3.1 The Results of the Written Data in 1988 and 2010
3.1.2 Long Pre-modifiers
There are two types of Englishized pre-modifiers classified into this category:
modifying clauses preceding head nouns and adjective or adjectival clauses preceding pronouns. The criteria are established based on Lian (1993), He (2004) and examples in the literature. Lian (1993) and He (2004) regard the premodifiers with two phrases/clauses or more as ‗long‘ pre-modifiers. In addition, there are examples of long pre-modifiers provided in the literature formed by one sentential premodifier. In the present work, we integrate the above facts and define a long premodifier as a modifier containing one or more than one clause, or one containing one or more than one phrase. Following this definition, we further analyze the position of these pre-modifiers in the sentence. The examples of each category are as presented below:
a. One clause or more, in the subject position
(68) > 該 縣 有 個 專門 預防 自殺 的 NPO 法人 理事長 Gai xian you ge zhuanmen yufang zisha de NPO faren lishichang The county has CL profession prevent suicide DE NPO corporation president 表示
biaoshi show
‗The county has an NPO corporation president who is specialized in preventing suicide said that, ‘ (2010)
b. One clause or more, in the object position
(69) >打 不 倒 的 勇者 則 是 從 一九九五 年 南非 球隊
‗―Invictus‖ using the real event occurring in World Series in 1995, which is about the winning of South Africa football team, to encourage people and to break down racial barriers.‘ (2010)
c. Two phrases or more, in the subject position
(70) > 進步 的、有 紀律 的 社會 是 不 可能 忽視 社會
‗A progressive and disciplined society is impossible to ignore the social costs.‘
(2010)
d. Two phrases or more, in the object position
(71) >以 稚 齡 之 姿， 東 渡 日本，開始 他 一生 血 與 淚
‗He went east to Japan at young age, then starting his lifetime painful challenges and struggling.‘ (2010)
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Table 3.1. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of long pre-modifiers in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Year of data
The results in Table 3.1 reveal that the frequency of long pre-modifiers is higher in 1988 (7.89‰) than in 2010 (6.95‰), which is different from our expectation; the distributional difference is also seen in the use of Englishized pronouns.
Table 3.2. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of the position of long pre-modifiers in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Year of data more frequent on the object position (see Table 3.2). Given the fact that long subject is not preferred in English (Chu and Chi, 1999), the Englishized usage follows this tendency as well. That is, a heavy or complex head is dispreferred. Instead, there is a preferred distribution of elements in the clause called the principle of end-weight: the tendency of placing long and complex elements toward the end of a clause (Biber et al., 1999). By doing so, it can ease comprehension for the readers/hearers. Also, in light of the light subject constraint and the one new idea constraint illustrated by Chafe (1994), we may infer that the subject position should consist of given or accessible information and no more than one new piece of information at a time.
However, since the light subject constraint or one new idea constraint is violated with long pre-modifiers, the difficulty of processing information will be increased. It follows that long pre-modifiers tend to occur in the object position. In short, aside from English influence, universal linguistic principles also greatly influence the distribution of long pre-modifiers in different positions.
Table 3.3. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of the number of phrases or clauses of long pre-modifiers in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Year of data Number of phrases or clauses
Written (1998) Written (2010)
One clause or more 264(5.01) 179(4.38)
Two phrases or more 152(2.88) 105(2.57)
Total of morphemes 52,704 40,848
Noticeably, regardless of positions and years, Table 3.3 shows that the frequency of one clause or more is higher than the use of two phrases or more, and it may be influenced by the adjectival modifying clauses in English, as in (68).
3.1.3 Insertion of 一 Yi ‘one’ and Classifiers
Influenced by English indefinite article ‗a/an‘, in modern Mandarin a singular noun is usually preceded by 一 yi and classifiers, even if it is not necessary, such as (72) – (77). On the other hand, traditionally yi would be omitted when the context is clear enough. Besides, it is proposed that in traditional Chinese the classifiers are various with different nouns, while the Englishized usage of classifiers tends to take 種 zhong before abstract nouns due to the translation of ‗kind‘, as in (74), and 個 ge before concrete nouns (e.g., (72)) (Wang, 1947; Tsao, 1978; Hsu, 1994). In other words, the use of classifiers seems to be generalized in modern Chinese. To explore the use of classifiers, the results are classified into six variations, as illustrated below.
