Cover not available
Part of
Introducing Chinese Linguistics: A handbook for Chinese language teachers and learners
Hang Zhang and Lan Zhang
[Studies in Chinese Language and Discourse 16] 2022
► pp. 87–128

Chapter 4
Chinese morphology

Words are the fundamental building blocks of language as they constitute a major component of grammar. Morphology is the study of words and word-formation processes. Vocabulary acquisition plays a fundamental role in language acquisition for enhancing a learner’s language development. A rudimentary understanding of morphology will strengthen an L2 learner’s ability to decode word structures, recognize word-formations, and study vocabulary.

This chapter consists of five sections. After reviewing basic morphology terms and concepts in Section 4.1, Sections 4.2–4.4 will delve deeper into Chinese morphology, exploring the internal structure of Chinese words and rules for how words are formed, including compounding, affixation and reduplication. At the end of the chapter, we will discuss research findings and its implications regarding L2 acquisition of Mandarin Chinese vocabulary, pedagogical suggestions, and learning strategies.

Article outline
  • 4.1Basic concepts in morphology
    • 4.1.1Knowledge of words
    • 4.1.2Morphemes: The minimal units of meaning
  • 4.2Morphological process: Compounding
    • 4.2.1Common types of compounds
    • 4.2.2Difficulties in learning Verb-Object compounds
      • 4.2.2.1Taking a direct object
      • 4.2.2.2Separation of V-O constituents
  • 4.3Morphological process: Affixation
    • 4.3.1Derivational affixes
      • 4.3.1.1Prefixes
      • 4.3.1.2Infixes
      • 4.3.1.3Suffixes
    • 4.3.2Inflection-like morphemes
  • 4.4Morphological process: Reduplication
    • 4.4.1Reduplication of volitional verbs
    • 4.4.2Reduplication of adjectives
    • 4.4.3Reduplication of measure words (classifiers) and kinship terms
  • 4.5Second language acquisition of Chinese vocabulary
    • 4.5.1Approaches of L2 vocabulary development
      • 4.5.1.1Aspects of vocabulary for L2 acquisition
      • 4.5.1.2Several issues in the L2 Chinese vocabulary development
    • 4.5.2Teaching Chinese vocabulary
    • 4.5.3Learning strategies of vocabulary
  • Exercises
  • Notes
  • Further readings
Published online: 14 December 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.16.c4
References

Further readings

Li, C. N. & Thompson, S. A.
(1981) Chapter 2 "Typological Description" and Chapter 3 "Word Structure". Mandarin Chinese-A Functional Reference Grammar. University of California Press. Google Scholar
Shen, H. H.
(2020) 《汉语二语字词教学》第二版，北京语言大学出版社. [Teaching Chinese as a Second Language: Character and Word Acquisition and Instruction, Second Edition.] Beijing Language and Culture University Press.Google Scholar