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Reference:

Explicit expression of unconditionality using conjunctions in Chinese

Dudanov Timofey

ORCID: 0009-0007-1747-9440

Postgraduate student, the Higher School of Oriental Studies, Russian State University For The Humanities

125993, Russia, Moscow, Miusskaya square, 6

tdudanov@mail.ru

DOI:

10.25136/2409-8698.2024.1.69690

EDN:

MGRJNV

Received:

22-01-2024


Published:

29-01-2024


Abstract: This article discusses unconditionals in Chinese. Conjunctions with unconditional meaning, which serve for the explicit transmission of meaning in a sentence, are chosen as a subject of research. The purpose of the study is to find the conjunctions with explicit expression of unconditionality in the Chinese language. In addition to Chinese, the Russian language is also considered for a comparative analysis of conjunctions in different languages. A comparative analysis is carried out for all types of unconditionality after the description of each section. In this article not only conjunctions with unconditional meaning, but also correlates (words which clarify the meaning of the condition in the first part of the sentence) and the order of two clauses (main and dependent) are compared. The research methods include the search for conjunctions and correlatives from Chinese dictionaries and grammars for a further distribution of them in groups, consideration of conjunctions’ semantic, combination and stylistic features through dictionaries. As Chinese unconditional sentences have been little studied among Russian typologists, this article contains a certain scientific novelty. As a result, three types of unconditionals have been identified in total: absolute, irreal and real. Due to the differentiation of conjunctions in sentences with the absence of a condition, it was found out that a variety of similar words in the Chinese language is as rich as in the Russian one. At the end there are two tables with all the conjunctions both in Russian and in Chinese. In this article Russian is less emphasized because it has been researched earlier by other typologists. This material can be useful not only for sinologists, but also for the specialists in general linguistics.


Keywords:

the Chinese language, conditionals, unconditionals, unconditional sentences, explicit expression, conjunctions, correlatives, clauses, dictionary, corpus

This article is automatically translated.

Introduction

In most languages of the world, there are conditional adjuncts as one of the parts (clause) of a complex sentence. Such sentences are called conditional. In them, one part indicates the condition, and the second — the result or consequence [1, p. 15].

Nevertheless, this article focuses not on the presence, but on the absence of a condition. For explicit (explicit) transmission of the absence of a condition, it is most preferable to use conjunctions that contain the semantics of unconditionality. Unconditional offers are actually a unique type of conditional sentences in the Chinese language, since, for example, in Russian they are traditionally classified as concessive, which in turn create an obstacle to the implementation of the condition [2, p. 353]. In Chinese, unconditional sentences are distinguished as one of the types of conditional sentences in such works as [3, pp. 109-121; 4, pp. 369-370; 5, pp. 166]. They are a combination of several sentences with the conjunction "if" [6, p. 180], that is, regardless of the truth or falsity of the condition in the conditional part of the sentence, the consequence remains the same. This can be displayed as the following diagram (P is the condition; Q is the result/consequence):

[IF] P, [THEN] Q

[IF NOT] P, [THEN] Q

That is why the purpose of the study is to distribute unions with explicit transmission of unconditionality. Chinese was chosen as the language on the basis of which further classification was carried out. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been solved:

1) The classification of explicit allied transmission of unconditionality by types is given

2) Semantic, combinable and stylistic types of conjunctions with the expression of unconditionality are considered

3) A comparison of semantic components in the Russian and Chinese languages has been carried out

The article considers three groups of unions with the expression of unconditionality: absolute, unreal and real. This classification belongs to the Chinese linguist Xing Fui, who included them in the composition of concessive-contrastive complex sentences and spoke about concession, not unconditionality [7, pp. 492-495]. Further, in the classification process, the reasons for replacing the term "assignment" with the term "unconditionality" are given.

Certain cases of the use of conjunctions as indicators of the absence of a condition are motivated by examples from the literature. Russian Russian examples are taken from the BCC corpus [8], and from the Russian language from the National Corpus of the Russian Language (NKRR) [9]. All Chinese examples are provided with a glossed translation.

The stylistic characteristics of the unions are confirmed by data from the Dictionary of Modern Chinese [10], the Practical Dictionary of the Chinese Language [11], the handbook "800 words of modern Chinese" by Liu Shuxiang [12] and the dictionary "1700 pairs of synonyms" [13] for Chinese, Russian grammar [14] and articles Russian Russian Grammar O. E. Pekelis from the project "Russian corpus grammar" [15-16] for the Russian language.