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‗Do not understand why some people judge a person‘s value by his jobs.‘ (1988)
b. Yi + ge + abstract nouns
‗Nearly half of people do not trust the impartiality of the judiciary, which is a warning.‘ (1988)
‗Thoughts, often merely reflect a kind of soul, a kind of desire‘ (1988)
d. Yi + zhong + concrete nouns
‗Just a kind of men who rises on the stage because of the opportunity of power transition in KMT,‘ (1998)
pai de yi bu xieshi de dianying clap DE one CL real DE film
‗Then this is a realistic movie that is adapted and filmed based on a memoir.‘
(2010)
f. Yi + other classifiers + abstract nouns
(77) 因為 甘迺迪 所 代表 的 是 一 則 全盛 的 傳奇 Yinwei gannaidi suo daibiao de shi yi ze quansheng de chuanqi Because PN SUO represent DE C/F one CL flourishing DE legend
‗Because what Kennedy represents is a flourishing legend‘
Table 4. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of Englishized insertion of yi and classifiers in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Year of data Category
Written (1988) Written (2010)
Yi + 個 + abstract nouns 19(0.36) 9(0.22)
+ concrete nouns 11(0.21) 6(0.15)
Yi + 種 + abstract nouns 9(0.17) 4 (0.10)
+ concrete nouns 1(0.02) 0
Yi + other classifiers + abstract nouns 5(0.09) 3(0.07) + concrete nouns 7(0.13) 3(0.07)
Total 52(0.99) 25(0.61)
Total of morphemes 52,704 40,848
Different from our expectation, Table 4 reveals that the frequency of total Englishized uses of yi and classifier is higher in 1988 data than in 2010 data; the comparison of the frequency of each variant between the data of two years also shows the same tendency. Therefore, the Englishized form of ‗yi + classifiers‘ has been commonly used since the late 1980s.
For the use of classifiers following yi, as Wang‘s (1947) observation, 個 ge is the dominant classifier for concrete nouns, (see (72)). However, different from the literature, the most frequently used classifier for abstract nouns is not 種 zhong but 個 ge, as in (73). Besides, compared with the written data in 2010, the use of
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classifiers is more various in 1988; that is, the frequency of ‗yi + other classifiers‘ is 0.22‰ in 1988 data but only 0.14‰ in 2010 data. The results again suggest that the
‗yi + classifier‘ structure has been commonly used in 1988.
The generalization of classifiers may be influenced by English, since in English the uses of classifiers are not as various and frequent as in Mandarin. Moreover, it is proposed that the general classifier, ge, can co-occur with practically any noun (Biq, 2004). In other words, it appears as a general measure used with nouns of many different semantic categories (Norman, 1988). In addition, the Chinese ‗numeral + classifier + noun‘ construction is most frequently realized as ‗yi + ge + noun‘, and through repeated uses in the daily usage this construction is remembered and retrieved as a unit (Biq, 2004). Thus, there is a tendency of further generalization of classifiers here.
3.1.4 Passive Structure Bei
According to the previously defined Englishized passive structure, the passive bei sentences with any of the following charateristics are Englishized: those with non-negative meanings, those with inanimate subject, those without agent and those with non-past tense. The examples of each feature in our data are realized in the following:
a. Non-negative:
(78) > 自由 與 隱私 權 被 西方 社會 視 為 基本 人權 Ziyou yu yinsi quan bei xifang shehui shi wei jiben renquan Freedom and privacy right BEI west society see as basis human right 之一
Zhiyi of one
‗Freedom and privacy are considered as one of the basic human rights in western society.‘ (2010)
b. Inanimate subject:
(79) 機場 保安 系統 的 漏洞 連番 被 揭發 Jichang bauan sitong de loudong lianfan bei jiefa Airport security system DE flaw consecutively BEI disclose
‗The flaw of the airport security system is disclosed again and again.‘ (2010) c. Without agent:
(80) > 而且 與 該 案 有關 的 軍方 人員 全 被 搜查 Erqie yu gai an youguan de junfang renyuan quan bei soucha And with this case relate DE military people all BEI search 及 逮捕。
ji daibu and arrest
‗And all military personnels that related to the case were searched and arrested.‘
(2010)
d. Non-past tense:
(81) > 他們 將 會 被 要求 在 機器 掃描 及 人工 Tamen jiang hui bei yaoqiu zai jiqi saomiao ji rengong They will can BEI ask at machine sacn and artificial 搜身 之間 擇 一
soushen zhijian ze yi body-search between choose one
‗They will be asked to choose between the scan machine and manual search.‘
(2010)
As shown in (78), the sentence is with more than one Englishized feature:
non-negative meaning, inanimate subject and non-past tense, and thus the four features are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, we probe into the different combinations of these features, and the results are presented in Table 5.
According to Table 5, the frequency of Englishized bei structure is significantly higher in the 1988 data (1.25 v.s. 0.61 per 1000 morphemes). This suggests as in most of the Englishized structures discussed above, that the Englishized uses of passive bei structure have already been localized to the Chinese grammar since as early as 1988, and the process of Englishization continues to the present day.
