Abstract

This article tries to define the basic structure of the clause in Chinese as the topic-comment structure. This means that topic and comment are the basic and obligatory elements of the clause, and the aboutness relation between them is the sufficient and necessary condition for a clause to stand as such. This definition is more textually oriented, though a clause also expresses an experiential and an interpersonal meaning, alongside its textual meaning. With this definition, we may be able to approach many phenomena and issues that are believed to be characteristic of the Chinese language, including ‘double subject’ clauses and the many syntactic patterns that can be seen as topic-packaging devices. The definition also provides an effective tool to approach clauses, clause complexes, and texts in a unified way.

Keywords

Clause, Topic Comment, Function, Topic chain