Basic Cantonese introduces the essentials of Cantonese grammar in a straightforward and systematic way.
Each of the 28 units deals with a grammatical topic and provides associated exercises, designed to put grammar into a communicative context. Special attention is paid to topics which differ from English and European language structures.
This new edition features:
• clear, accessible format
• lively examples to illustrate each grammar point
• informative keys to all exercises
• glossary of grammatical terms
Basic Cantonese is ideal for students new to the language. Together with its sister volume, Intermediate Cantonese, it forms a structured course of the essentials of Cantonese grammar.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1 Consonants
2 Vowels and diphthongs
3 Tone
4 Pronouns
5 Possession: ge
6 Possession and existence: yáuh
7 Being: haih
8 Noun classifiers
9 Adjectives
10 Adverbs of manner
11 Adverbs of time, frequency and duration
12 Comparison: gwo and dī
13 Prepositions: space and time
14 Negation
15 Verbs of motion: heui and làih
16 Verbs of giving: béi
17 Verbs and particles
18 Actions and events: jó and gwo
19 Activities: gán and jyuh
20 Auxiliary verbs
21 Passives
22 Word order and topicalization
23 Yes/no questions
24 Wh-questions
25 Sentence particles
26 Imperatives
27 Requests and thanks
28 Numbers, dates and times
Key to exercises
Glossary of grammatical terms
About the Author :
Virginia Yip is Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Stephen Matthews is Professor at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong. They are the authors of Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (1994, 2nd edition 2011), The Bilingual Child: Early Development and Language Contact (2007, Cambridge University Press), and co-directors of the Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre.
