1. Chinese (Mandarin) By Michael, Falk & Lorraine

2. TOC General information Chinese Why Mandarin? Phonology Morphology Syntax

3. General Information - China has got many more or less independent languages - „Uncounted“ number of varieties and dialects Chinese

4. Map of China

5. General Information about 867.2 million speakers Standardized Mandarin: Official language of the People's Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Singapore Why Mandarin?

6. Phonology - General Information - Tonal language - Four Tones in Mandarin Chinese - Examples (with audio example) Introduction

7. General Information ● 21 Vowels – Thereof 6 Monophtonge (i, y, a, ə, u, 7 (sampa) ) ● Few hundred syllables ● Syllable-timed Language ● Tonal Language

8. Tonal Language ● Change of tone > change of meaning ● Distinctive feature of phonemes ● Different from English/German ● Only in questions, commands, etc.

9. Examples ● mā = mother ● má = hemp ● mǎ = horse ● mà = (to) rant ● ma = interrogative particle Audio example

10. Four Tones in Mandarin Chinese 1 st tone, or high-level tone: sung instead of spoken 2 nd tone, or rising tone: high-rising 3 rd tone: low-falling-raising: end of a sentence or before a pause 4 th tone, falling tone, or high-falling: similar to curt commands. (e.g., Stop!) (5 th tone, neutral tone, or zeroth tone: All unstressed syllables are pronounced with this "tone")

11. Morphology - Morphology strictly bound to a set number of syllables - A word may consist of one morpheme, most words consist of two morphemes - Mandarin is a multisyllabic language

12. Each single-syllable morpheme is represented by a single character, called zì ( 字 ) Multisyllabic words consist of more than one zì and are known as cì ( 词 / 詞 ) For traditional reasons, many Chinese speakers think of all words as being zì

13. Example: Laser (English) = jīguāng 激光 (Mandarin) Two morphemes: jī and guāng (literally meaning: „stimulated light“) “Laser, this word, what does it mean?” (English) translates: Jīguāng, zhè liǎng ge zì shì shénme yìsi? (Mandarin) the sentence literally translates: “Jī 激 and guāng 光, these two zì 字, what do they mean?”

14. Due to the loss of sound distinctions, Modern Chinese varieties showed an increasing number of homonyms Many morphemes have associated meaning, they are bound morphemes Example: jì cannot stand alone, since a number of morphemes pronounce the same way in Mandarin

15. machine gun 机枪機槍 jīqiāng aeroplane (“flying machine”) 飞机飛機 fēijī rooster (“male chicken”) 公鸡公雞 gōngjī chicken egg 鸡蛋雞蛋 jīdàn to arouse (“stimulated rise”) 激起 jīqǐ laser (“stimulated light”) 激光 jīguāng MeaningSimplified CharactersTraditional CharactersPinyin

16. - Mandarin speakers put characters in a specific context as part of their natural conversation Example: 名字叫嘉英，嘉陵江的嘉，英國的英 Míngzi jiào Jiāyīng, Jiālíngjiāng de jiā, Yīngguó de yīng this introductory sentence translates: “My name is Jiāyīng, the ‘Jia’ of ‘Jialing River’ and the ‘Ying’ in ‘Yingguo’” (Yingguo = “England” in Mandarin)

17. Mandarin Chinese Syntax ● General Features ● Negation ● Questions ● Time ● Possession ● Measure Words

18. General Features Verbs aren´t conjugated Nouns and adverbs are not changed for time or person Simple Sentences: S-V-O pattern Wŏ jiào Àiměi.Wŏ shì Zhōngguórén. I'm called Amy. I am Chinese. (lit. “a Chinese person”) Use of particles

19. Negation Particle „bù“ negates „shì” (to be) Wŏ bú shì Měiguórén. I am not American. ● Particle „méi“ negates „yŏu“ (to have) Wŏ méi yŏu sān jié kè. I don´t have three classes.

20. Questions Question words change statements into questions, word order remains Shéi shì Měiguórén? Who is American? The modal particle „ma“ is used at the end of a sentence to turn a statement into a question Tā shì Jīnní. Tā shì Jīnní ma? She is Ginny.Is she Ginny? The particle „ne“ is used when the context is already known Wŏ jiào Dōngní, nĭ ne? I'm called Tony. How about you?

21. Time Time is also indicated by using particles – „le“ is used to indicate a completed action (perfect aspect) Tā zŏu le. He has gone. – „zhe“ added to a character indicates a continuous action Tā shuìzhe jiào shí yŏurén qiāomén While he was sleeping, someone knocked on the door. – „liăo“ (homograph of „le“) is used to indicate the capability to do s.th. – „zháo“ (homograph of „zhe“) is used to indicate accomplishment

22. Possession The particle „de“ is used to indicate possession Tā de míngzi shì Jīnní. Her name is Ginny. (lit. „She her name is Ginny“)

23. Measure Words most specified or numbered nouns must be preceded by measure words which are specific to the type of object „ge“- general measure word „tóu“- for big animals except horses „zhī“- for smaller animals except snakes and fish „liàng“- for vehicles „jiàn“- for clothing and furniture „zhāng“- for flat things (paper, tables) … [number] [measure word] [noun] yíliàng chē = one car èrzhī gŏu = two dogs

24. Sources ● http://www.chinaposter.de/chinesische_Schrift/Mandarin_4_Toene.png ● http://www.chinaposter.de/chinesische_Schrift/vier-toene-der-hochchinesisch.html ● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Mandarin ● http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochchinesisch#Phonologie ● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(linguistics)