• Column

  Tidbits on the Chinese Language – Final Issue: Word Order in Chinese

  We often hear that, because both languages have a similar word order, Chinese is easy to learn if you have some command of English. Still, is it really the case? For our last issue of “Tidbits on the Chinese Language”, we will focus our interest on word order typology of these two languages to try and address this question.

  
  
  

  Is the word order in Chinese akin to that of English?

  Many know that Chinese sentences are built on a subject–verb–object (SVO) structure, and based on that knowledge we sometimes hear people say “since sentences are built following the same pattern as English, Chinese is an easy language to learn.”  

    In this issue, I would like to present several examples proving this is indeed the case, as well as those that disprove this assertion.

  
  
  

  Examples of resemblance between Chinese and English

  他 看 书。
  [_S tā] [_V kàn] [_O shū]
  He reads a book.

  In Chinese, there is no inflection of words, so the role of words is determined by their position within a sentence. In the simple example above, the verb (看 kàn (read)) is located in the middle of the sentence while the nouns, placed before and afterward, take the role of the agent (subject) or patient (object) depending on their position. Based on such a simplistic example, we can indeed come to the conclusion that “Chinese is just like English.” However, as soon as the sentence gets slightly more complex, many examples also prove the contrary.
  
  
  

  Examples of differences between word order in Chinese and English

  我 把问题 解决了。
  [_S wǒ] [_O bǎ wèntí] [_V jiějuéle].
  [I][problem][solved]
  I solved the problem.
  
  *[bǎ…] = Object marker

  In this case, the SOV structure of the sentence is actually closer to a language like Japanese, for example.
  The same can be said of the following example.

  你 怎么 把钱包 弄丢的？
  [_S nǐ] zěnme [_O bǎ qiánbāo] [_V nòngdiū] de
  [You][how come][wallet][lost]
  How come you lost your wallet?

  Let’s leave aside “formed around the verb” type of structures like SVO and SOV, and take a look at another one, “formed around the noun.” For instance: 

  前往 旧金山的 CA985次航班，现已 开始 登机。
  [_NP qiánwǎng jiùjīnshānde [_N CA jiŭ bā wŭ cì hángbān]], xiànyǐ kāishǐ dēngjī
  [Going toward][San Francisco][Flight CA985], [now already][started][boarding]
  [_NP [_N Flight CA985] for San Francisco] is now ready for boarding. 

  *NP = noun phrase, N = head noun

  In the Chinese sentence, if you consider the part before the comma ([_NP qiánwǎng jiùjīnshānde [_N CA jiŭ bā wŭ cì hángbān]]), the [CA jiŭ bā wŭ cì hángbān] standing for “Flight CA985” is located at the end of the NP in Chinese whereas it appears at the very beginning in English.
  The fact that the core of the NP (modified word, N) comes at the end of the phrase makes the word order closer to that of Japanese.

  
  
  
  Examples where Chinese and English are neither similar nor dissimilar

  There also are the following types of examples, where the structure of the Chinese sentence is somewhere between that of English and Japanese.

  你 要 在哪里 跟谁 吃 晚饭 呢？
  nǐ yào [[zài] nǎlǐ] [[gēn] shéi] [_VP [_V chī] [_O wǎnfàn]] ne
  [You][will][where][with who][eat][dinner]?
  Where and with whom will you have dinner?

  *[zài…] = [at …], [nǎlǐ] = [where], [gēn…] = [with …], [shéi] = [who], [chī] = [eat]

  This sentence being a question, the appearance of an interrogative word at the sentence-initial position would be absolutely necessary in English, so let’s see what happens if we turn it into an affirmative sentence with the normal word order as follows.

  我 要 在四川餐馆 跟我的朋友 一起 吃 晚饭。
  wŏ yào [[zài] [sìchuāncānguǎn]] [[gēn] [wŏ de péngyŏu]] yīqǐ [_VP [_V chī] [_O wǎnfàn]]
  [I][will][[at] [Sichuan restaurant]][[with] [my friend]][together] [_VP [_V eat] [_O dinner]]
  I will have dinner with my friend at Sichuan restaurant. 

  *[yīqǐ] = [together], VP = verb phrase, V = head verb

  In this case, the VP section [_VP [_V chī] [_O wǎnfàn]] (eat dinner) follows the verb–object (VO) pattern and is placed at the end of the sentence, and the fact that [[zài] [sìchuāncānguǎn]] (at Sichuan restaurant) and [[gēn] [wŏ de péngyŏu]] (with my friend) are placed at the beginning is drastically different from any English structure.

  Nevertheless, the fact that there is a similar relationship between the position of “[zài][gēn] and [sìchuāncānguǎn][wŏ de péngyŏu]” in Chinese and “[at][with] and [Sichuan restaurant][my friend]” in English shows that the structure is similar, at least on the phrase level.

  
  
  
  Conclusion

  A topic like the “origin of language” is occasionally considered a taboo in linguistics. There are even those who say that the relation of the two neighboring languages, Japanese and Korean, despite their grammatical similarities, is unknown due to the fact that there is little similarity when it comes to pronunciation. Yet many researches are being carried out on intriguing subjects like the history of language.
  
  This time, the topic at hand became a little complicated by focusing on comparisons between Chinese and English. These are two greatly influential languages which have evolved by receiving influences and mixing components of various neighboring languages until they reached their current shape. Also, considering they both come from different language groups and families, their similarities, if any, could probably be regarded as mere coincidences.
  
  Well, this is the last of our nine columns on the Chinese language. I am very glad and grateful for your time and interest in these articles, and hope you will continue reading once we shift our interest to the English language in the next issue.

  Written by Masanori Itoh, Translation/Localization Department

• Column

  Back Numbers

  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language – Final Issue: Word Order in Chinese
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language No. 8: Phonetic Representation of Chinese Characters (Winter Greeting 2013)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language No. 7: Borrowed Words that Change in a Colloquial Context (Summer Greeting 2013)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.6: Kanji Logograms Created in Japan (Winter Greeting 2012)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.5: Kanji Logograms Created in Japan (Summer Greeting 2012)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.4: The Difference between Japanese and Chinese Characters (Winter Greeting 2011)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.3: The Difference between Written and Spoken Chinese (Summer Greeting 2011)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.2: Two Styles of Chinese Characters (Spring Greeting 2011)
  • Tidbits on the Chinese Language - No.1: The Diversity of the Chinese Language (Winter Greeting 2010)

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