天津话形容词作定语研究 = THE ATTRIBUTIVE USE OF ADJECTIVES IN TIANJIN DIALECT

Abstract

This paper focuses on the attributive use of adjectives in Tianjin dialect. In Mandarin Chinese, the two types of constructions, ‘A N’ and ‘A de N’, are both widely used for modification. However, in Tianjin dialect, modification with de is seldom used, and seems to face certain restrictions. Most ‘A de N’ phrases which can be used in Mandarin are considered ill-formed or odd by native speakers of the Tianjin dialect, although this construction is not completely banned in the dialect.

I show that the main difference between de-less modification ‘A N’ and modification with de is that the latter is necessarily contrastive while the former need not be. That is, adjectival modification in the Tianjin dialect needs to be either appellative or contrastive for the structure to be well-formed, otherwise, adjectives can only appear at the predicative position.