Absolute unconditionality

Absolute unconditionality implies a complete absence of grounds for changing the result. Conjunctions with similar semantics contain a presupposition of exhaustion [17, p. 18].

Chinese language

Among the words expressing absolute unconditionality (absolute concession from Sin Fui) should be attributed the synonymous conjunctions b?gu?n, b?l?n, w?l?n and r?np?ng with the general meaning "independently". They are distinguished in the category of words with the absence of a condition [3, pp. 109-121] [4, pp. 369-370] [5, p. 166].

Most of them contain indicators of negation ? b? (not) and ? w? (not to have). Thus, it is indicated that it is impossible to influence the investigation when choosing any condition. According to the Xinhua dictionary [18], the literal translation of the unions will be as follows:

- b?gu?n (letters. "not limited to")

- b?l?n (letters. "without analyzing")

- w?l?n (letters. "without having an analysis")

The word r?np?ng consists of components identical in meaning:

r?n ("independently") + ? p?ng ("independent") = r?np?ng ("independently")

From a stylistic point of view, the conjunction b?gu?n is used in oral speech, and the conjunctions w?l?n and b?l?n are used in written speech [11, p. 107] [12, p. 98]. However, there is no information about the stylistic characteristics of the union r?np?ng in dictionaries and reference books. That is why it should presumably be classified as neutral unions, that is, it is characteristic of both written and oral speech.

These unions have the properties of alternativeness and universality [19, p. 130].

The word "alternative" usually means the simultaneous affirmation and denial (1), which is most characteristic of the Union b?gu?n, the use of special words with the expression of the question ( h?ish? — or sh?f?u — Yes or no y?f?u or not). Phrase of the classical Chinese language, such as sh?f?u (2) and y?f?u (3), more preferred of sentences with w?l?n and b?l?n:

(1)

?

?

B?gu?n

n?

x?n.l?

yu?n

bu

REGARDLESS

you

HEART.LOC

wish

not

yu?ny?

ch?ngr?n,

h?izi

xi?nz?i

s?

wish

to admit

child

now

four

 

 

 

su?

le.

 

 

 

year

PTCL

 

 

 

Regardless of whether you want to admit it or not, the child is still four years old now. [Shi Tesheng. Coming into the World]

(2)

W?l?n

d?r?n

sh?f?u

zu?.de.d?o,

t?

REGARDLESS

enemy

or not

TO DO.PTCL.RES

he

hu?

zh?y?ng

zu?

sh?

w?y?

could

so

to do

COP

UNDOUBTEDLY

 

 

 

 

de.

 

 

 

 

ATR

 

 

 

 

Regardless of whether the enemy does so or not, he will undoubtedly do so. [Wang Ho. War and people]

(3)

B?l?n

sh?zh?.sh?ng

sh?f?u

r?c?,

n?

regardless

THE ESSENCE OF.LOC

yes or no

so

you

ji?

d?i

zh?y?ng

l?i

r?nw?i.

JUST

must

so

INTEND TO

count

Regardless of whether it is true or not, in essence, you should consider it so. [Lu Yao. The morning starts at noon]

Universality implies unlimited choice of options in the conditional subordinate [20, pp. 345-346]. It is often expressed with interrogative pronouns (? sh?i who, sh?nme — what (4), n?l? — where, with du?sh?o — how) and adverbs (for example, z?nme — as (5), du?me — how, what).

(4)

B?gu?n

t?men

zhu?ny?

d?o

sh?nme

REGARDLESS

they

MOVE AROUND

AE

which

d?fang,

f?nzh?ng

w?

b?

g?n

place

in any case

I

not

With

 

 

t?men

z?u

le.

 

 

they

drive

PTCL

 

 

No matter where they moved to, I'm not going with them anyway. [Mao Dun. Tempering]

(5)

W?l?n

t?

z?nme

xu?nz?,

hu?h?n

regardless

he

how

to choose

REMORSE

y?

sh?

t?

de

s?m?ng.

already

COP

he

ATR

PREDESTINATION

No matter what choice he makes, hatred is already predestined for him. [Zhou Gopin. Whining]

Another Union r?np?ng (independently) has the same meaning as b?gu?n, b?l?n, w?l?n, however, in contrast, takes a question word h?ish? (or) in the dependent parts:

*

…?

