Cover: An Anatomy of Chinese: Rhythm, Metaphor, Politics, from Harvard University PressCover: An Anatomy of Chinese in HARDCOVER

An Anatomy of Chinese

Rhythm, Metaphor, Politics

  • Introduction
  • 1. Rhythm
    • The Prevalence of Rhythmic Patterns in Daily-Life Chinese
    • Is Rhythm Unusually Common in Chinese?
    • Speakers’ Awareness of Rhythm
    • Are There Fads in Rhythms?
    • The Roots of Rhythms
    • “External” Rhythms: Dominant and Recessive
    • Recessive Rhythms of Favor
    • How Recessive Rhythms Affect Structure
    • How Universal Are the Preferred Rhythms of Chinese?
    • Do Rhythms Have Meanings?
    • What Other Formal Features Contribute to Meaning?
    • Can the Users of Rhythm Be Unaware of Its Effects?
  • 2. Metaphor
    • How Do Metaphors Work in Ordinary Language?
    • Metaphor and Thought
    • Time
    • Color
    • Up and Down
    • North and South
    • Consciousness
    • The Self in Ancient Thought
    • Privilege in Dyads
    • Metaphors That Chinese and English (Pretty Much) Share
    • Metaphors in Chinese That Diverge from English in Significant Ways
    • Conceptual Differences That Are Rooted in Metaphor
    • Can Conceptual Metaphors Generate Philosophical Problems?
    • The Significance of Similarities and Differences among Conceptual Metaphors in Different Languages
  • 3. Politics
    • A Bifurcation
    • Characteristics of the Official Language
    • The Language Game
    • How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Rulers
    • How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Ruled
    • Effects of the Language Game in the Mao and the Post-Mao Eras Compared
  • Epilogue
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index

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