Cover not available
Part of
Cognitive Linguistics and the Study of Chinese
Edited by Dingfang Shu, Hui Zhang and Lifei Zhang
[Human Cognitive Processing 67] 2019
► pp. 121–155

Chapter 4
Types of negatives and the noun-verb distinction in English and Chinese

| Chinese Academy of Social Science
In this study, it is claimed that, unlike in Chinese, the most important division of negatives in English is between the negation of nouns and that of verbs, but not between indicative and non-indicative negation, nor between the negation of there is and is. In Chinese the most important division of negatives is between indicative and non-indicative negation, or between the negation of you 有 ‘has/there is’ and the negation of shi 是 ‘is’, but not between noun and verb negation. This difference supports the thesis that, while in English nouns and verbs occupy two separate grammatical categories, nouns in Chinese constitute a super-noun category with the verb included, and thus a noun-verb division in Chinese should not be overstated.
Keywords: grammatical category, indicative negation, non-indicative negation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The division of negatives in English: No and not
  • 3.The division of negatives in Chinese
    • 3.1Ancient Chinese bu 不 / fu 弗 and wu 毋(无) / wu 勿
    • 3.2In modern Chinese: Mei 没/ wu 无/wei 未 and bu 不/fe i 非
  • 4.The primary division in Chinese grammar
  • 5.Negative affixes in English and Chinese
  • 6.Further notes on you 有 in Chinese
    • 6.1Properties of you 有
    • 6.2Usage extensions of you 有
  • 7.Philosophical background
  • 8.Conceptual metaphors in Chinese
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 20 November 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.67.06she
References (51)
References
Boyd, R. 1993. Metaphor and theory change: What is “metaphor” a metaphor for? In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 481–532). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Broschart, J. 1997. Why Tongan does it differently: Categorial distinctions in a language without nouns and verbs. Linguistic Typology, 1, 123–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Broschart, J., & Dawuda, C. 2000. Beyond nouns and verbs: Typological studies in lexical categorization. Available at: [URL]Google Scholar
Chao, Y. R. 1955. Notes on Chinese grammar and logic. Philosophy East and West, 5(1), 31–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, P. 1981. Ying han fouding jiegou duibi yanjiu 英汉否定结构对比研究 (A contrastive study of negative structures beween English and Chinese). MA thesis, Department of Linguistics, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.Google Scholar
Clark, E., & Clark, H. 1979. When nouns surface as verbs. Language, 55(4), 767–811. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diao, Y., & Li, Y. 2010. Shilun ‘you有+danyin dongsu’ shi dongci 试论 ‘有+单音节动素’式动词 (On compound verbs of the pattern ‘you有+monosyllabic verbal morpheme). Yuyan jiaoxue yu yanjiu 语言教学与研究 (Language Teaching and Research), 1, 38–43.Google Scholar
Ding, S. S. 1935. Shi foudingci fu bu （Interpreting the two negatives fu and bu） 释否定词‘弗’‘不’ (Interpreting the two negatives fu and bu ). In Qingzhu Cai Yuanpei xiansheng liushiwu sui lunwenji: Juan er 庆祝蔡元培先生六十五岁论文集, 卷II (A Collection of Works in Celebration of the 65th Birthday of Mr. Cai Yuanpei, Part II). Guoli Zhongyang Yanjiuyuan Lishi Yuyan Yanjiushuo, 967–996.Google Scholar
Gong, B. 2010. Cong jiasheju de fouding xingshi kan jiaguwen zhong de wu, jiang yu bu , fu zhi bie 从假设句的否定形式看甲骨文中的 ‘勿’、 ‘弜’ 与 ‘不’、 ‘弗’ 之别 (The difference between wu, jiang and bu , fu in oracle bone inscriptions from the perspective of negative forms of hypothetical sentences). Zhongguo Yuwen 中国语文 (Studies of the Chinese Language), 2, 162–167.Google Scholar
Guo, S. 1979. Hanyu yufa xiuci xintan 汉语语法修辞新探 (A new approach to Chinese grammar and rhetoric). Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Hua, Y. 2008. Hanyu chongdie gongneng de duoshijiao yanjiu 汉语重叠功能的多视角研究 (A multi-perspective study of the function of reduplication in Chinese). Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Arts, Nankai University.Google Scholar
