Mandarin Chinese: an Overview Meichun Liu Beginning Chinese

Mandarin: an easier language minimal unit of meaning: a character Character: a mono-syllable word with tone wǒ ài nǐ 我 　 愛　 你 I 　love 　you

What is equivalent to an English word? A WORD is made of 1, 2, 3 or 4 characters rén 人 ‘person’ nán-rén 男人 ‘male-person’ → man nǔ-rén 女人 ‘female-person’ → woman dà-rén 大人 ‘big-person’ → adult zhōng-guó-rén 中國人 ‘China-person’→ Chinese mò-xī-gē-rén 墨西哥人 ‘Mexico-person’ →Mexican

tā 他 ‘he’ tá X tǎ 塔 ‘tower’ tà 踏 ‘step on’ Syllable with Tones Tones are meaning-differentiating: Not every syllable has four tones: tā 　他　　‘he’ tá　X tǎ　塔 ‘tower’ tà　踏 ‘step on’

Four tones in English English has tones? YES! T- raod ti Till ti Thirty ti Teeth ti

Four Tones yeah -high ‘ah’ mā ‘mom’ yes? -question má ‘hemp’ yes -grudgingly mǎ ‘horse’ Yes! -vehement mà ‘scold’ mā mà mǎ = ? mǎ mà mā = ?

Tone Contour

Syllable Basic syllable structure: C M V N V : a 啊 ‘wow!’ l i a n liǎn 脸 ‘face’ V : a 啊 ‘wow!’ CV: la 拉 ‘pull’ CMV : lia 俩 ‘two’ CMVN: lian 脸 ‘face’

Sounds - Consonants Initial consonants: bo, po, mo, fo lips de, te, ne, le top front teeth ge, ke, he throat ji, qi, xi palatal Back of the tongue arches upward zi, ci, si dental sibilant zhi, chi, shi, ri retroflex Tongue curled back

Sounds - Vowels V : a, e, i, o, u, ǖ VV: ei, ai, ao, ou VN: an, en, ang, eng, ong Medials: i/y, u/w, ǖ Medial + Vowel ia, iao, ie, iu, ian, iang, in, ing, iong (l-/ch-) ua, uo, uai, ui, uan, uang, un, ong (l-/sh-) ǖe, ǖan, ǖn (q-/j-) Vr: er

Similar English Sounds ji = qi = xi = zi = ci = si = zhi = chi = shi = ri = jeep cheap sheep adds bits s –tongue pressed more forward adjure chirp shirt measure

Writing 狗 gǒu ‘dog’ 苟 gǒu ‘if (archaic)’ English: Alphabetic Meaning  Unique Sound dog vs. cat Mandarin: Ideagraphic Meaning  Unique Form 狗 gǒu ‘dog’ 苟 gǒu ‘if (archaic)’

Pictographic 人 rén ‘person’ 大 dà ‘big’ 木 mù ‘tree’ 水 shuǐ ‘water’

Basic constructs Basic Word Order: S V O Serial Vs: V1 V2 V3… wǒ ài nǐ I love you Serial Vs: V1 V2 V3… wǒ yào xué zhōngwén I want learn Chinese

How to make a question? Add Q-word: No auxiliary, No order change - nǐ ài wǒ ma? you love me Q - nǐ ài shéi you love who? - nǐ xǐhuān shénmo? you like what?

How to negate? Add Negation marker: bú vs. méi State: NOT True wǒ bú ài nǐ I NOT-true love you Event: NOT happen wǒ méi ài nǐ I NOT-happen love you

Case and person distinctions NO case: nominative = accusative wǒ ài nǐ I love you nǐ ài wǒ you love I NO inflections: no –s on the 3rd person singular wǒ ài tā ài tāmen ài I love he love they love

Number: Singular vs. plural Noun No number marking on nouns: yī běn shū ONE Classifier book ‘a book’ liǎng běn shū TWO Classifier book ‘two book’ Nouns are classified into ‘classes’ according to semantic type and shape

How to distinguish tense? NO Tense marking on the verb: wǒ qù I go wǒ zuótiān qù I yesterday go wǒ míngtiān qù I tomorrow go Past: marked by time or completive aspect le wǒ qù le I go-completed Future: marked by verb of wanting yào wǒ yào qù I want go

1 - 100 11 shí-yī 12 shí-èr 13 shí-sān 20 èr-shí 21 èr-shí-yī 5 wǔ 6 liù 7 qī 8 bā 9 jiǔ 10 shí 11 shí-yī 12 shí-èr 13 shí-sān 20 èr-shí 21 èr-shí-yī 30 sān-shí 45 sì-shí-wǔ 67 liù-shí-qī 89 bā-shí-jiǔ 100 yī-bǎi