Chinese

[Blaine Erickson]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
 
More catching up.
 
Isidore Dyen <isidore.dyen at yale.edu> wrote:
 
> In general bound morphemes--i.e. affixes--are not a universal
> phenomenon.  Consider Chinese, whichn has, I have been given
> to understand, just one
 
It is a common misconception that most (or all) Chinese morphemes are
free.  Verbal affixes which indicate aspect, sentence-final particles,
and noun affixes (more than two dozen in Cantonese) are all bound.
 
For an excellent and thoroughly readable debunking of the myths
surrounding "Chinese," see DeFrancis, John. 1984. The Chinese
Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
 
Best,
 
Blaine Erickson
erickson at hawaii.edu