Chn 452 Structure of Chinese. Spring 2019 . Syllabus PDF

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You must attend the first class on Monday, 1-7-2019. Otherwise, UH may remove you from the class.

85017 Chn 452 Structure of Chinese. Spring 2019. Syllabus. Instructor: Hsin-I Hsieh, Professor of Chinese. The class meets on Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:30 am.-12:20 pm. in Sakam B101 Date for the final: May 10, Friday, 12:00-2:00, pm.(take-home likely) My Office: Moore 357, email address: [email protected] Office hours: MWF2:40-:3:10 pm, and by appointment. 1.

Goal.

The overall goal of this course is (i) to study the basics of Chinese syntax, (ii) use the basics of Chinese syntax learned to improve language skills in Chinese, and through Intensive Writings conducted at-home and in-class,(iii) to acquire knowledge in Chinese syntax and proficiency in the Chinese language. The student will be required to write English compositions on linguistic topics and grammatical patterns studied in this course, totaling no less than 20 pages. The writings will count for 40% of the course grade. Approach. Covering these parts of the goal, (a) the component of linguistics knowledge and (b) the component of language skills will be pursued as two converging streams blending into a balance between theory and practice. All the way, intensive writing will be driving the current. 3. Student Learning Outcomes: 3.1 Expected outcomes: 3.1.1. The student will be able to analyze a Mandarin Chinese sentence employing a specific syntactic pattern. For example, Zhangsan ba huaping da po le, Z-take-vasehit-break-Perf., 张三把花瓶打破了, ‘Z broke the vase’, reveals a sentence pattern. It employs the disposal pattern AspP= , which is a sentence carrying an aspect as distinct from time. 1

3.1.2. The student can use the pattern in speech and in writing. For example, the student can make a sentence using a pattern as 张三把杯子打破了 ‘Z broke the glass’. 3.1.3. The student can write a shorter or longer essay of at least one page about a specific linguistic topic or a particular Chinese sentence pattern. For example, the student can produce this description in the essay: A sentence like 张三把杯子打破了 ‘Z broke the glass’ is often called a disposal sentence. It has a co-verb 把 taking the object 杯子 to form a co-verbal phrase, and this co-verbal phrase is followed by a verbal phrase, which contains a sequence of two verbs, the first of which is the main verb, labeled V, and the second of which is the secondary verb, labeled VP. The co-verbal phrase and the verbal phrase combine into a tense-less and aspect-less sentence, labeled VP. And after a perfective aspect, Asp’ le, is added, the sentence becomes AspP, a sentence which carries an aspect. 3.2. Methods used to achieve these outcomes. a. The instructor will lecture in class on Chinese syntax, focusing on simple and common Chinese sentence patterns, which the students will learn and ask the instructor questions for further understanding. b. Outside of the classroom, the student will do the assigned readings, home works on Chinese syntax, and on possible related linguistic issues and sentence patterns. 3.2.3. While the student is writing on an assigned homework, she can orally or in writing consult with the instructor. In addition, during office hours, the student has the opportunity to visit the instructor to consult with him on the topics and issues in general and Chinese linguistics, and on how to write about them to achieve clarity and persuasiveness in the content and style of their writing. 3.3 Assessment of the outcomes: 3.3.1. The student demonstrates that she can analyze a Mandarin Chinese sentence employing a specific syntactic pattern. For example, Zhangsan ba huaping da po le, 2

Z-take-vase-hit-break-Perf., 张三把花瓶打破了, ‘Z broke the vase. It employs the disposal pattern AspP= .

3.3.2. The student shows that she can use the pattern in speech and in writing. For example, the student can make a sentence using a pattern such as 张三把杯子打破了 ‘Z broke the glass’. 3.3.3. Through the student’s interaction with the instructor, she proves that she is competent in writing a shorter or longer essay about a specific topic or a specific sentence pattern and its analysis. For example, the student can produce this description: In Mandarin, a sentence like 张三把杯子打破了 ‘Z broke the glass’ is often called a disposal sentence. It has a co-verb 把 taking the object 杯子 to form a co-verbal phrase , and this co-verbal phrase is followed by a verbal phrase, which contains a sequence of two verbs, the first of which is the main verb, labeled V, and the second of which is the secondary verb, labeled VP. The co-verbal phrase and the verbal phrase combine into a tense-less and aspect-less sentence, labeled VP. And after a perfective aspect marker -le 了 is added, the entire sentence becomes indicated of its perfective aspect, and is labeled AspP.

4. The organization of the course content. The content of this course is distributed into six parts, each taking a percentage of the class hours: 4.2. Generative Grammar applied to Mandarin Chinese. (5%) 4.3. The x-bar theory in Generative Grammar. (10%) 4.4. The x-bar theory applied to Mandarin Chinese (10%) 4.5. Sentence patterns in Chinese focused on textbook chapters.(60%) 4.6. Optimality Theory applied to Chinese. (10%) 5. Grading. The student’s course grade will be computed in six (6) categories as follows: (1) Four Writing home-works on general grammatical topics and Chinese sentence patterns, W1, W2,W3, and W4, each counting for 10%, and totaling 40%, (2) regular 3

