Chapter 5:Chinese Nouns
Chinese Grammar Updated: Sat, Oct 20, 2012 21:12 PM By HugChina
In this chapter we introduce Chinese nouns including common Chinese nouns, Chinese pronouns and reflexive pronoun 自己, inclusive pronoun, possession involving pronouns and Chinese proper nouns.
1. Common nouns
Most nouns are common nouns. Their referents may be concrete (纸 zhǐ ‘paper,’ 桌子 zhuōzi ‘table,’ 水 shuǐ ‘water’) or abstract ( 思想 srxiǎng ‘thought,’ 原则 yuánzé ‘principle,’ 自由 zìyóu ‘freedom’). Mandarin makes no grammatical distinction between ‘mass’ and ‘count’ nouns. Mandarin common nouns have a single, invariant form. They do not reflect number, and the same form of the noun is used whether the noun is singular or plural. When no number is used with a noun, the noun is understood to be neither singular nor plural, but simply unspecified for number. In addition, nouns that occur without any modifiers or descriptions have a general rather than a specific reference. For example, 书 shū refers to ‘book’ in general and not to any specific book.When it is necessary to indicate the number of a noun, the noun is modified by a number + classifier phrase. The classifier is required after the number. Number + noun without an intervening classifier is ungrammatical. Compare the following:Say this一本书 yì běn shūone bookNot this一书 yì shūSay this三个人 sān gè rén three peopleNot this三人 sān rénwhen a specifier 这 zhèI zhèi ‘this/these,’ nà, nèi ‘that/those,’ or the question specifier nk, nli ‘which’ modifies the noun, it also must be followed by a classifier or number + classifier. If the number is one, the number may be omitted.这(一)本书 | 那两本书 | 哪三本书? |
zhè (yì) bln sht | nà likng bln sht | nkspn bln sht? |
this book | those two books | which three books? |
同志们 | tóngzhìmen | comrades |
孩子们 | háizimen | children |
学生们 | xuéshengmen | students |
2. Chinese Pronouns
Mandarin has first, second, and third person pronouns and has a reflexive pronoun. Mandarin pronouns have the following properties:• Pronouns are not distinguished in terms of grammatical role. The same pronouns are used for subject, object, possession, etc.• Pronouns have singular and plural forms. The suffix - 们 men is added to the singular form to make it the plural form.• Gender is not reflected in the spoken language. The written language has distinctions for the second and third person pronouns, though only the third person gender distinction is commonly used.Singlar | Plural | |
Firstperson | 我 wǒ I/me | 我们 wǒmen we/us (exclusive or neutral) 咱们 zánmen we (inclusive) |
Second person | 你nǐ(masculine or neutral) 妳nǐ (feminine) you | 你们nǐmen you |
Thirdperson | 他 tā(masculine or neutral) 她 tā(feminine) 它 tā(non-human or inanimate) | 他们 tāmen(masculine or non-specific for gender) 她们tāmen(feminine) tāmen (feminine) they/them |
Reflexive | 自己 zìjǐ self |
2.1 The Chinese reflexive pronoun zìjǐ ‘self’
Mandarin Chinese has only one reflexive pronoun, and it is not marked for person or gender. To indicate person, the reflexive may optionally be preceded by the relevant personal pronoun.我自己wǒzìjǐ myself | 我们自己wǒmen zìjǐ ourselves |
你自己nǐzìjǐ yourself | 你们自己nǐmen zìjǐ yourselves |
他自己/她自己tpzìjǐ himself, herself | 他们自己tāmen zìjǐ themselves |
2.2 The inclusive pronoun 咱们 zánmen ‘we’
The inclusive pronoun 咱们 zánmen ‘we’ is used in northern dialects of Mandarin.咱们 zánmen ‘we’ refers to the speaker, other people associated with the speaker, and to the addressee. When a speaker uses咱们 zánmen ‘we’ as the subject, he or she includes you in the remarks.咱们都是自己人Zánmen dōu shì zìjǐ rén.We are all family. (We, including you, are all one family.)‘Inclusive’ 咱们 zánmen contrasts with an ‘exclusive’ use of ‘we’ that is associated with我们wǒmen. In the exclusive sense, 我们 wǒmen refers to the speaker and others associated with the speaker but not to the addressee.我们欢迎你。Wǒmen huānyíng nǐ.We welcome you.咱们 zánmen only has the inclusive meaning. In addition,咱们 zánmen is only used as subject, and never as object.我们 wǒmen can have either inclusive or exclusive meaning and it occurs as subject and object. It is much more commonly used than咱们 zánmen.2.3 Modification of pronouns
Pronouns represent an entire noun phrase. Therefore, in general, they are not further modified. However, Mandarin has a small number of literary expressions in which the pronoun is modified: 可怜的我 kělián de wǒpoor me美丽的她 měilì de tāpretty her善良的高老师 shànliáng de Gāo lǎoshīgood hearted professor Gao2.4 Possession involving pronouns
Mandarin does not have possessive pronouns. The meaning of possessive pronouns is conveyed by pronoun + 的 de.我的朋友 wǒ de péngyoumy friend他的小狗 tā de xiáogǒuhis puppyHere is a table showing the Mandarin equivalent of English possessive pronouns.Singlar | Plural | ||
my | 我的 wǒ de | our | 我们 的 wǒmen de 咱们的 zánmen de |
your | 你的 nǐde | your | 你们的 nǐmen de |
his(hers) | 他的(她的) tāde | their | 他们的(她们的) tāmen de |
Reflexive ones | 自己的 zìjǐde | ||
Interogative whose | 谁的 shui de |
3. Proper nouns
Proper nouns include personal names, place names, names of companies, names of schools, etc.牛津大学 Niújīn DàxuéOxford University 伦敦 LúndūnLondon长城 Chángchéng The Great Wall喜马拉雅山脉Xǐmǎlāyǎ shān màiHimalayan MountainsProper nouns, like pronouns, typically occur without additional modification. As is the case with pronouns, Mandarin has a small number of literary expressions in which the proper noun may be modified. Here are some examples.可爱的王美玲 kě’ài de Wáng MěilíngCharming Wang Meiling山清水秀的台湾 shānqīng shuǐxiù de TáiwānTaiwan of green hills and clear streams --> beautiful Taiwan地大物博的美国 dìdà wùbó de MěiguóAmerica vast in territory and rich in resourcesWhat's Hot
