Nastazja Stoch

The aim of the article is to reconstruct the dictionary picture of chi (吃) ‘eat’ in Mainland Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin. The methodology is based on the linguistic worldview employed by the Lublin school of ethnolinguistics. Two lexicographic sources are used in the research: Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (China) and Guoyu Cidian (Taiwan). This comparative study analyses the morpheme chi and lexical units beginning with it. The research has shown, among other findings, that the reconstructed pictures of chi are not equivalent. The detected differences result from both the number and category of entries, as well as their senses and senses of the morpheme chi. However, as the examined variants belong to the same language, shared semantic categories represented by lexical units are dominant in the pictures of chi.

This paper is an attempt to lay out the distinctive features of Chinese proverbs. Because of the frequent inconsistency of applying Chinese terms that could stand for ‘proverbs’ (i.e. suyu and yanyu), it seems necessary to define them by juxtaposing them with other, apparently similar types of fixed expressions. The typological analysis in this paper shows that there are no particular valid reasons not to treat suyu as proverbs, and thus as synonymous to yanyu. Further, the paper outlines the variety of content of Chinese proverbs and provides some of their structural patterns, with special attention to the variation phenomenon. Finally, it centers upon the metaphoricity of proverbs, which is a crucial means, especially in studies of linguistic worldview.

The purpose of this paper is to prove the Mass Noun Hypothesis wrong. The hypothesis claims that all common nouns in classifier languages like Mandarin Chinese are mass nouns. The objection against it consists in displaying its implausible deduction, where false conclusions have been drawn due to relying on the grammar of English, which is incongruent with the grammar of Chinese. Consequently, this paper defends the Count Noun Thesis, stating that in Chinese there are count as well as mass nouns. In support of this statement, first, the typology of numeral classifiers had to be established, which resulted in gathering and completing all the reasons to distinguish classifiers from measure words. After only this necessary differentiation was made, it was possible to show that the count/mass distinction exists in Mandarin Chinese. That is, count nouns by default have only one classifier, with certain disclaimers. Apart from that, count nouns, as in every language, may undergo some measurement with measure words. Mass nouns, however, in the context of quantification may appear only with measure words, but not with classifiers. These conditions naturally follow from the ontological status of the two types of nouns’ referents, i.e. bounded objects denoted by count nouns, and scattered substances denoted by mass nouns.

The paper presents preliminary research done as part of a project in which we aim to explore the influence of cultural factors on social cognition. The project focuses on the comparison of two social groups – the Polish and the Chinese – and the studies presented pertain to the distinction between the concepts of the mind and the body in the two cultures. Our interdisciplinary methodology comprises of relevant analyses of philosophical tradition in both cultures, linguistic analysis of contemporary language, and questionnaire studies aimed at measuring the extent to which linguistic practice and philosophical tradition impact actual conceptualizations of the concepts in question. Preliminary results suggest that dualistic philosophical tradition of the West is indeed reflected in Poles’ conceptualizations of the mind and the body as distinct entities. This leads to contrast between that which is emotional and that which is intellectual. Conversely, the Chinese concept of the heart-mind present in Chinese linguistic practice and philosophical tradition leads to holistic conceptualizations of the mind and the body and corresponding to them spheres of the intellectual and the emotional.

The article compares Western and Chinese perspectives on the relationship between the mind and the body, and discusses the question of the cross-cultural universality of mind-body dualism. The West has traditionally viewed the mind and the body in dualistic terms while the Chinese tradition has adopted a holistic perspective. It is common in debates about the universalism of mind-body dualism to refer to the category of xin (心) present within the Chinese tradition. A linguistic analysis of the category of xin demonstrates that it connotes both cognitive and emotional faculties. An analysis of philosophical texts shows that xin is argued there to be a cognitive tool, a “mind organ” and the seat of human morality. Some researchers take these to be sufficient reasons to assume that, in contrast to Western dualism, Chinese thought assumes a holistic perspective on the mind and the body. Others, however, point to certain dichotomies that still persist in Chinese tradition, and argue that the view is best described as moderate dualism. The present text offers a preliminary theoretical sketch of future cross-cultural research that will inquire into the differences in thinking about the mind and the body across Western and Chinese cultures.