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Table 5. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of Englishized passive bei structure in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Year of data Category
Written (1988) Written (2010) Feature 1 (Non-negative) 4(0.08) 1(0.02) Feature 2 (Inanimate subject) 3(0.06) 1(0.02) Feature 3 (W/o agent) 14(0.27) 7(0.17)
Feature 4 (Non-past) 4(0.08) 0
1+2 3(0.06) 0
1+3 1(0.02) 1(0.02)
1+4 0 1(0.02)
2+3 10(0.19) 4(0.10)
2+4 2(0.04) 0
3+4 2(0.04) 2(0.05)
1+2+3 6(0.11) 2(0.05)
1+2+4 2(0.04) 1(0.02)
2+3+4 7(0.13) 0
1+3+4 2(0.04) 3(0.07)
1+2+3+4 6(0.11) 2(0.05)
Total of Englishized uses 66 (1.25) 25(0.61)
Total of morphemes 52,704 40,848
As for the frequency of each Englishized feature, Table 5 shows that the agentless passive constitutes the majority of bei structure in the data of two years. In fact, this feature is common in English as well; an agent is omitted when it is introduced before or recoverable from the context (Chafe and Danielwicz, 1987).
However, in traditional Chinese, the agent is still expressed overtly even if it is clear enough or not the focus of the attention. Take a sentence from ‗Dream of the Red
Chamber‘ as an example, the agent 人 ren in 我們被人欺負了. Women bei ren qifu le.
‗We were bullied by people‘ is unimportant and unnecessary information and thus omittable, while such usage is commonly seen in the novel. On the other hand, in the present data, there is no such item found.
Besides, the high frequency of deletion of agents may be also attributed to the lexicalization of certain ‗bei + verb‘ expressions, for example, 被逼 beibi ‗be forced‘.
In such expressions, the agents are usually omitted, especially frequently found in 1988 data, as in (82). In addition, the agentless passive serves to shift the attention from the agent to the patient and is suggestive of a tone of detachment, or negative involvement (Chafe, 1990).
(82) 尤其 十一 月 二十二 日 當 梁肅戎 被 逼 上台 時，
Youqi shiyi yue ershier ri dang liangsurong bei bi shangtai shi Especially Novermber month 22 day when PN BEI force up stage
‗Especially on Novermber 22th when Liang Surong was forced to stand on the stage,‘ (1988)
In short, due to English influence, lexicalization of certain bei phrases and avoidance of redundant agents, the use of bei structure without agent is with the highest frequency in our written data.
3.1.5 Lexical Verbal Nominalization
Yu (2006) suggested that in modern Mandarin the verb of an event or action is nominalized to serve as a subject due to the influence of English. The nominalized units can exist in the subject position, e.g., (83) and (84), and also the object position, see (85) and (86). It is proposed that from a grammatical point of view nominalization allows the addition of modifiers and qualifiers, and thus it permits the concentration of information and the construction of an argument (Banks, 2005). As in (83), the nominalization of 採用 caiyong ‗adoption‘ permits the concentration of a clause 採
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用全身影像掃瞄機 caiyong quanshen yingxiang saomiaoji ‗adopting whole body image scan machine‘ into a noun phrase, increasing the density of information.
Furthermore, it is suggested that nominalization is associated with the detachment feature which is commonly used in the more detached styles of writing
‗This time, the adoption of whole body image scanner is not something unimportant.‘ (2010)
(84) 蘇貞昌 的 算計 可以 說 是 司馬昭 之 心 Suzhenchang de suanji keyi shuo shi simazhao zhi xin Suzhenchang NM count can say C/F PN of heart
‗Su Zheg-chang‘s plot can be said as ―Sima Zhao‘s evil intent.‖‘ (2010)
b. Nominalized object:
‗Then using chemical substances to examine wherther there are residues related to explosive substances or not.‘ (2010)
(86) >可以 想 見，最 大 的 爭議 在 隱私權 的 侵犯。
Keyi xiang jian, zui da de zhengyi zai yinsiquan de qinfan Can think see, most big DE controversy at privacy NM invade
‗It can be imagined that the biggest controversy is the invasion of privacy.‘
(2010)
Another type of Englishized verbal nominalization proposed by Yu (2006) is
‗verb + abstract noun‘. The nominalized process of this pattern is as the following: (1) the original verbs are nominalized as abstract nouns, and (2) a weak or an ‗empty‘
verb with a general and broad meaning occupies the verb position. Take (87) as example, 規劃 guihua originally serves as a verb; however, due to the direct translation of English phrase ‗make a plan‘, 規劃 guihua is nominalized to be abstract nouns, and the verb position is occupied by the weak verb 做 zuo ‗make‘. Yu (2006) observed that zuo 做 ‗do; make‘ is the most frequently used weak verb, which can be associated with the English translation of ‗make; do‘. In short, this type of Englishization is greatly influenced by the English weak verb, such as zuo 做 ‗do;
make‘ and jinxing 進行 ‗undergo‘.
