Chinese Linguistics

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

• define basic linguistic concepts that are relevant to the Chinese language
• use terminology to describe the sound system of Mandarin Chinese and the anatomy of the vocal tract
• use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to transcribe spoken Mandarin Chinese
• explain the formation of Chinese words in terms of morpheme, suffix and affix, and the major word-classes in Chinese
• explain the characteristics and major features of Chinese sentence structure
• analyse the structure of Chinese sentences using linguistic terminology and make a comparison between Chinese and English/Swedish sentence structures
• independently analyse simple Chinese linguistic data.

The course covers Chinese linguistics with a focus on morphology and syntax. Students are taught how to analyse Chinese words and sentences, and to increase their Chinese vocabulary in the field of Chinese linguistics. In seminar discussions and written assignments, students practise how to conduct basic research related to Chinese linguistics.

Continuous assessment of students‘ active participation in seminars, as well as written assignments and a final oral and written presentation.

Obligatory seminars in which Chinese is the language of instruction, with English as the secondary language.

The Swedish grades U–VG.

For the grade of VG in the entire course, students must achieve VG in at least 5 credits, including module 4.

Reporting of grades:
Module 1: Chinese Sentence Structure - 2 cr
Module 2: Chinese Sound System - 2 cr
Module 3: The Structure of Chinese Words - 2 cr
Module 4: Final Oral and Written Presentation - 1.5 cr

Replace KI2005.

To take a web-based course, students must be able to communicate in sound and picture on a computer or equivalent device.