ABSTRACT
The Chinese language, genetically classified as an independent branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, displays some typological properties compared with other languages in the world. The simplicity of the words of Chinese can be evidenced by the fact that such a language does not manifest the morphological complexity found in inflectional languages. Due to the lack of inflectional morphology in Chinese, there lies a possibility that such a language tends to take advantage of the central property and enjoy a considerable freedom in its grammatical system. A piece of evidence for the effect of semantics on syntax in the Chinese grammatical system is the interpretation of adverbial expressions with regard to the verb. It is advisable to assume that pragmatics may play an important role in the flexibility of word order and the interplay between semantics and syntax. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
