Re: "easiest" languages, SE Asian word-order typologies (was Rating Languages)

J Y S Czhang scripsit:

>     - Yue [Cantonese]
>         - Min Nan/Minnan [Southern Min] (Chinese/Sinitic/SINO-TIBETAN)
AFAIK the big syntax differences between Standard Mandarin on the one
hand, and Southern Mandarin and the other Sinitic langs on the other,
are these:  the latter group puts DO before IO, adverb after verb,
and the tendency to create noun+adj compounds instead of adj+noun
(Mandarin gong1ji1 vs. Cantonese kaikong 'rooster').  These tendencies
strengthen as one goes south, and may result from Tai influence (they are all
typical Tai features).

--
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
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