CHINA SEMINAR| Shen Yang | Christoph Harbsmeier

Date and time:  Wednesday, 22 February, 16.00h - 17.00h 

Venue:  Arsenaal building, room 014 

Language:  English

Speaker:   Christoph Harbsmeier (University of Oslo)

Expertise:  Chinese Linguistics

Abstract:
Co-reference relations between pronouns (including zero-pronouns) and their antecedents have been extensively studied in general linguistics. The case of Modern Chinese has drawn much general linguistic attention in this connection. The case of anaphora in classical Chinese, which is radically different from the case of Modern Chinese, is barely mentioned even in specific discussions of the Chinese language.

The subtle connections of zero-anaphora with the rhetorical device of the zeugma are obvious, and they certainly have not so far received any of the detailed linguistic as well as stylistic attention they deserve.

The present paper will present an exploratory survey of nominal, verbal as well as sentential anaphora based mainly on Early Warring state sources.

Speaker's resume:
Christoph Harbsmeier is a professor of Chinese in the University of Oslo, and also an adjunct professor of Chinese in Peking Unversity, Fudan Unversity, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University, East China Normal University, Xinjiang University as well as Shanghai Normal Unviversity. His books include Wilhelm von Humholdt and the Philosophical Grammar of Chinese (in German) (1978), Aspects of Classical Chinese Grammar (1981), and vol. 7.1 of Science and Civilisation in China, Language and Logic. (1998). He is the editor in chief of Thesaurus Linguae Sericae (url: http://tls.uni-hd.de/).

E-mail:  Christoph.harbsmeier@ikos.uio.no