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11 - The Comparative Construction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2023

Yuzhi Shi
Yuzhi Shi
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
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Summary

At the very beginning of documented history, Chinese already possessed the comparative structure, but since then it has undergone fundamental changes in structure and markings. As a result, the comparative structure in present-day Chinese looks odd and does not fit any pattern of language universals on the basis of a typological investigation. This chapter explains the typological change in the Chinese comparative construction.

Keywords

comparative constructiontypological changeGreenbergian universalssuffixes of adjectives and adverbs
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Chapter
Information
The Evolution of Chinese Grammar , pp. 273 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • The Comparative Construction
  • Yuzhi Shi, National University of Singapore
  • Book: The Evolution of Chinese Grammar
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921831.011
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  • The Comparative Construction
  • Yuzhi Shi, National University of Singapore
  • Book: The Evolution of Chinese Grammar
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921831.011
Available formats
×

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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Comparative Construction
  • Yuzhi Shi, National University of Singapore
  • Book: The Evolution of Chinese Grammar
  • Online publication: 16 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921831.011
Available formats
×