*R?np?ng

hu?hu?

h?ish?

b?y?,

…?

REGARDLESS

conversation

or

WRITTEN TRANSLATION

 

It doesn't matter if he speaks in a foreign language or translates in writing ... [12, p. 466]

Russian language

In Russian, absolute unconditionality is conveyed by the conjunctions "despite", "regardless" and "independently". "Despite" and "independently" are found both in written and oral speech, and "regardless" — in written speech [15].

The conjunctions "despite" and "despite" are formed by the preposition "on" and the demonstrative pronoun "that", and "independently" by the preposition "from" and the demonstrative pronoun "that". This is followed by an indication of alternativeness or universality.

"Independently" can convey both alternativeness (using the conjunctions "or" (6) and "whether") and universality (using the relative pronoun (7)), but "despite" and "despite" are used only to express universality (8):

(6) Regardless of whether Morgan killed this reptile or not, the day after tomorrow we need to go to the Base and organize a raid. [Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky. Midday. XXII century (1961-1967)]

(7) Regardless of whether Panafidine metaproptisol was in the car or someone else's, one thing is clear: either Panafidine's enemy or his rival sent this letter. [Arkady Weiner, Georgy Weiner. The Cure for Fear (1987)]

(8) But, despite the fact that he is so terribly angry, so tormented, so indifferently often dozes, although he was awakened by a thunderbolt, why is he so lazy, so terribly motionless, smiles so much wrongly and laughs at what is not worth it at all, not worthy of laughter. [Nikolai Skavronsky (A. S. Ushakov). Sketches of Moscow (1860-1865)]

Unreal unconditionality

Unlike absolute unconditionality, unreal unconditionality presupposes the presence of hypothetical, rather than an actual statement in a conditional subordinate. This assumption does not affect the outcome of the action referred to in the main clause (part of a complex sentence).

Chinese language

The absoluteness of the unreal (unreal assignment u Sin IGF) is expressed using synonymous unions j?sh? (9), j?bi?n, z?ngr?n, z?ngsh?, ji?su?n, ji?sh? and n?p?, r?np?ng, ? su? with the General meaning "even if".

(9)

J?sh?

t?men

y?

b?

n?ngg?u

P UST

they

too

not

could

w?nqu?n

sh?nt?u

t?

n?ix?n

de

completely

TO PENETRATE

he

soul

ATR

m?m?,

t?men

zh?

zh?d?o

t?

secret

they

only

To know

she

zh?ngz?i

y?nni?ng

y?.ge

j?d?

de

PRG

TO START

ÎÄÈÍ.CL

GRANDIOSE

ATR

 

 

 

 

ju?x?n.

 

 

 

 

decision

 

 

 

 

Even if they cannot fully reveal her secrets, they know that she is currently plotting a grand plan. [Xu Xingye. The Broken Golden Bowl]

Huang Bozhong and Liao Xudong attributed them to hypothetical unions, however, in their opinion, in a number of contexts they have the meaning of unconditionality [5, p. 169]. Therefore, we also refer them to the number of words expressing unconditionality.

Most of the above unions contain common components: ? j? (if suddenly), ? sh? (urge), ? ji? and ? z?ng (let). Literally, whole words are translated as follows:

- j?sh? (letters. "if you suddenly prompt")

- j?bi?n (letters. "if just in case")

- z?ngr?n (letters. "let it be so")

- z?ngsh? (letters. "let them encourage")

- ji?su?n (letters. "let it count")

- ji?sh? (letters. "let it be")

- n?p? (letters. "where are you afraid from")

Unreal unconditionality can also be transmitted using conditional conjunctions r?gu? and ? y?o (if):

(10)

R?gu?

d?.s?

y?.zh?,

ji?

y?o

if

BEAT.RES

ÎÄÈÍ.CL

TO

INTEND TO

k?u.ch?

n?

d?ngr?

g?ngz?

de

SUBTRACT.RES

you

THE SAME DAY

salary

ATR

sh?

f?n.zh?

y?;

r?gu?

y?xi?

ten

SHARE.ATR

one

even if

immediately

d?.bu.h?n,

y?

y?o

k?uch?

n?

beat.NOT.RES

too

INTEND TO

SUBTRACT.RES

you

d?ngkou

g?ngz?

de

sh?

f?n.zh?

