Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics

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Adpositions
(3,353 words)

Adposition is a general term to cover preposition and postposition. A preposition precedes its NP complement, whereas a postposition follows its NP complement. This entry addresses the issue whether Chinese has prepositions in section 1, and the issue whether the language has postpositions in section 2. 

1. Prepositions

1.1 Preposition as an independent category

Chinese has many prepositions. Some examples in Mandarin are listed in (1) (see Chao 1968:768–769) (all…

Cite this page
Niina Ning ZHANG, “Adpositions”, in: Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics, General Editor Rint Sybesma. Consulted online on 01 April 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2210-7363_ecll_COM_00000005>
First published online: 2015



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