Английская Википедия:Chinese pronouns
Chinese pronouns (Шаблон:Zh or Шаблон:Zh) differ somewhat from pronouns in English and other Indo-European languages. For instance, there is no differentiation in the spoken language between "he", "she" and "it" (though a written difference was introduced after contact with the West), and pronouns are not inflected to indicate whether they are the subject or object of a sentence. Mandarin Chinese further lacks a distinction between the possessive adjective ("my") and possessive pronoun ("mine"); both are formed by appending the particle Шаблон:Lang de. Pronouns in Chinese are often substituted by honorific alternatives.
Personal pronouns
In Mandarin
Person | Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Шаблон:Lang wǒ I, me |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang* wǒmen we, us (exclusive) |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang† zánmen we, us (inclusive) | |
2nd | Шаблон:Lang nǐ you (informal) |
Шаблон:Lang nín you (formal) |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang nǐmen you (generic) |
Шаблон:Lang nín you (formal) |
3rd | Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang tā he, him / she, her / it |
Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang tāmen they, them |
- * Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang can be either inclusive or exclusive, depending on the circumstance where it is used.
- † Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang is mainly used by northern speakers.
Following the iconoclastic May Fourth Movement in 1919, and to accommodate the translation of Western literature, written vernacular Chinese developed separate pronouns for gender-differentiated speech, and to address animals, deities, and inanimate objects.
Throughout the 1920s, a debate continued between three camps: those that preferred to preserve the preexisting use of Шаблон:Lang without distinction between genders, those that wished to preserve the spoken non-gendered pronoun but introduce a new female pronoun Шаблон:Lang in writing, and those that wished to introduce a differently pronounced female pronoun Шаблон:Lang. The pronoun Шаблон:Lang enjoyed widespread support in the 1920s and 1930s but lost out to Шаблон:Lang after the Chinese Civil War.[1] Currently, written pronouns are divided between the masculine human Шаблон:Lang (he, him), feminine human Шаблон:Lang (she, her), and non-human Шаблон:Lang (it), and similarly in the plural. This distinction does not exist in the spoken language, where moreover tā is restricted to animate reference; inanimate entities are usually referred to with demonstrative pronouns for 'this' and 'that'.[2]
Other, rarer new written pronouns in the second person are nǐ (Шаблон:Lang "you, a deity"), nǐ (Шаблон:Lang "you, a male"), and nǐ (Шаблон:Lang "you, a female"). In the third person, they are tā (Шаблон:Lang "it, an animal"), tā (Шаблон:Lang "it, a deity"), and tā (Шаблон:Lang "it, an inanimate object"). Among users of traditional Chinese characters, these distinctions are only made in Taiwanese Mandarin; in simplified Chinese, tā (Шаблон:Lang) is the only third-person non-human form and nǐ (Шаблон:Lang) is the only second person form. The third person distinction between "he" (Шаблон:Lang) and "she" (Шаблон:Lang) remain in use in all forms of written standard Mandarin.[3]
In the early 21st century, some members of genderfluid and queer Chinese online communities started using X也 and TA to refer to a generic, anonymous, or non-binary third person.[4] As of June 2022, neither have been encoded as a single code point in Unicode,[5] and neither are considered standard usage.
Additional notes
- The first-person pronouns Шаблон:Lang ǎn and Шаблон:Lang ǒu "I" are infrequently used in Mandarin conversation. They are of dialectal origin. However, their usage is gaining popularity among the young, most notably in online communications.
- According to Wang Li, the second person formal pronoun nín (Шаблон:Lang "you, formal; polite") is derived from the fusion of the second person plural nǐmen (Шаблон:Lang "you, formal; polite"), making it somewhat analogous to the T-V distinction in Romance languages. Consistent with this hypothesized origin, *nínmen is traditionally considered to be a grammatically incorrect expression for the formal second person plural. Instead, the alternative phrases dàjiā (大家, "you, formal plural") and gèwèi (各位, "you, formal plural") are used, with the latter being somewhat more formal than the former. In addition, some dialects use an analogous formal third person pronoun tān (怹, "he/she, formal; polite").
- Traditional Chinese characters, as influenced by translations from Western languages and the Bible in the nineteenth century, occasionally distinguished gender in pronouns, although that distinction is abandoned in simplified Characters. Those traditional characters developed after Western contact include both masculine and feminine forms of "you" (Шаблон:Lang and Шаблон:Lang). In the simplified system, Шаблон:Lang is rare.
In other Sinitic languages
There are many other pronouns in modern Sinitic languages, such as Taiwanese Minnan Шаблон:Lang (Шаблон:Zh) "you" and Written Cantonese Шаблон:Lang (keúih deih) "they." There exist many more pronouns in Classical Chinese and in literary works, including Шаблон:Lang (rǔ) or Шаблон:Lang (ěr) for "you", and Шаблон:Lang (wú) for "I" (see Chinese honorifics). They are not routinely encountered in colloquial speech.