THE SAME DAY

salary

ATR

ten

SHARE.ATR

 

 

 

 

y?.

 

 

 

 

one

 

 

 

 

If you kill one, I'll deduct a tenth of your salary. Even if you can't beat anyone right away, I'll still deduct a tenth of your salary. [Mo Yan. Thirteen steps]

Unions j?sh?, j?bi?n, z?ngr?n ? and su? (let) characteristic of written language [13, p. 616] [12, p. 289], and in oral speech there are ji?su?n, ji?sh? and n?p? (let) [13, p. 616; 873].

Ñîþçz?ngsh? (let) is specified as a synonym for the words j?sh? and z?ngr?n in "Dictionary of modern Chinese language" and "a Practical dictionary of the Chinese language" [10, p. 1734; 11, p. 1692], which gives the basis to carry z?ngsh? to the writing style.

As mentioned earlier, there is no information about the stylistic characteristic.

Almost all the unions listed above have no restrictions in compatibility and can be interchanged, however, some of them (for example, ji?su?n and r?np?ng) contain a number of features.

ji?su?n, in addition to the above-mentioned meanings, has the semantics of a concessive-contrastive union, where the concession is expressed in a subordinate clause, and the opposition is in the main sentence (11):

(11)

W?men

ji?su?n

m?ish?

le,

we

let

NOTHING HAPPENED.

PTCL

d?nsh?

h?i

d?i

xi?

ji?od?i,

but

more

must

write

complete

y?nw?i

tu?n

l?ngd?o

y?o

k?n.

because

group

Director

INTEND TO

see

Even if everything is fine with us, we still need to finish writing this, because the head of the group will read it. [Wang Xiaobo. The Golden Age]

The union of r?np?ng as an indicator of unreal unconditionality indicates only an emergency that contradicts the result. When expressing such a meaning, only the noun (12) can follow the conjunction.

(12)

R?np?ng

du?me

c?ngm?ng

de

n?nh?izi

let

as far as

smart

ATR

boy

 

 

y?

w?c?ng

b?zhu?.

 

 

too

impossible

catch

 

 

No matter how smart the boy is, it's impossible to catch him. [Zhang Jie. Heavy wings]

An emergency case can also be expressed by the conjunctions j?sh? and ji?sh?, but they do not contain restrictions on use only in this context.

Russian language

In the Russian language, unreal unconditionality is conveyed using the conjunctions "let" (13), "let", "at least" and "at least". You can add the word "if" to this list, but in this case, an additional indicator of the absence of a condition is required. Most often, the adverb "even" acts as such (14):

(13) Let me be considered immodest: I am ready for any suffering for my brother! [Anatoly Aleksin. My brother plays the clarinet (1967)]

(14) Even if I was already lying on my stomach on the array, barely breathing, the fleeing wave washed me away, carried me far back and rushed forward again. [Alexander Green. An autobiographical novel (1912)]

In Russian, the conjunctions "let", "let", "at least" and "at least" are considered oral or colloquial [14, p. 714]. In writing, a union with the addition of an amplifying adverb is more preferable — "even if".

Real unconditionality

Real unconditionality is used to indicate a feasible condition (a fulfilled condition, according to [21, p. 492]), through which it is nevertheless impossible to influence the result. For this reason, conjunctions with the expression of this type of unconditionality lack the semantics of assumption. They express the fact of objective reality [12, p. 290].

The linguist Zhang Bin mentioned above calls them opposites [21, p. 491]. However, and b?gu?n (independently) as a marker of absolute unconditionality, and j?sh? (let) as a marker of unreal unconditionality, they themselves express opposition, unlike conditional conjunctions, which indicate the cause [19, p. 133]. That is why it was decided to classify the following unions as unconditional.

Chinese language

List of words expressing real unconditional enter synonymous unions su?r?n (14), su?shu?, ? su? and j?ngu?n with the General meaning "although". They have no combinable differences and can be interchanged in most contexts.:

(15)

Su?r?n

y?ji?w?s?

ni?n.d?

g?o.y?.du?nlu?,

g?ngzu?

although

1954

YEAR END

to make.ONE.STAGE

work

 

 

b?ng

w?i

ji?sh?.