attendance (20%), (3) courteous attitude and civilized conduct in class (10%), (4) attentive and enthusiastic participation in class lecture, drill ,and discussion (10%), (5) midterm (10%), and (6) final (10%). Employed as a technical term, Paper denotes (i) a Wn, n=1,2,3,4, (ii) a midterm, or (iii) a final. Paper Format indicates the required format of a paper, and Text Layout denotes the layout of the text of a paper. A paper will be graded Fail (F), (i) if its Paper Format or Text Layout is incorrect , or (ii) if it is a late submission ( ‘late’ means one single minute or more after the deadline time, which is 12:00 pm. of the due date). A10-point scale is adopted, on which 5 (5 points) is F, 6 is D, 7 is C, 8 is B, 9 is A, and 10 means A+. The course grade will be just A, B, C, D, or F, and no A+ will be given. At the discretion of the instructor, course grades may be collectively lifted to reward a cooperating, enthusiastic, and hardworking class. Whatever your course grade, I will not write you a letter of recommendation. 6. Submission of a paper. 6.1. Submit a Paper in the prescribed/required Paper Format and Text Layout. 6.1.1. Paper Format: In your paper, on page 1, in the upper left- hand corner, type the following numbered lines, with their numbers shown, and in the exact order. 1.

Grade (

) (I will type in your grade)

2. Washington, Chn 452, α. (This is the Original Title of your paper, assuming that your last name is Washington; Notice that a comma separates the three parts of this line). Notes: (i) Washington is your last name if you are George/Mary Washington. (If I find that there are two Washingtons in the class, I will add or ask you to add G(eorge) or M(ary) to the identical title: Washington-G, Washington-M.) (ii) Chn 452 is the course name, and α ranges over W0 (for waming up), W1, W2, W3, W4, Midterm, and Final. 3.

George Washington (your official full name)

4. [email protected] (your email address; please click to create a hyperlink; do not end the address with a period. If you do ,UH mail will not be able to deliver my mail to you.) 5.

A Word file and a PDF file are submitted. 4

6.1.2. Text layout: (i) Lave a blank line after line 5 on page 1, and start typing your paper below the blank line. (ii) Use Times New Roman 12-point font. (iii) Double-space you text. (iv) Write 5 pages excluding a possible reference/footnote part. (v) Type the page number at the bottom center. (vi) Type the posed question preceding your answer. (vii) Type an optional Created Title below the question. *** Sample of the Paper Format and Text Layout. 1. Grade ( ). 2. Washington, Chn 452, W0. (This line is your original title.) 3. George Washington. 4. [email protected] (Don’t type the dot ending this address.) 5. A Word file and a PDF file are submitted. W0. Describe Professor Hsieh (This line is the question posed in W0) Professor Hsieh Loves Teaching ( This line is the optional created title of your paper) I have taken several courses in Chinese. Most of the teachers are good teachers, especially Professor Hsin-I Hsieh 谢信一. Though aged, he is not retiring any time soon, because he likes to mingle with us young, smart, and vibrant students…He will help us grow, and we will help him stay young….He educates and entertains. Fantastic. (This is the bottom center for you to put page number:1) 6.2. You will need to draw syntactic analytic trees. Hand-drawing is not acceptable; use Word to draw a syntactic analytic tree as shown below: Tree 1. (1) John bought many books

VP (verbal phrase) John bought many books

V’ (complex verb) bought many books

John JohnJN NP(subject): John

5 V (verb): bought

NP (object): many books

7. Required Textbook. Huang, Chu-Ren & Dingxu Shi. 2016. A Reference Grammar of Chinese. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-18105-1 Paperback. 8. Weekly Course Plan.

Table 1. CHN 452. Spring 2019. Weekly course plan. The plan is subject to change without prior notice. I Weeks n. Monday to Friday

II Topics for study

III Readings Chapters in Huang and elsewhere

1.1-7 to 1-11

Grammar and Generative Grammar

(Actually) Selfintroduction

2.1-14 to 1-18

3.1-21 to 1-25

Grammar and Generative Grammar The x-bar theory

4.1-28 to 2-01

The x-bar theory

(Actually) Selfintroduction Li Jiang PowerPoint Li Jiang PowerPoint

5.2-04 to 2-08

The x-bar theory

Li Jiang PowerPoint

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IV Home-works These are Writing Intensive papers, W0, W1, W2, W3, and W4.

W1. Why do we need grammar? And why do we need Generative Grammar ? W1. Why do we need grammar? And why do we need Generative

Grammar ? 6.2-11 to 2-15

7.2-18 to 2-22

The x-bar theory

The x-bar theory

Huang 4. Verbs amd Verbal Phrases

W2.

Huang 4. Verbs amd Verbal Phrases

W1.

Explain the x-bar theory underpinning Generative Syntax.

Why do we need grammar? And why do we need Generative Grammar ?

9.3-04 to 3-08

Chinese classifiers

Huang 5. Aspectual system Huang 7. Classifiers.

10.3-11 to 3-15

Chinese classifiers

Huang 7. Classifiers.

W3. How to analyze Chinese classifiers.

11.3-27 to 3-22

Chinese Resultative compounds Spring Recess Construction Grammar

Huang 9. Resultative constructions

W3. How to analyze Chinese classifiers.

8.2-25 to 3-01

12.3-27 to 3-29 13. 4-01 to 4-05

14. 4-08 to 4-12

15. 4-15 to 4-19

W3. How to analyze Chinese classifiers.

W4. Apply the Construction Grammar to Chinese .

Construction Grammar

W4.

Optimality Syntax of

W4.

Apply the Construction Grammar to Chinese .

Apply the 7

Chinese

16.4-22 to 4-26

17. 4-29 to 5-03

Construction Grammar to Chinese .

Optimality Syntax of Chinese Review; Evaluating the class

8...