Possessives
To indicate alienable possession, Шаблон:Lang (de) is appended to the pronoun. For inalienable possession, such as family and entities very close to the owner, this may be omitted, e.g. Шаблон:Lang (wǒ mā) "my mother". For older generations, Шаблон:Lang (lìng) is the equivalent to the modern form Шаблон:Lang (nínde), as in Шаблон:Lang (lìngzūn) "your father". In literary style, Шаблон:Lang (qí) is sometimes used for "his" or "her" or as a gender-neutral pronoun; e.g. Шаблон:Lang means "his father" or "her father".
In Cantonese, for possessive, Шаблон:Lang (ge3) is appended to the pronoun. It is used in the same way as Шаблон:Lang in Mandarin.
In Taiwanese Minnan the character for "your" is Шаблон:Lang (Шаблон:Zh); although this would be pronounced the same as the personal pronoun Шаблон:Lang lín, it is represented by a different character when used as the equivalent of Шаблон:Lang in Standard Chinese.
Demonstrative pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns work the same as in English.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
Proximal | Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang zhège this |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang zhèxiē these |
Distal | Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang nàge that |
Шаблон:Lang nàxiē those |
The distinction between singular and plural are made by the classifier Шаблон:Lang (gè) and Шаблон:Lang (xiē), and the following nouns remain the same. Usually inanimate objects are referred using these pronouns rather than the personal pronouns Шаблон:Lang (tā) and Шаблон:Lang (tāmen). Traditional forms of these pronouns are: Шаблон:Lang (zhège), Шаблон:Lang (zhèxiē), Шаблон:Lang (nàge), Шаблон:Lang (nàxiē), and Шаблон:Lang tāmen.
Interrogative pronouns
Pronoun | Alternative HÉ-system | English |
---|---|---|
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang shéi |
Шаблон:Lang hérén (what person) |
who |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang nǎge |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang hége (what one) |
which one |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang shénme |
Шаблон:Lang Шаблон:Lang hé / héwù (what) |
what |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang nǎlǐ Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang nǎr |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang héchù Шаблон:Lang hédì (what location) |
where |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang shénme shíhou |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang héshí (what time) |
when |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang wèi shénme |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang wèihé (for what) |
why |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang zěnme |
Шаблон:Lang rúhé (what to follow) |
how |
Шаблон:Lang duōshǎo Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang jǐ |
Шаблон:Lang / Шаблон:Lang jǐhé (what the amount) |
how much |
Indefinite pronouns
Pronoun | English | ||
---|---|---|---|
Шаблон:Lang dàjiā Шаблон:Lang shéidōu |
everyone | Шаблон:Lang shéiyě | anybody |
Шаблон:Lang shéidōubù | no one | ||
Шаблон:Lang shéiyěbù | nobody |
Pronouns in imperial times
- See also Chinese honorifics.
In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" was commonly omitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status.Шаблон:Citation needed "I" was usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations.Шаблон:Citation needed Examples include guǎrén (Шаблон:Lang) during early Chinese history and zhèn (Шаблон:Lang) after the Qin dynasty when the Emperor is speaking to his subjects. When the subjects speak to the Emperor, they address themselves as chén (Шаблон:Lang), or "your official". It was extremely impolite and taboo to address the Emperor as "you" or to refer to oneself as "I".
In modern times, the practice of self-deprecatory terms is still used in specific formal situations. In résumés, the term guì (Шаблон:Lang; lit. noble) is used for "you" and "your"; e.g., guì gōngsī (Шаблон:Lang) refers to "your company". Běnrén (Шаблон:Lang; lit. this person) is used to refer to oneself.
See also
References
Bibliography
Шаблон:Refend Шаблон:Language pronouns
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Sun, pp. 166-167.
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Laurent Sagart: The Roots of Old Chinese. (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, Series IV, Volume 184) John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1999. Шаблон:ISBN, S. 142–147; W. A. C. H. Dobson: Early Archaic Chinese. A Descriptive Grammar. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1962, S. 112–114.
- ↑ 7,0 7,1 Ancient Chinese reconstructions according to Baxter and Sagart Шаблон:Webarchive.
- ↑ Note: The specified forms represent only a small selection.
- ↑ Note: Middle Chinese pronunciations given in Baxter's notation.
- ↑ Shi, Q.-S. (2016). Personal Pronouns in Southern Min Dialect. In P.-H. Ting et al. (Eds.). New Horizons in the Study of Chinese: Dialectology, Grammar, and Philology (pp. 181-190). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
- ↑ Mataro J. Hashimoto: The Hakka Dialect. A linguistic study of Its Phonology, Syntax and Lexicon. University Press, Cambridge 1973. Шаблон:ISBN
- ↑ Hakka Affairs Council. (2017). Vocabulary Words for the Hakka Proficiency Test: Elementary (Sixian Dialect) [客語能力認證基本辭彙-初級(四縣腔)]. Retrieved from https://elearning.hakka.gov.tw/ver2015