 

 

And

not

END

 

 

Although work stopped at the end of 1954, it did not stop. [Yang Jiang. The three of us]

However, this cannot be said about the adverbial conjunctions g?r?n (16) and ch?ngr?n (although, of course), which are given by Ip Poching and D. Rimmington [22, p. 385]. Unlike the above-mentioned words, they lower the degree of unconditionality, as a result of which the condition becomes permissible in extreme cases to achieve a certain result in the main part of the sentence:

(16)

R?n

de

li?n.shang

g?r?n

b?

human

ATR

FACE.LOC

of course

not

k?

m?iy?u

bi?oq?ng,

d?n

w?

could

NOT TO HAVE

feeling

but

I

xi?ng

zh?y?o

d?nd?n

de

bi?osh?

want

worth

insignificant

PTCL

express

 

 

 

ji?

h?o.

 

 

 

JUST

good

 

 

 

Of course, a person can't help but have a facial expression, but it seems to me that if you just show yourself a little bit, everything will be fine. [Zhou Zozhen. Goldfish]

Most of the unions have a common component ? su? (though). Literally, they are translated as follows:

- su?r?n (letters. "although so")

- su?shu? (letters. "although I say")

- j?ngu?n (letters. "limited as much as possible to the fact that")

Union su?r?n is universal: it is characterized both written and oral speech; su?shu? more characteristic of an oral speech; ? su? and j?ngu?n — written [12, p. 308, 517].

There is no information about the stylistic characteristics of the unions ch?ngr?n and g?r?n, therefore, they are probably characteristic of both written and oral speech.

Russian language

In the Russian language, real unconditionality is conveyed through the conjunctions "although (and)" (17), "though (and)", "despite", "regardless", "regardless", "for free", "despite".

(17) Although he saw French guns and troops precisely on the Pratsen Mountain, on the very one where he was told to find the commander-in-chief, he could not and did not want to believe it. [L. N. Tolstoy. War and Peace. Volume One (1867-1869)]

Unlike "although" and "though", "despite", "regardless" and "independently" are formed with the preposition "on" (for unions "despite" and "regardless") or "from" (for the union "independently") with a noun or pronoun, as well as the demonstrative pronoun "that" and the subordinate conjunction "that" in verb form (18). After the word "for free" comes the subordinate conjunction "what", and after "contrary" — the words "that" and "that" (19) [14, p. 592]:

(18) Despite the fact that your letter deeply hurt me, I am the first, and today I would be ready to turn myself in to you, but I have been in such trouble since yesterday that I am now completely killed and barely stand on my feet. [F. M. Dostoevsky. A Novel in Nine Letters (1847)]

(19) For contrary to what is often said and written, it is sometimes easier to dispute a fact than to imagine it. [Dmitry Bilenkin. A Moment of Wonder (1958-1980)]

In addition, the union "regardless" requires a conscious and active participant in the action [15]. That is why the following sentence will be impossible:

* Despite the fact that sunny weather was promised today, it started to rain.

The meaning of real unconditionality is also the union of "if". In this case, the particle "and" (20) should be used to emphasize the absence of a condition.

(20) Finally, if she accepts capital now, it is not at all as payment for her girlish shame, of which she is not to blame, but simply as a reward for a distorted fate. [F. M. Dostoevsky. The Idiot (1869)]

"Although", "despite" and "despite" act as neutral conjunctions, "despite" is more common in written speech, "though" and "for free" — in oral speech [15].

However, unlike Chinese, there are no conjunctions in Russian that reduce the degree of unconditionality (like the Chinese g?r?n and ch?ngr?n).

Correlates

Correlates are words that clarify the general meaning of a condition in a sentence [23, p. 125]. They are put in the main sentence indicating the consequence that follows from the condition.

Chinese language

Unions indicate the absolute absoluteness (example: b?gu?n — independent) and the unreal absoluteness (example: j?sh? — let), combined with the correlates y? ? (also), mobile h?i (even) (20), ? d?u (still) (21) and ? z?ng (yet). All of them have an emphatic function and specify the situation in the sentence.

(21)

?

