Re: Mandarin Relative Clauses?

On Sat, 18 Nov 2000, H. S. Teoh wrote:

> OK, I'll take your word for it. Keep in mind, though, that my dialect of
> Mandarin *is* different; if not grammatically, then in preference for
> different ways of construction. I *have* noticed that Mandarin-speakers
> from mainland China tend to say things in a different way, although we
> are still mutually intelligible.
Li & Thompson say this is the characteristic form of Mandarin (and
Sinitic generally) grammaticality judgments: not "That is rubbish"
but rather "That sounds possible, but it isn't the way I would say it".

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
        --Douglas Hofstadter