Huang, Z. 1988. Zhongyanyuan shiyushou jikan 中研院史语所集刊 (Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica), 59(1), 43–64.Google Scholar
Jakobson, R. 1932. Structure of the Russian verb. In L. R. Waugh, & M. Halle (Eds.). Russian and Slavic Grammar Studies, 1931–1981 (pp. 1–14). The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Jakobson. R. 1939. Zero sign. In L. R. Waugh, & M. Halle (Eds.), Russian and Slavic Grammar: Studies, 1931–1981 (pp. 151–160). The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Kaufman, D. 2009. Austronesian nominalism and its consequences: A Tagalog case study. Theoretical Linguistics, 35(1), 1–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G. 1992. Metaphor and war: The metaphor system used to justify war in the Gulf. In M. Pütz (Ed.), Thirty years of linguistic evolution (pp. 463–481). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. 1987/1991. Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vols. I & II. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Larson, K. R. 2009. Chinese as a reverse ezafe language. Yuyanxue luncong 语言学论丛 (Essays on Linguistics), 39, 30–85.Google Scholar
Li, C. N., & Thompson, S. A. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, Z. 1985. Zuozhuan ‘ri you shi zhi’ zhong de ‘you’ 《左传》 ‘日有食之’ 中的 ‘有’ (On you in ‘ri you shi zhi’ in Zuozhuan ). Neimenggu Daxue Xuebao 内蒙古大学学报 (Journal of Inner-Mongolia University), 2, 111–119.Google Scholar
Liu, L. 2009. Xianqin “bianzhe ershiyi shi” de yuyan zhexue jiedu 先秦“辩者二十一事”的语言哲学解读 (An interpretation in language philosophy of twenty-one ways of argument in Pre-Qin). Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Research), 9, 43–49.Google Scholar
Lü, S. 1942a. Zhongguo wenfa yaolue 中国文法要略 (Essentials of Chinese Grammar). Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Lü, S. 1942b. Lun wu yu wu 论毋与勿 (On negatives wu 毋 and wu 勿). Huaxi xiehe daxue zhongguo wenhua yanjiusuo jikan 《华西协和大学中国文化研究所集刊》 (Bulletin of the Insitute of Chinese Culture, West China Union University), 1(4), 69–97. Reprinted in Lü shuxiang wenji吕叔湘文集 (Collected Works of Prof. Lü Shuxiang), Vol. 2. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Lyons, J. 1977. Semantics. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McCawley, J. D. 1988. The syntactic phenomena of English. Vol. 1. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Shang, J. 2009. Hengxiang de luoji yu cuizhi de luoji 横向的逻辑与垂直的逻辑 (Horizontal logic and vertical logic). Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan yanjiushengyuan yuanbao 中国社会科学院研究生院院报 (Journal of Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), 4, 32–36.Google Scholar
Shen, J. 2007. Hanyu li de mingci he dongci 汉语里的名词和动词 (Nouns and verbs in Chinese). Hanzangyu Xuebao 汉藏语学报 (Journal of Sino-Tibetan languages), 1, 27–47.Google Scholar
2008a. “Bingdu” he “mingci” “病毒” 和 “名词” (“Virus” and “noun”). Zhongguo Yuyan Xuebao 中国语言学报 (Journal of Chinese Linguistics), 14, 1–13.Google Scholar
2008b. Wo kan hanyu de cilei 我看汉语的词类 (My view on word classes in Chinese). Yuyan Kexue 语言科学 (Language Science), 1, 1–12.Google Scholar
2008c. Yiwei haishi yiqing?–Xi ta shi qunian shengde haizi “移位”还是“移情”?––析“他是去年生的孩子” (Moving what?–On emotional movement in Ta shi qunian sheng de haizi “he is baby born last year”). Zhongguo yuwen 中国语文 (Studies of the Chinese Language), 5, 387–395.Google Scholar
2009a. Cong yanyuan shi ge dongci shuoqi–‘Mingci dong yong’ he ‘dongci ming yong’ de buduichen 从‘演员是个动词’说起––‘名词动用‘和’动词名用的不对称 (‘Actor or actress is a verb’: On the asymmetry between nouns used as verbs and verbs used as nouns). Paper delivered to the Joint Symposium of Mainland, Hongkong and Twaiwan China on Syntax and Semantics (Xinzu, Taiwan Qinghua University) printed 2010 in Dangdai Xiushixue当代修辞学 (Contemporary Rhetoric Study), 1, 1–12.