B?gu?n

z?nme

shu?,

t?

h?i

regardless

how

speak

he

whatever

sh?

bang,guo

w?

de

m?ng

INT

HELP.EXP

I

ATR

study

 

 

 

 

de.

 

 

 

 

PTCL

 

 

 

 

No matter what, he helped me anyway. [Li Guowen. The thief]

(22)

J?sh?

xi?nr?

sh?nme

bi?ren

n?ny?

let

to be

which

ANOTHER PERSON

difficult

?

z?.ji?

de

q?ngku?ng,

t?

d?u

BY MYSELF. ALLOW

ATR

situation

she

still

n?ng

p?ngji?

c?ngm?ng

de

sh?uf?r.

could

use

smart

ATR

instrument

Even if he finds himself in an environment from which it is difficult to get out, he will still use smart means. [Lin Yutang. A moment in Beijing]

However, the unions representing real absoluteness (example: su?r?n — though), combined with similar correlates d?n (Shi), k? (Shi) (23), ? qu?, (r?n)’?r, b?gu? (no) or mobileh?i (Shi) (even) (24) and ? y? (yet).

(23)

T?

su?r?n

y?u.qi?n,

k?sh?

sh?ngh?i

she

although

have.money

but

SHANGHAI

n?

d?fang,

yu?

y?u.qi?n

yu?

that

place

INT

have.money

INT

 

 

 

r?ngy?

du?lu?.

 

 

 

easy

go broke

 

 

 

She may be rich, but in Shanghai, the richer you are, the easier it is for you to go broke. [Zhang Hengshui. Fate in tears and laughter]

(24)

J?ngu?n

y?qi?

d?u

ch?d?

g?ibi?n,

although

all

all

RADICALLY

CHANGE

?

w?

h?i

sh?

zh?nqu?

de

I

still

INT

clear

PTCL

p?ndu?n.ch?

le

gu?q?

de

ji?.zh?

DEFINE.RES

PTCL

the past

ATR

HOUSE.ADDRESS

 

h?

ch?t?ng

de

f?ngw?i.

 

And

pond

ATR

direction

 

Despite the fact that everything has changed dramatically, I was still able to clearly identify the address of the house and the location of the pond. [Yu Hua. A scream in the drizzling rain]

The only exception to the rule is the union with the meaning of unreal unconditionality ji?su?n (even if) in a concessive-contrastive meaning. It is the same as su?r?n (although) and others, combined with d?nsh? and k?sh? (but). Let's duplicate the example (11):

(11)

W?men

ji?su?n

m?ish?

le,

we

let

NOTHING HAPPENED.

PTCL

d?nsh?

h?i

d?i

xi?

ji?od?i,

but

more

must

write

complete

y?nw?i

tu?n

l?ngd?o

y?o

k?n.

because

group

Director

INTEND TO

see

Even if everything is fine with us, we still need to finish writing this, because the head of the group will read it. [Wang Xiaobo. The Golden Age]

Russian language

In our language, among conjunctions with absolute unconditionality (for example: "despite") correlates are joined only by the union "independently". He rarely allows words such as "but", "anyway" (25) and "still":

(25) — However, do we not know that regardless of whether the criminal already has reason to fear the disclosure of his deed or not, he is still afraid. [N. N. Shpanov. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1935-1950)]

Conjunctions with unreal (for example: "let") and real unconditionality (for example: "although") can be combined with a larger number of correlates than "independently": "but" (26), "however" (27), "but", "anyway", "still" and "nevertheless."

(26) Let them call me your Shakespeare Falstaff then, but you meant so much in my fate!.. [F. M. Dostoevsky. Demons (1871-1872)]

(27) Although this circumstance applies to another department, however, you know, I am a permanent lawyer in all such cases. [I. S. Aksakov. Letters to relatives (1849-1856)]

With another conjunction "if" with the adverb "even", indicating unreal unconditionality, words such as "that" (28) and "so" correlate:

(28) Even if someone helps you, and you say thank you for it, you will also do well, because you should always be grateful and polite. [Nikolai Nosov. Dunno in the Sunny City (1958)]

As an exception, the unions "despite" and "despite" are distinguished with the designation of real unconditionality. For them, the combination with correlates is not typical [16].

