Focus and Background Marking in Mandarin Chinese: System and Theory behind cai, jiu, dou and ye
ISBN: 9780203565193
Platform/Publisher: Taylor & Francis / Routledge
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Language & Literature; Language & Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Linguistics;

This is an investigation into the grammaticalized system of focus-background agreement in Mandarin Chinese. The particles cái, jiù, dou and ye are, in a specific use type, shown to form the core of a highly systematic paradigm.
This book is not just a valuable companion for anyone interested in core aspects of Mandarin Chinese grammar. It caters for the interests of theoretical linguists as well as for linguists from other fields with an interest in information-structure, focus and contrastive topics, and quantification. The outstanding characteristic of this book, viz. its effortless integration of findings from formal semantics without heavy formal load, makes it rewarding reading both for linguists with a less formal background, and for researchers with some knowledge of formal semantics.

Daniel P. Hole, born in 1969, holds an M.A. degree in Theoretical Linguistics, Phonetics and Philosophy, and a Ph.D. degree in Linguistics. Following studies in Munich, Cologne, Berlin and Taibei, he now works as an assistant lecturer at the University of Munich. His research interests include information-structure, typology and diathesis alternations, with emphasis put on the integration of results from formal semantics.

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