ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the formation of the Compound Prosodic Word, traditionally called Sìzìgé (Four-Character Pattern, FCP) in Chinese morphology. It is shown how the double-foot prosody, or the Compound Prosodic Word is generated through ways of duplicating prosodic words, which results in two fixed stress patterns, and how the results equip the FCP with expressive power in formal, informal and elevated registers. Sìzìgé 'four-character pattern', literally meaning 'four-character box', is a popular term in Chinese expressions which is itself formed by four characters. The FCPs are commonly used to express many different things, varying from common notions to what in English would be translated with a proverb or idioms. A natural foot in Chinese is grouped by two syllables from left to right and the stray syllable is attached to the neighboring foot when the number of syllables is odd.