The order of the clause

Chinese language

In Chinese, the dependent conditional clause almost always precedes the main resultant clause. In rare cases, the main part may precede the dependent part if the latter has an emphatic function and provides additional clarification. At the same time, correlates in the main clause can be preserved [7, p. 496] [5, p. 166] [21, p. 491]. This can be seen in the following examples (29) (30) (31):

(29)

L?oy?u Zh?ngn?ng

su?y?u

de

r?n

LAOYU ZHENGNONG

all

ATR

human

?

d?u

zh?y?ng

ji?o

t?,

b?gu?n

all

so

name

she

regardless

 

sh?

l?or?n

h?ish?

h?izi.

 

COP

the old man

or

child

 

Everyone called her Laoyu Zhengnong, both old people and children. [Yu Hua. Mistake by the river]

(30)

?

H?ku?ng

y?

w?ib?

y?u

sh?,

even more so

too

OPTIONAL

have

case

j?sh?

gu?zh?n

y?u

sh?,

n?me

let

really

have

case

then

sh?ngs?

hu?f?,

ji?

y?u

w?

LIFE AND DEATH

HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS

JUST

from

I

 

xi?ngd?

d?ng

zh?

bi?nli?o!

 

brother

TAKE OVER

this

here

 

Anyway, there can hardly be cases, even if there really are cases. Then my older brother is responsible for life and death, happiness and unhappiness. [Liu Xifen. Willow at the White Gate]

(31)

W?

zh?ng

k?

y?

xi?ng.bu.ch?,

I

PRG

to worry

About

think.NOT.RES

?

zh?

qu?

zh?y?n

w?

y?.ti?o

this

but

DIRECT

I

ÎÄÈÍ.CL

“”

l?,

su?r?n

zh?

sh?

“y?.ti?o”

road

although

only

COP

ÎÄÈÍ.CL

 

 

 

l?

ry?.

 

 

 

road

here

 

 

 

I'm worried at the moment that I can't think of anything. I have only one way out, although this is the "only" way out. [Zhu Ziqing. The letter]

However, the union of su?r?n is burdened with a number of restrictions. So, for example, when setting the unconditional (subordinate) part after the effective (main) part, the correlates k?sh? and d?nsh? are not allowed. This procedure is typical for written speech:

*/

*K?sh?/D?nsh?

n?

h?n

c?ngming,

su?r?n

N O

you

very

smart

X FROM

 

 

n?

h?n

ji?o’?o.

 

 

you

very

arrogant

 

 

(lit.) ‘But you're very smart, even if you're arrogant.’

Russian language

The order of clauses in Russian is more free, however, correlates ("but", "however", etc.) when changing the order, conditions and consequences are not preserved due to a violation of the semantic relationship between clauses:

* However, you know, I am a permanent lawyer in all such cases, although this circumstance applies to another department. [16]

Conclusion

Chinese, like Russian, has a rich variety of conjunctions with the absence of a condition, as well as correlates attached in the main clause. In some cases, the number of words used to indicate unconditionality in Chinese exceeds their number in Russian. Not only stylistic, but also combinable features of the use of conjunctions in the Chinese language were considered. In some cases, the same unions can be traced in different types of unconditionality. In conclusion, if we talk about the order of clauses, then in Chinese it is much more limited than in Russian, despite the possibility of setting correlates in the main clause even when changing the word order.

The distribution of unions with the designation of unconditionality can be traced in the following tables:

Table 1. Conjunctions in unconditional sentences in Chinese

The type of unconditionality

Union

Style

Correlate

Absolute

absoluteness

b?gu?n (independent)

oral

-? y? (too);

-? h?i (more);

-? d?u (still);

-? z?ng (still);

b?l?n (independent)

letters.

w?l?n (independent)

r?np?ng (independent)

-

Unreal unconditionality

j?sh? (let)

letters.

j?bi?n (let)

z?ngr?n (let)

z?ngsh? (let)

ji?su?n (let)

oral

ji ji?sh? (let)

n?p? (let)

r?np?ng (let)

-

su? (let)

letters.

