Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics

Should a poll be conducted to find out what are the most distinctive features, if any, of Chinese culture against the upsurge of economic globalization, Chinese calligraphy is very likely to be one. For one thing, it capitalizes on the Chinese writing system, being one of the oldest writing systems still in use. For another, it is a visual form of art in handwriting that has been continuously practiced and treasured over 3,000 years. For proper appreciation of this ancient as well as current art…

A calque, also known as "loan translation", is a word or phrase that is created in (strict or loose) imitation of a model from another language, using native morphemes. The result may also be seen as a "semantic replica" (contrasting with "phonemic replicas" , usually called "loanwords"). In a narrow sense, "calque" can be used to refer only to strict imitations of the morphemic structure of the model, or it can be taken more broadly to include less strict imitations (as here). Or it could even include native creations that are semantica…

The acoustic realization of consonants and vowels in a language is highly variable depending on the speaker, the phonological context, and the speaking rate. Categorical Perception (CP) is a mechanism to explain how the speech signal with infinite variability is perceptually mapped onto a finite set of discrete linguistic symbols. Although the initial studies only tested English materials and the research field is dominated by English-based studies, CP is considered to be a universal feature of …

1. Causative Constructions A causative construction denotes a complex event referring to a causative situation, where an initial event (causing event) brings about another event (caused event); see e.g., Shibatani (1976), Comrie (1981), Parsons (1990), Kulikov (2001). From a typo…