c. Weak verb + abstract noun
(87) 據說 黨 中央 目前 也 是 朝 三月 底 Jushuo dang zhongyang muqian ye shi chao sanyue di According to party center at present also C/F toward March end
> 以前 定 輸 贏 做 規畫 yiqian ding shu ying zuo guihua before make lose win do plan
‗It is said that currently the Central Committee make plans of deciding the winner before the end of March‘ (2010)
Table 6. The number and normalized frequency (per 1000 morphemes) of lexical verbal nominalization in the written data in 1988 and 2010
Category Year of data Written (1988) written (2010)
Nominalized subject 27(0.51) 24(0.59)
Nominalized object 115(2.18) 120 (2.94)
Weak verb + abstract noun 50(0.95) 26(0.64)
Total 192(3.64) 170(4.16)
Total of morphemes 52,704 40,848
The results of 1988 and 2010 data show that the frequency of lexical verbal nominalization increases, which corresponds to our expectation. In other words, the Englishization of this feature is an ongoing development.
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In terms of the results of each subcategory, it is found that the frequency of nominalized object is higher than that of nominalized subject in both 1988 and 2010 data. It corresponds to the results of long pre-modifiers and can be explained by the same reasons of the more frequent use of long pre-modifiers in the object position than the subject position. That is, the information in the head position should not be too heavy, or it may hinder people‘s understandings (see 3.1.2). It also accounts for the higher frequency of the category ‗weak verb + abstract noun‘ than the nominalized subject, as the former causes the lengthening of object position instead of the subject position.
3.1.6 Concessive Clauses in the Final Position
There is no example of this construction in the present data. This result can be associated with the study of the adverbial clauses in Chinese speaking and writing by Wang (2006). The written data in her study are also from magazines (Commonwealth and UNITAS), containing 141,800 morphemes in total. With this large corpus, the frequency of concessive clauses in the final position is only 2.08 % (three tokens out of 106), and thus the lack of example in our data accords with the distribution observed by Wang (2006).
3.1.7 Other Englishized Patterns
According to previous researches, there are some other new Englishized patterns: other prepositions (i.e.有關 youguan, 對於 duiyu), the use of zhiyi ‗one of‘
and the pattern qianzhe…houzhe ‗the former…the latter‘. To further confirm that they are Englishized expressions without any existence before modern Chinese, we examined ‗Dream of the Red Chamber‘ (published in mid-17th century) and found that none of these patterns occurred in ‗Dream of the Red Chamber‘. Therefore, these structures are treated as Englishized patterns. Below each structure is discussed in
turn.
3.1.7.1 Other Prepositions
The phrases 有關 youguan ‗about; related to‘, 對於 duiyu ‗as for‘, and 由於 youyu ‗because of‘ are translated from English phrases ‗about‘, ‗concerning‘ (Wang, 1947; Yu, 2006). Hsu (1994) observed that such usage is used widely in news reports and also formal registers.
The examples of these prepositions in our written data reveal that 有關 youguan, 對 於 duiyu and 針對 jendui serve the same purpose, namely, introducing or discussing a topic (Chao, 1968). 由於 youyu means ‗because‘, so its usage and position is the same as the phrase 因為 yinwei ‗because‘, placed in the beginning of the clause. On the other hand, 有關 youguan is commonly used in the final position and co-occurs with the conjunction 和 han, 跟 gen or 與 yu. It may or may not be followed by noun phrases, as shown in (88) and (89) respectively:
(88) 第二 方面 是 說 包括 彭鳳至 任 官 都 跟 Di er fangmian shi shuo baokuo pengfengzhi ren guan dou gen Second aspect C/F say include PN do official all with
> 馬英九 有點 知 恩 圖 報 有關 mayingjiu youdian zhi en tu bao youguan PN a bit know favor want return relate
‗The second aspect is that including the inauguration of Peng Feng-zhi, it is related with Ma Ying- jiu‘s gratitude.‘ (2010)
(89) 然後 用 化學 藥物 檢查 是否 有 與 爆炸 Ranhou yong huaxue yaowu jiancha shifou you yu baozha Then use chemical drug examine whether have with explode
(89) 然後 用 化學 藥物 檢查 是否 有 與 爆炸 Ranhou yong huaxue yaowu jiancha shifou you yu baozha Then use chemical drug examine whether have with explode