Chinese particles

In classical Chinese philology, words are divided into two classes: the shízì (实字 lit. "solid word") and the xūzì (虛字 lit. "empty word"). The former include what modern linguists call verbs, nouns, and adjectives, while the latter includes what modern linguists call particles. Opinions differ as to which category pronouns and adverbs belong to. Chinese particles are also known as yǔzhù (语助), zhùzì (助字), zhùcí (助词/助辭), yǔcí (语词) or simply cí (辭).

Functions

Classical Chinese

The function of a Chinese particle depends on its position in the sentence, and the context. The character for a Chinese particle is only used phonetically, thus the same particle can be written with different characters. For example, qí/jī (其, which originally represented the word jī "winnowing basket", now represented by the character 箕), a common particle in classical Chinese have, among others, various meaning as listed below.

Preceding syntactic element	Example sentence	Translation
qí/jī 其
third-person possessive adjective: his/her/its/their	Gōng yù shàn qí shì, bì xiān lì qí qì. 工欲善其事，必先利其器。	A workman who wants to do his job well has to sharpen his tools first.
demonstrative adjective: that/those	Yǐ qí rén zhī dào, huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn. 以其人之道，還治其人之身。	Punish that person (someone) with his very own tricks.
suffix before adjective or verb	Běifēng qí liáng, yǔ xuě qí pāng. 北風其涼，雨雪其雱。	The northern wind is cool; the snow falls heavily.
to express doubt, uncertainty	Wú qí hái yě. Jūn qí wèn zhū shuǐ bīn. 吾其還也。 君其問諸水濱。	I had better go. You have to go to the riverside to make an inquiry, I'm afraid.
to express hope, command	Wúzi qí wú fèi xiān jūn zhī gōng! 吾子其無廢先君之功！	Boy, don't ruin the accomplishment of your father!
to form a rhetorical question	Yù jiāzhī zuì, qí wú cí hu? 欲加之罪，其無辭乎？	How could we fail to find words, when we want to accuse someone?

Vernacular Chinese

Preceding syntactic element	Example sentence	Translation
bā 吧	Emphatic final particle
Verbs	Wǒmen zǒu ba. 我们走吧。	Let's go.
de 的	Used as a possession indicator, topic marker, nominalization. Vernacular Chinese equivalent of Classical 之.
Noun: posession	Wǒ de chē 我的车	My car.
Phrases: nominalization	Zhège píngguǒ shì hǎo de 这个苹果是好的	This apple is good.
děng 等	Translates to: "for example, things like, such as, etc., and so on"
Nouns	Shāngpǐn yǒu diànnǎo, shǒujī, yídòng yìngpán děng děng. 商品有电脑，手机，移动硬盘等等。	Products include computers, mobile phones, portable hard drives, et cetera.
gè 个/個	Used as a counter, general classifier.
Number	Sān gè xiāngjiāo 三个香蕉	Three bananas
hái 还/還	Translates to: "also", "even", "still"
Verbs	Wǒmen hái yǒu wèixīng píndào! 我们还有卫星频道！	We also have satellite television channels!
Verbs	Tā hái zài shuìjiào ne. 他还在睡觉呢。	He is still sleeping.
hé 和	Translates to: "and" (conjunction); "with" or "as with" (preposition). Vernacular Chinese equivalent of Classical 與.
Nouns: conjunction	Zhāng Sān hé Lǐ Sì shì wǒmen zuì cōngmíng de xuéshēng. 张三和李四是我们最聪明的学生。	Zhang San and Li Si are our most intelligent students.
kě 可	Translates to: "could", "-able"
Verbs	Nǐ kěyǐ huí jiāle. 你可以回家了。	You can go home now.
Verbs	Kě'ài 可愛	Loveable (i.e. cute)
le 了	Used to indicate a completed action. Within informal language, can be alternatively replaced with 啦 la or 喽 lou.
Action	Tā zŏu le 他走了	He has gone.
ma 吗/嗎	Used as a question denominator.
Phrases: question	Nǐ jiǎng pǔtōnghuà ma? 你讲普通话吗？	Do you speak Mandarin?
shì 是	Used as the copula "to be"; as a topic marker.
Nouns	Zhège nǚhái shì měiguó rén. 这个女孩是美国人。	This girl is an American.
yě 也	Translates to: "also"
Nouns	Wǒ yěshì xuéshēng. 我也是学生。	I am also a student.
zhe 着	Used to indicate a continuing action.
Action	Tā shuìzhejiào shí yǒurén qiāomén 他睡着觉时有人敲门	Someone knocked while he was sleeping.
zhǐ 只	Translates to: "only, just"
Nouns	Zhǐyǒu chéngrén kěyǐ rù nèi. 只有成人可以入内。	Only adults are permitted to enter.

Studies

The first book devoted to the studies of the Chinese particles is Speech Helpers (語助) by Lu Yiwei (盧以緯) of the Yuan Dynasty. More important works concerning the particles followed, including Some Notes on the Helping Words (助字辨略) by Liu Qi (劉淇) and Explanations of the Articles Found in the Classics (經傳釋詞) by Wang Yinzhi (王引之), both published during the Qing Dynasty. These works focus on the particles found in the Confucius classics, paying little attentions to the particles used in the vernacular literature. The Compilation and Explanations of the Colloquial Terms Found in Classical Poetry and Operas (詩詞曲語辭彙釋) by Zhang Xiang (張相), published posthumously in 1953, was the first work covering the particles found in the vernacular literature.

See also

• Chinese pronouns
• Chinese adjectives
• Chinese verbs
• Chinese grammar
• Classical Chinese grammar
• Okinawan particles
• Japanese particles
• Korean particles

References

• Dobson, W. A. C. H. (1974). A Dictionary of the Chinese Particles. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• He Jiuying 何九盈 (1995a). Zhongguo gudai yuyanxue shi (中囯古代语言学史 "A history of ancient Chinese linguistics"). Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe.
• _____ (1995b). Zhongguo xiandai yuyanxue shi (中囯现代语言学史 "A history of modern Chinese linguistics"). Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe.
• Wang Li 王力 (ed.) (2000). Wang Li guhanyu zidian (王力古漢語字典 "A character dictionary of classical Chinese, chiefly edited by Wang Li"). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
• Yip Po-Ching & Don Rimmington (2004). Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. London; New York: Routledge.