2009b. Hanyu de zhuguanxing he hanyu yufa jiaoxue 汉语的主观性和汉语语法教学 (The subjectivity in Chinese and the teaching of Chinese grammar). Hanyu Xuexi 汉语学习 (Learning Chinese), 1, 3–12.Google Scholar
2010a. Wo zhishi jiezhe xiangqian kuale banbu 我只是接着向前跨了半步––再谈汉语的名词和动词 (Only a small step forward: Further remarks on nouns and verbs in Chinese). Yuyanxue Luncong 语言学论丛 (Essays on Linguistics), 40, 3–22.Google Scholar
2010b. Yinghan foudingci de fenhe he mingdong fenhe 英汉否定词的分合和名动分合 (Division of negatives and noun-verb division in English and Chinese). Zhongguo Yuwen 中国语文 (Studies of the Chinese Language), 5, 387–399.Google Scholar
2012. Mingci he dongci: Hanyu, tangjiayu, ladingyu 名词和动词:汉语，汤加语，拉丁语 (Nouns and verbs: Chinese, Tangon, and Latin). Xiandai Zhongguoyu Yanjiu (Japan) 现代中国语研究 (Studies of Contemporary Chinese), 14 , 1–14.Google Scholar
2016. Mingci he dongci 名词和动词 (Nouns and verbs). Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Shen, J. 2017. Nouns and verbs: Evolution of grammatical forms. In G. Peng, & F. Wang (Eds.), Journal of Chinese Linguistics monograph series No. 27, New Horizons in Evolutionary Linguistics (pp. 222–253).Google Scholar
Shen, J., & Wan, Q. 2009. Ye tan ‘zhi zi jiegou’ he zhi zi de gongneng. 也谈’之字结构’和’之’字的功能 (On the zhi-construction and the function of zhi ). Yuyan Yanjiu 语言研究 (Language Studies), 2, 1–12.Google Scholar
Teng, S. H. 1975. Negation in Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 2(2), 125–140.Google Scholar
Thomas, E. 1995. Negation in Mandarin. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 13, 665–707. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Trubetzkoy, N. S. 1931. Die phonologischen systeme. Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague, 4, 96–116.Google Scholar
Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H-J. 2006. An introduction to cognitive linguistics. London and New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Wang, W. 2010. Le 1 biao you lun: Hanying duibi chutan ‘了1’表’有’论:汉英对比初探 ( Le 1 expresses you ‘has/there is’: A Chinese-English contrastive study). Paper delivered to IACL-18 and NACCL-22, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Wang, X. 1959. Shijing zhong gen chongyan zuoyong xiangdang de youzishi, qizhishi, sizishi he sizishi 诗经中跟重言作用相当的有字式、其字式、斯字式和思字式 (On patterns with you有, qi其, si斯 and si思, which function as reduplication in the Book of Songs ). Yuyan Yanjiu 语言研究 (Language Studies), 4, 9–43.Google Scholar
Xu, D. 1999. Syntactical distribution of negative markers in Mandarin Chinese. Cahiers de Linguistique de l’NALCO, 1(2), 71–79.Google Scholar
Yang, G. 2010. Yiyi shijie de shengcheng 意义世界的生成 (On generation of the meaning world). Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Research), 1, 56–65.Google Scholar
Yeh, L-h. 1995. Focus, metalinguistic negation and contrastive negation. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 23(2), 42–75.Google Scholar
Yu, A. 2009. Ruhe jiehe fangyan he gudai wenxian yanjiu hanyu de lishi–Yi you de yongfa weili 如何结合方言和古代文献研究汉语的历史––以’有’的用法为例 (How to study the history of Chinese using data of dialects and ancient texts: A case of the usage of you ). Monograph of a lecture delivered at the Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Yuan, Y., Li, X., Cao, H., & Wang, J. 2009. You zi ju de qingjing yuyi fenxi ‘有’字句的情景语义分析 (A situational semantic analysis of sentences with you ). Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue 世界汉语教学 (Global Chinese Teaching), 3, 291–307.Google Scholar
Zheng, M. 2009. Fuzhou fangyan ‘you + VP’ jushi de yuyi he yuyong gongneng 福州方言’有+VP’句式的语义和语用功能 (The semantic and pragmatic functions of the sentence pattern ‘you + VP’ in Fuzhou dialect). Fuzhou Shifan Daxue Xuebao 福建师范大学学报 (Journal of Fujian Normal University), 6, 92–98Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Luo, Han
2023. Review of Zhang & Zhang (2022): Introducing Chinese Linguistics: A handbook for Chinese language teachers and learners. Chinese as a Second Language (漢語教學研究—美國中文教師學會學報). The journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA 58:1 ► pp. 92 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.