Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar

by Charles N. Li, Sandra A. Thompson

This reference grammar provides, for the first time, a description of the grammar of Mandarin Chinese, the official spoken language of China and Taiwan, in functional terms, focusing on the role and meanings of word-level and sentence-level structures in actual conversations.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Linguistics

716 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 1981

Reviews

[John Cowan]

I read this book at first to find out how a book-length reference grammar of a "very different" language should be written, and in fact based the style and organization of my book The Complete Lojban Language on it. By the time I was finished, I had become fascinated with Mandarin, though I never learned the language. (I never learned Lojban either.)

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to reference book on Chinese grammar.

[Casper Gasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reference book -- a tad on the dry side, but well worth a purchase for all mandarin students.