Indefinite Quantification of Nouns Having a Unique Reference (Evidence from Vernacular Chinese)

This article focuses on nouns referring to previously identified entities and yet preceded by an indefinite quantifier. Particular attention is given to the fact that such quantification produces modal effects, an aspect of the problem conspicuously neglected by our predecessors. The intransitive bă construction in Chinese serves as an illustration of this phenomenon. In Mandarin Chinese the so-called pretransitive construction consists in the placement of the direct object before the verb by means of the preposition bă. However, bă does sometimes occur in sentences with intransitive verbs. Moreover, the bă noun phrase, which normally should be definite, is in this case usually preceded by the classifier ge, representing a counting unit and associated with indefinite reference. This type of sentence, which can be traced back to vernacular báihuà texts, is still in use, although comparatively rare. The present study demonstrates that in such a configuration, as in all pretransitive constructions, bă marks the patient, even if the latter is the subject of an intransitive verb. Furthermore a certain agentivity is bestowed upon the noun in topic position (before bă), which may boil down to a mere desire to avert an (unpleasant) event, such as the death of a close relative. Finally, the purpose of putting ge in front of a proper or a uniquely determined common noun is not to count, that is, express quantity, but rather to place accent on quality. By referring to an individual occurrence as a member of the notional class denoted by the noun, one highlights the property which defines its elements : for instance, the father insofar as he is a father. Hence the special modal flavor attached to this structure

Le Nombre et la Personne: Le Cas du Suffixe -men en Chinois

The plural suffix -men in Mandarin Chinese affords a remarkable example of the interaction between the grammatical categories of number and person. While it is regularly added to personal pronouns, it is non-obligatory and highly constrained with nouns (humanness, definiteness, nouns may not be preceded by numerals). It is a necessary condition for -men to occur that n > 1, but this is not sufficient. Other more subjective factors (involving the speaker) are also at work. Indeed, the presence of the suffix induces modal effects. This article offers a detailed analysis of -men in Chinese. It shows that it has a collective meaning and that it is pronominal or deictic in nature. The group referred to is constructed either relative to the speaker (narrator) or a third party whose point of view the narrator provisionally adopts. What actually triggers the occurrence of -men is the conjunction of number (n > 1) and person (reference to a subject-origin). In narrative contexts, the contrast between Nand N-men is founded upon a shift of perspective. Accordingly, whenever more than one entity is at issue, the opposition is not one of number but of point of view: external versus internal narrative point of view. This study has major implications for both linguistic theory and typology of languages. It demonstrates that, beside the familar nominal plural based on number, there exists another type of plural, namely the pronominal one, built with reference to a subject-origin and reflecting a particular viewpoint

HUI : propriété virtuelle et modalité du déductible.

It is shown in this paper that the two usual values of the modal auxiliary verb hui, the one called "capacity" and the one called "probability" , are the two manifestations of the same operation. It is the contextual determination and/or the physical and cultural properties of the constituents involved that will gear the interpretation towards one meaning or the other. The first one is generic : in this sense, hui expresses a potential property inherent in the subject. That is the basic value of the auxiliary hui. The second one is specific in the sense that hui presents the event symbolized by the sentence as logically sure, given what one knows. It is in this case that we can talk about conjecture. The conjecture expressed by hui is hypothetical and deductive, it always supposes a premiss of the "potential property" kind.Iljic Robert. HUI : propriété virtuelle et modalité du déductible. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 14 2, 1985. pp. 217-230

A propos de ta ba fuqin si-le

The sentences of the type above mentioned are characterized, on the one hand, by the cooccurrence of bă with an intransitive verb, on the other hand, by the classifier ge following bă and introducing a noun relative to a unique referent. This type of sentence, quoted by most major contemporary Chinese grammars, and to be traced in baihuà texts, doesn't seem, nowadays, to pertain any longer to a universally accepted standard. This paper demonstrates that in these sentences , as in all bă constructions, bă actually marks a patient (even if the latter may be the subject of an intransitive verb); besides, given its position before bă, a certain agentivity is always conferred to a noun in topic position, even if this agentivity , taken to its far end, boils down to the only desire of having been able to do something to prevent a given event (a point in case: the death of a father); finally, the function of ge before a proper noun or a noun semantically determined as unique, which can be found in some other sentences, isn't to count, that is, to indicate a quantity, but to emphasize the qualitative value of the noun (the father insofar as he is a father), the effect being to underline the value (price) that the speaker attaches to a given person or thing, hence the modal connotation ascribed to such sentences.Iljic Robert. A propos de ta ba fuqin si-le. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 16 2, 1987. pp. 237-257

Belassen Joël : Méthode d'initiation à la langue et à l'écriture chinoises

Iljic Robert. Belassen Joël : Méthode d'initiation à la langue et à l'écriture chinoises. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 19 1, 1990. pp. 113-117

Iljic (Robert) : L'expression du temps en chinois contemporain (Etude de trois marqueurs)

Iljic Robert. Iljic (Robert) : L'expression du temps en chinois contemporain (Etude de trois marqueurs). In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 15 2, 1986. pp. 351-356

Le marqueur Laizhe

This paper is an attempt at coherent analysis of the Pekingese laizhe. The scarcity of linguistic material available on this time and aspect marker justifies a thorough descriptive study of its syntactic and semantic properties whicht consequently , leads to a better unterdstanding of the basic principles inherent in the Chinese way of expressing the categories of time and aspect in general. Among other things , it points out the difference of character between the verbal suffixes -guo and -le. Laizhe marks the "cut off" (i.e. "coupure") , an abstract operation, which implies that a given process or state which was going on in the past was subsequently closed and, indeed, cut off from the present.Iljic Robert. Le marqueur Laizhe. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 12 2, 1983. pp. 65-102

Packard Jerome L. : The morphology of Chinese: A linguistic and cognitive approach.

Iljic Robert. Packard Jerome L. : The morphology of Chinese: A linguistic and cognitive approach.. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 32 2, 2003. pp. 299-306

Droit de réponse : Flagrant délit de vagabondage.

Iljic Robert. Droit de réponse : Flagrant délit de vagabondage.. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 19 1, 1990. pp. 125-133