The term "Classical Chinese" refers to the written language of the classical period of Chinese literature, from the end of theSpring and Autumn period (early 5th century BC) to the founding of theQin dynasty in 221 BC^[1]—or in a broader sense to the end of theHan dynasty in 220 AD.^[2] "Classical Chinese" is also often used for the higherlanguage register used in writing during most of the following centuries, a register generally referred to as "Literary Chinese"; this article focuses on thegrammar used during the classical period.

This article uses modernStandard Chinese readings of characters, following the common practice among scholars, even though it is also possible to read Classical Chinese using theliterary readings of other modern Chinese varieties—for example,Cantonese readings are common in Hong Kong—or other languages of theSinosphere or even a historical reconstruction of character readings used in previous centuries.

Classical Chinese's most obvious contrast with modernwritten vernacular Chinese is that the former rarely uses words of more than onecharacter; nearly all Classical words are one character in length. This stands directly in contrast with vernacular Chinese, in which two-character words are extremely common. This phenomenon exists in part becausecompounding was used to resolve ambiguities as sound changes created homophones among words.

UnlikeOld Chinese, Classical Chinese has long been noted for the absence ofinflectional morphology: nouns and adjectives do not inflect forcase,definiteness,gender,specificity ornumber; neither do verbs inflect forperson,number,tense,aspect,telicity,valency,evidentiality orvoice. However, in terms of derivationalmorphology, it makes use ofcompounding,reduplication and perhapsaffixation, although not in a productive way.^[3][4] There is also an extensive use ofzero-derivation.

The basicconstituent order of Classical Chinese issubject-verb-object (SVO),^[5] but is not fully consistent: there are particular situations where the VS and OV word orders appear.Topic-and-comment constructions are often used. Neither a topic, nor the subject nor objects are mandatory, being often dropped when their meaning is understood (pragmatically inferable), and copular sentences oftendo not have a verb.

Within a noun phrase, demonstratives,quantifyingdeterminers,adjectives,possessors andrelative clauses precede thehead noun, whilecardinal numbers can appear before or after the noun they modify. Within a verb phrase, adverbs usually appear before a verb. The language, as analyzed in this article, usescoverbs (in aserial verb construction) andpostpositions. Classical Chinese makes heavy use ofparataxis where English would use adependent clause;^[6] however, there are means to form dependent clauses, some of which appear before the main clause while others appear after. There are also a number of sentence-finalparticles.

Two simple coordinated nouns can be joined with a conjunction, but this is not always the case. This, combined with the fact that two nouns in a possessor-possessed construction are not always marked for their functions either, can lead to ambiguity:山林shān lín (literally: "mountain forest") could mean either "mountains and forests" or "the forest of a mountain".^[7]

With the absence of inflectional morphology, Classical Chinese is largely azero-marking language, except that possessors and relative clauses are usuallydependent-marked with agrammatical particle.

Negation is achieved by placing a negative particle before the verb.Yes–no questions are marked with a sentence-final particle, whilewh-questions are marked within-situ interrogative pronouns. There are a number of passive constructions, but passives are sometimes not marked differently from active constructions, at least when written.^[8]

TheClassical Chinese lexicon has been traditionally divided into two large categories: content words (實字shí zì, literally: "substantial words") and function words (虛字xū zì, literally: "empty words").^[9] Scholars of Classical Chinese grammar notably disagree on how to further divide these two categories exactly, but a classification using word classes similar to those ofLatin (noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, etc.) has been common.^[10] However, this remains debated, as many words can be used as multiple parts of speech. Examples shown below.

• adjective used as noun:聖益聖shèng yì shèng; lit: "wise increase wise", actually means: "the wise becomes wiser"
• adjective used as verb:勝地不常shèngdì bù cháng; lit: "a good place notpertinent", actually means: "a good place will notbe pertinent"
• adjective used as adverb:白費báifèi; lit: "vain cost", i.e. "vainly cost (subject) ... "
• noun used as verb:順流而東也shùnliú ér dōng yě; lit: "along the riverEast", actually means: "going down the riverto the East"
• noun used as adverbial:犬坐於前quǎn zuò yú qián; lit: "(a wolf)dog sit in the front", actually means: "(a wolf) is sitting in the frontlike a dog"
• verb used as noun (rare case):乘奔御風chéng bēn yùfēng; lit: "ridegallop or wind", actually means: "ride agalloping horse or wind"
• verb used as adverb (rare case):爭割地zhēng gēdì; lit: "compete cede territory", actually means: "cede territoryspontaneously and actively"

While an English sentence can be divided into active voice or passive voice depending on the form of the verb within the sentence, the verbs in classical Chinese have several usages based on the relationship between the verb and the object. These are separated intoyìdòng usage (Chinese:意動; original meaning),shǐdòng usage (Chinese:使動),wèidòng usage (Chinese:為動), andbèidòng (Chinese:被動; "passive") usage.^{[clarification needed]} Moreover, a verb does not change its form at different situations, with the exception of thebeidong usage of verbs. Within the examples shown below, the words located within parentheses do not appear in the original Chinese sentence.

