Acknowledgements
My gratitude goes to Kan Jia for countless hours of word processing, pinyin annotation and proof reading the Chinese texts. I am extremely grateful to Gerry Lydon who gave hours of his time polishing the English texts. I would like to thank the following people: Andrew Brown and Paul Guest for putting themselves in the position of a learner and providing some very useful comments and suggestions; Boping Yuan for his valuable suggestions on some difficult grammatical points; the Routledge team for their support throughout the writing of this book; Victoria Coleman, Ren Frank, Jin Miao, Kan Yigang, Paul Stilley, Wang Shiyue, Wu Han, Zhang Lan and Zhang Ping for allowing me to use their photographs in the book. I would also like to thank www.istock.com for permission to use some of their images.
Finally, this project received a grant from the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Cambridge, for which I am extremely grateful.
Index to culture notes
The numbers on the right refer to the unit in which each culture note appears.
A Dream of Red Mansions
Animal signs
Bicycle park
Chinese education system
Chinese New Year customs
Chinese newspapers
Double-happiness character
Dumplings
Going to sea
How to address a teacher
Internet users
Iron bowl
Kinship terms
Married women
Modesty
Noise pollution
One-child policy
Seeing the doctor
Terms associated with Chinese New Year
Terracotta warriors and horses
The Family
Township and village enterprises
Traditional Chinese breakfast
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traffic police
Wedding colours
Work unit
Working hours
Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to Chinese grammar.
It presents a fresh and accessible description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Chinese.
The Grammar is an essential reference source for the learner and user of Chinese, irrespective of level. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types, and will remain the standard reference work for years to come.
This volume is organized to promote a thorough understanding of Chinese grammar. It offers a stimulating analysis of the complexities of the language, and provides full and clear explanations. Throughout, the emphasis is on Chinese as used by present-day native speakers.
An extensive index and numbered paragraphs provide readers with easy access to the information they require.
Features include:
Thorough and comprehensive coverage of the modern language
Use of script and romanization throughout
Detailed treatment of common grammatical structures and parts of speech
Extensive and wide-ranging use of examples
Particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty
Yip Po-Ching was Lecturer in Chinese at Leeds University and Don Rimmington is Emeritus Professor of Chinese, formerly at Leeds University.
ISBN10: 0-415-15031-0 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-15032-9 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0415-15031-6 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-15032-3 (pbk)
Available at all good bookshops
For ordering and further information please visit:
www.routledge.com
Developing Writing Skills in Chinese Boping Yuan and Kan Qian
Developing Writing Skills in Chinese has been devised for post-intermediate students of Chinese who need to write Chinese in the course of their life, work or study.
Each unit contains a selection of model texts, each followed by clear notes in English on the format, style, grammar or language demonstrated in the text. A variety of exercises allows the student to practise these writing techniques themselves.
Developing Writing Skills in Chinese is suitable for use as a classroom text, or as a self-study resource. The course is functionally based, with each unit focused on a particular form of writing, from New Year cards to business correspondence. Units need not be studied in sequence, so students are free to focus on their particular needs.
Features include:
Glossaries for each chapter, giving Chinese characters, pinyin and English translation
Answer key
Flexible structure
Variety of model texts
Written by experienced teachers of Chinese and thoroughly trialled with non-native students of Chinese, Developing Writing Skills in Chinese will help students to write coherently, clearly and appropriately in a variety of contexts.
Boping Yuan is Lecturer in Chinese Studies and Kan Qian is Senior Language Teaching Officer in Chinese Studies, both at the University of Cambridge.
ISBN10: 0-415-21583-8 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-21584-6 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-21583-1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-21584-8 (pbk)
Available at all good bookshops
For ordering and further information please visit:
www.routledge.com
Intermediate Chinese Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington
Intermediate Chinese is the ideal reference and practice book for students with some knowledge of the language. Each of the 25 units deals with a particular grammatical point and provides associated exercises.
Features include:
Clear, accessible format
Many useful language examples
Jargon-free grammar explanations
Ample drills and exercises
Full key to exercises
All Chinese entries are presented in both pinyin romanisation and Chinese characters, and are accompanied, in most cases, by English translations to facilitate self-tuition in both the written and spoken language.
Yip Po-Ching was Lecturer in Chinese at Leeds University and Don Rimmington is Emeritus Professor of Chinese, formerly at Leeds University.
ISBN10: 0-415-16038-3 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-16039-1 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-16038-4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-16039-1 (pbk)
Available at all good bookshops For ordering and further information please visit: www.routledge.com
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook
Claudia Ross and Jing-heng Sheng Ma
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide is an innovative reference guide to Mandarin Chinese, combining traditional and function- based grammar in a single volume.
The Grammar is divided into two parts. Part A covers traditional grammatical categories such as phrase order, nouns, verbs and specifiers. Part B is carefully organized around language functions and situations such as communication strategies, making comparisons, giving and seeking information and expressing apologies, regrets and sympathies. The two parts of the Grammar are closely linked by extensive cross-references, providing a grammatical and functional perspective on many patterns.
Main features of the Grammar include:
Examples given in simplified characters, traditional characters, and romanization (pinyin)
Clear explanations and accessible descriptions
Emphasis on areas of particular difficulty for learners of Mandarin Chinese
This is the ideal reference grammar for learners of Mandarin Chinese at all levels, from elementary to advanced. No prior knowledge of grammatical terminology is assumed and a glossary of grammatical terms is provided.
This Grammar is complemented by the Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook (ISBN 0-415-70011-6), which features related exercises and activities.