometimes the object of a verb is another verb. For example, 使歸 (to cause to return).

Time and place information usually expressed through prepositional phrases in English and modern Chinese are expressed using verb-object relations in classical Chinese. The time and place words are locative objects of verbs. For example, 居山中 (to live in the mountains). Sometimes the locative particle 於 will be used. However, some references classify 於 as a preposition in the context of literary Chinese.

Auxiliary verbs are used in a similar way to modern Chinese. Frequently used auxiliary verbs are 應， 能， 必， 肯， 須. For example, 應歸 (should return).

Coordinate Relationships

In a coordinate relationship two terms of the same type are used together. The elements may be nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or phrases. The conjunctions 與， 且， 而， 或， and 將 are frequently used to join terms in a coordinate relationship. However, conjunctions are also often omitted.

Subordinate Relations

In a subordinate relation the first element modifies the second. The first element is the modifier and the second element is called the head. For example, 青草 green (modifier ) grass (head). The elements of a subordinate relation can be nouns, verbs, or phrases.

之 is a marker for explicit subordination to a noun. It turns a verbal phrase into a nominal phrase. For example, 日出之陽 (the sun at sunrise, from 說苑 Garden of Stories).

Number Complements

A number complement relation has the form (number) + (measure). Here the measure is a noun that is a measure of some kind of quantity. For example, 二人 (two people). Measure words, as found in modern Chinese, originated from this form.

Punctuation

Punctuation in classical Chinese has mostly been added at a later date to make reading easier. In particular, question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons were not used at all in literary Chinese. Some literary Chinese text used no punctation at all, making it very difficult for modern readers. Some texts used periods in place of both periods and modern commas. This web page uses basic periods and commas in order to make text a little more readable but avoids more modern additions like question marks, quotation marks, and semi-colons.

Textbook: Classical Chinese for Everyone, van Norden 2004

https://web.archive.org/web/20230308061041/http://facultysites.vassar.edu/brvannor/ClassicalChineseEveryone.pdf

Session 4 FRI Mar 22, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

C3 Mar 29

Mar 28 - Apr 2: Easter Holiday in Poland

Session 5 FRI Apr 5, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Session 6 FRI Apr 5, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

Apr 4-6 is Qingming holiday in China, the Chinese students make up for the missed classes on Sun (!) Apr 7 and 28.

C4 Apr 12, C5 Apr 19

Session 7 FRI Apr 26, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Session 8 FRI Apr 26, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

May 1-3 are Workers' and Constitution holidays in Poland. (May 8 is sports holiday.)

May 1-5 is an extended May 1st holiday in China, the Chinese students make up for missed classes on Sat May 11.

Session 9 FRI May 10, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Session 10 FRI May 10, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

C6 May 17, C7 May 24, C8 May 31, C9 Jun 7

May 30-31 holiday Corpus Christi in Poland.

June 8-10 is Duanwu holiday in China.

Session 11 FRI June 14 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Session 12 FRI June 14, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

Mon Jun 17 (Thursday classes), Tue Jun 18 (Friday classes) in Poland.

Session 13 TUE Jun 18, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Session 14 TUE Jun 18, 9:45-11:15 s. 424 SIN III

Session 15 FRI Jun 21, 8:00-9:30 s. 400 SIN III

Final Exam FRI Jun 21, 9:45-11:15 s. 400 SIN III

Exam session: Jun 24-Jul 7. Retake session Sep 1-15.

Jul 20-22 Chinese Studies Conference.

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