The basis of this work is a collection of Mandarin Chinese dialogues recorded on tape and transcribed so as to constitute a spoken corpus of 5,000 sentences. Using examples from this corpus, the author discusses several issues in the analysis of spoken Mandarin. The main purpose of the work is to demonstrate the viability of a data-oriented approach to syntax and semantics. In this approach, both the way people talk and what they talk about are relevant for the linguistic description. The procedures and terms used in the analyses are introduced step by step without assuming more than an everyday familiarity with linguistic terminology.

CNWS Publications No. 29. Leiden, 1995. ISBN 90-73782-34-1, 118 pp., price: € 16.

page, line

original text

addendum/corrigendum

xi, -18

11 February 1956

11 February 1958

xi, -4

February 1955 - May 1964

February 1956 - May 1964

xii, -15

(omission)

voiced velar fricative consonant

10, 6

Again, it could again be

Again, it could be

20, -11

the semantic analyses

the syntactic analyses

40, -8

conceiving abstractions

conceiving the abstraction

43, 16

interpreted as 'who speaks' or, less frequently, as 'what is said'

interpreted as 'what is said' or, less frequently, as 'who speaks'

84, -5

'They don't sell it.'

'They don't sell them.'

88, 8

of its being

of 'help' being

94, 3

[...] table 'We had him make a table'

[...] table

'we had him make a table'

95, -18

To recapitulate:

First, let me recapitulate the relevant issues:

98, -8

yáng píng tone

yángpíng tone

100, 5

has been in to demonstrate

has been to demonstrate

110, 8

(omission)

Dawkins (1989)