In classical Chinese, it is common for nouns or adjectives to be used as verbs or adjectives, and most of these cases involve ayidong usage of verbs.One peculiarity is that a word that is originally a verb does not share the same usage. In addition, there are slight differences in meaning between the noun and the adjective in the usage.

For a noun, it becomes an action done by the subject which indicates the subjects opinion about the object in the form "consider (object) as + (the noun)".

For an adjective, it becomes an observation in the form of "consider (object) (the adjective)".

In this case, nouns, verbs and adjectives share usage, but with different meanings.

For a noun, it means "make ... + (the noun)". For instance:

Literal translation: (Fulfilling the agreement that) the person who defeated the Qin dynasty and enteredXianyang first, [people] wouldking him.
(Note: Such scenarios are rare, though historical cases exist in ancient China. The translation of the sentence is rather controversial; the interpretation provided above represents the most widespread consensus.)

For a verb, it could mean "make... + do/done/to do", depending on the sentence. For instance:

• 泣孤舟之嫠婦

Literal translation: (The music was so sad that)cry the widow in a lonely boat
Semantic translation: (The music was so sad that it)made the widow in a lonely boatcry.

For an adjective, it means "make... + (the adjective)". For instance:

• 既來之，則安之

Literal translation: Since you have been here, thencalm yourself here
Semantic translation: Since you have been here,make yourselfcalm here.

The following examples demonstrateweidong usage of verbs. Such usage may occur:

• to express a motion that is based on a purpose. For instance:

等死，死國可乎？

Literal translation: It's equally death (delay for work and protest the rule of the Qin dynasty), isdie country an option?
Semantic translation: It's death in any case, isdying for the country an option?

• to express an action due to a particular reason. For instance:

便苦咳嗽

Literal translation: Hesuffer(v.) cough
Semantic translation: Hesuffered from a cough.

• to help the object do something. For instance:

自序其詩

Literal translation: Himselfintroduction his own poem
Semantic translation: Hewrote the introduction to his own poem .

• to execute a motion to the object. For instance:

泣之三日

Literal translation:Cry it for three days
Semantic translation:Cry over it for three days.

Pronouns can be separated into the following groups:

• Personal, e.g.汝rǔ 'you'
• Demonstrative:此cǐ,斯sī,兹zī 'this, these';彼bǐ,夫fú 'that, those';之zhī,是shì '(anaphoric) this, that'
• Reciprocal:彼此bǐcǐ 'each other'
• Reflexive:己jǐ,身shēn 'oneself, themselves'
• Interrogative, e.g.誰shéi 'who'
• Indefinite:他tuō 'another, others',某mǒu 'someone, so-and-so',人rén 'someone',人人rénrén 'everyone',諸zhū 'all'

Classical Chinese did not distinguish number in some of its pronouns, for example,我wǒ could mean either 'I, me' or 'we, us'. There was no 3rd-person personal pronoun form that could be used in subject position, but the distal demonstrative彼bǐ 'that, those' and the anaphoric demonstrative是shì frequently take that role.^[11]

The use of some nouns as pronoun-like terms is also attested. Common examples in texts are the humble臣chén 'servant' in the 1st person, and子zǐ 'son; master' in the 2nd person.

Classical Chinese interrogative pronouns and adverbs are notablypolysemic, many of them bearing multiple meanings.

An example where this polysemy is exploited is found in a tale in theZhuangzi (chapter 17). Zhuangzi is asked "how do you know this?" (with the interrogative安ān), but being unable to answer the question, intentionally misinterprets it as "where did you (get to) know this?".^[13]

The usual order of coreconstituents in Classical Chinese is subject, verb, and direct object (SVO).^[14][15]

Important exceptions to this basic order exist.^[16] When a verb is negated, a personal pronoun serving as the direct object is placed between the negative particle and the verb, leading to OV order.^[17]

Interrogative pronouns similarly generally precede the verb when they're the direct object.

Exclamatory sentences, often but not necessarily marked with哉zāi, can optionally invert the order of the predicate's verbal phrase and the subject, leaving the subject afterwards.[18]^[19]

In the latter example, the predicate's verbal phrase is惡在wū zài "to be/lie where", while the following words (until也yě) are the subject.

