Introduction: How chinese structures space

Abstract

Space has long been a popular topic in linguistic research. Numerous books on the subject have been published over the past decade. However, none of these books were based on linguistic data from Chinese. The Chinese language is an "atypical" SVO language and deserves more attention and study. In this volume, contributors working in different specialties present and analyze the expression of space in languages of China. Not only Mandarin Chinese (the standard language) is investigated; several other dialects, as well as a minority language of China and Chinese Sign Language are studied. Cross-linguistic, synchronic and diachronic approaches are used to investigate phenomena related to space. This work does not claim to challenge or revise ongoing theoretical proposals, since the contributors are aware that problems explaining the expressions of space in Chinese have been largely neglected in past research. Even the available data is not very well described. In this book, we try to provide general linguists and those who are interested in the Chinese language with a reliable presentation and description of spatial expressions in Chinese. The papers collected here are empirical, descriptive and sometimes tentative. Our aim throughout has been to stimulate discussion rather than to offer solutions. In this book, some contributors focus on spatial structures, while others concentrate on spatial terms. In section 1 of the Introduction, the language situation in China is presented. Then, we introduce some important recent debates about the Chinese language. Finally, we give a summary of the articles which study the expression of space using different approaches. As the contributing scholars argue, Chinese shares many common features with other languages, but also presents some particular properties. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.