The real one

absoluteness

su?r?n (though)

letter/oral

-? d?n (but);

- d?nsh? (but);

-? k? (but);

- k?sh? (but);

-? qu? (but);

- r?n'?r (but);

-? ?r (but);

- b?gu? (but);

- h?i sh? (more);

-? h?i (more);

-? y? (still)

su?shu? (though)

su? (though)

oral

j?ngu?n (though)

letters.

g?r?n (although, of course)

-

ch?ngr?n (although, of course)

-

Table 2. Conjunctions in unconditional sentences in Russian

The type of unconditionality

Union

Style

Correlate

Absolute

absoluteness

despite

letter/oral

- but;

- it doesn't matter;

- still

regardless

letters.

regardless

letter/oral

Unreal unconditionality

let

oral

- but;

- however;

- but;

- it doesn't matter

- still;

- nevertheless

let it be

at least

At least

The real one

absoluteness

although

letter/oral

at least

oral

despite

letter/oral

regardless

letters.

for free

oral

despite

letter/oral

In fact, the number of conjunctions expressing unconditionality is somewhat higher in Chinese, but they are quite rare and are not always recorded in dictionaries. That is why this article selects only common unions or those unions that in different contexts denote a different type of unconditionality.

The Russian language in this article is much less consecrated than Chinese. This is due to the fact that the concept of "unconditionality" is not typical for our language. It is customary to call all of the above unions "concessional". Russian Russian assignment transfer features have been studied in more detail by researchers who own the authorship of articles in Russian Corpus Grammar, in particular O. E. Pekelis [24] [16]. Another reason for the low illumination of the Russian material is the different grammatical and lexical structure. For example, in the works of O. E. Pekelis, the grammatical terms "mood" or "impersonality of clause" are considered, which are irrelevant for the Chinese language.

This article can be useful not only for Sinologists, but also for typologists engaged in general research of the linguistic system.

List of abbreviations

LOC — locative (spatial postposition)

PTCL — particle

RES is a productive morpheme

COP — copula (verb-copula)

ATR is an attribute particle

PRG — progressive (an indicator that an action is being performed at the moment)

CL is a counting word

INT amplifier

EXP is an indicator of the experience of a perfect action

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The article "Explicit expression of unconditionality by means of conjunctions in the Chinese language" submitted for publication in the journal "Litera" is undoubtedly relevant, due to the growing interest in studying the Chinese language and culture in our country, as well as the study of the syntax of the Chinese language and partially in comparison with Russian. In most languages of the world, there are conditional adjuncts as one of the parts (clause) of a complex sentence. Such sentences are called conditional. In them, one part indicates the condition, and the second — the result or consequence, and the reviewed article focuses not on the presence, but on the absence of the condition. The purpose of this study is to distribute conjunctions with explicit transmission of unconditionality. Chinese was chosen as the language on the basis of which further classification was carried out. It should be noted that there is a relatively small amount of research on this topic both in domestic and foreign linguistics. Thus, the article is innovative, one of the first in Russian linguistics devoted to the study of such issues. The article presents a research methodology, the choice of which is quite adequate to the goals and objectives of the work. The author turns, among other things, to various methods to confirm the hypothesis put forward. The methodology uses specific methods of linguistic analysis, including comparative conceptual analysis, semantic analysis and content analysis, as well as the methodology of corpus and statistical research. This work was done professionally, in compliance with the basic canons of scientific research. The study was carried out in line with modern scientific approaches, the work consists of an introduction containing the formulation of the problem, the main part, traditionally beginning with a review of theoretical sources and scientific directions, a research and final one, which presents the conclusions obtained by the author. The theoretical provisions are illustrated with text material in Chinese. The bibliography of the article contains 24 sources, among which scientific works in various languages are presented. Unfortunately, the article does not contain references to the fundamental works of domestic researchers, such as monographs, PhD and doctoral dissertations, but there are textbooks and textbooks. Technically, when making a bibliographic list, the generally accepted requirements of GOST are violated, namely, non-compliance with the alphabetical principle of registration of sources, mixing of works in foreign and Russian languages. Typos, spelling and syntactic errors, inaccuracies in the text of the work were not found. The comments made are not significant and do not affect the overall positive impression of the reviewed work. The work is innovative, representing the author's vision of solving the issue under consideration and may have a logical continuation in further research. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using its results in the teaching of university courses on the theory and practice of the Chinese language, as well as courses on interdisciplinary research on the relationship between language and society. The article will undoubtedly be useful to a wide range of people, philologists, undergraduates and graduate students of specialized universities. The article "Explicit expression of unconditionality using conjunctions in Chinese" can be recommended for publication in a scientific journal.