When thetopic-and-comment construction is used, the topic phrase (which expresses what a sentence "is about": "Regarding this person...", "As for this thing...") goes at the front (start) of the sentence, often but not always marked with a topic particle, alternatively repeated by aresumptive pronoun.

Classical Chinese typically does not use acopula verb to express positive nominal predication ("X is a/the Y"). Instead, it places twonoun phrases (one of which could be a pronoun) followed by a final particle, usually也yě.^[20] The particle can be omitted but rarely is.^[21]

It is the above kind of sentence, with是shì serving to repeat the topic as a resumptive pronoun, that later led to the use of是shì as a copula (already in texts of the early Han dynasty[22]).

However, Classical Chinese did not lack copula verbs, as it not only had the negative copula非fēi (used to express "X is not Y"), but also the positive為wéi.^[23] The final particle is commonly optional when these verbs are used.

• Chinese adjectives
• Chinese grammar
• Chinese honorifics
• Chinese particles
• Chinese pronouns
• Chinese verbs
• Classical Chinese
• Classical Chinese lexicon
• Vernacular Chinese

• Aldridge, Edith (2013). Battistella, Edwin; Schilling, Natalie (eds.)."Chinese Historical Syntax: Pre-Archaic and Archaic Chinese"(PDF).Language and Linguistics Compass: Historical Linguistics.7 (1). John Wiley and Sons Ltd.:58–77.doi:10.1111/lnc3.12007. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2020-08-29. Retrieved2016-01-30.
• Barnes, Archie; Starr, Don; Ormerod, Graham (2009).Du's Handbook of Classical Chinese Grammar. Great Britain: Alcuin Academics.ISBN 978-1904623748.
• Dawson, Raymond (1984).A New Introduction to Classical Chinese. Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN 978-0-19-815460-0.
• Norman, Jerry (1988).Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-29653-6.
• Peyraube, Alain (2008). "Ancient Chinese". In Woodard, Roger (ed.).The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-56256-0.
• Pulleyblank, Edwin (1995).Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar. Vancouver: UBC Press.ISBN 0774805056.
• Schuessler, Axel (2007).ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.ISBN 978-0-8248-2975-9.
• Zádrapa, Lukáš (2011).Word Class Flexibility in Classical Chinese. Leiden and Boston: Brill.ISBN 9789004206311.

• Gabelentz, Georg von der (1881).Chinesische Grammatik: Mit Ausschluss des niederen Stiles und der heutigen Umgangssprache (in German). Leipzig: T. O. Weigel. (Original from Harvard University) (Digitized 2008-10-13)
• Hé Lèshì 何乐士; Yáng Bójùn 杨伯峻 (1992).Gǔ Hànyǔ yǔfǎ jí qí fāzhǎn 古汉语语法及其发展 ("Grammar and Development of Ancient Chinese") (in Chinese). Beijing: Yǔwén Chūbǎnshè 语文出版社.ISBN 7800063062.
• Julien, Stanislas (1869).Syntaxe nouvelle de la langue chinoise fondée sur la position des mots: suivie de deux traités sur les particules et les principaux termes de grammaire, d'une table des idiotismes, de fables, de légendes et d'apologues traduits mot à mot, premier volume (in French). Paris: Librairie de Maisonneuve. (Original from Oxford University) (Digitized 2007-07-03)
• Julien, Stanislas (1870).Syntaxe nouvelle de la langue chinoise fondée sur la position des mots: suivie de deux traités sur les particules et les principaux termes de grammaire, d'une table des idiotismes, de fables, de légendes et d'apologues traduits mot à mot, second volume (in French). Paris: Librairie de Maisonneuve. (Original from the University of California) (Digitized 2007-05-02)
• Rémusat, Abel (1822).Éléments de la grammaire chinoise, ou, principes généraux du kou-wen ou style antique: et du kouan-hoa, c'est-à-dire, de la langue commune généralement usitée dans l'Empire chinois (in French). Paris: Imprimerie Royale. (Original from Harvard University)
• Unger, Ulrich (2019).Grammatik des Klassischen Chinesisch, herausgegeben von Reinhard Emmerich, Heidelberg (in German). Berlin: CrossAsia-eBooks.doi:10.11588/xabooks.506.ISBN 978-3-946742-60-9.
• Yáng Qǐguó 杨启国 (2016).Gǔdài Hànyǔ yǔfǎ 古代汉语语法 ("Grammar of Ancient Chinese") (in Chinese). Beijing: Jīngjì kēxué chūbǎnshè 经济科学出版社.ISBN 9787514165913.
• Yì Mèngchún 易孟醇 (1989).Xiān Qín yǔfǎ 先秦语法 ("Pre-Qin Grammar") (in Chinese). Changsha: Húnán jiàoyù chūbǎnshè 湖南教育出版社.ISBN 753550941X.

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