Chinese binomes : a graphical or phonological construct?

Jemelková, Martina (author)

In contemporary Chinese, disyllabic morphemes may consist of sinograms that lack independent meaning. Lianmian words, for example, receive considerable attention, while other structures with zero-meaning sinograms are often overlooked. These zero-meaning sinograms combine with typologically similar sinograms to form polysyllabic structures, presumably to compensate for their individual lack of meaning. The primary purpose of this article is to redirect the focus to disyllabic structures in general, i.e., binomes, regardless of whether they are also identified as lianmian words. The study conducts a corpus-driven analysis of binomes, detailing their graphical and phonetic composition and classifying them based on the degree of similarity of partial constituents. It contributes to understanding the role, structural typology, and aesthetic features of zero-meaning sinograms within binomes.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Modern Chinese grammatology, phonological resemblance, graphical analogy, binome, zero-meaning sinogram (wúyì zì无义字)
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 35-56
• Numbering: Vol. 15, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-190472
• ISSN on article: 2232-3317
• DOI: 10.4312/ala.15.2.35-56
• Publication date in RUL: 04.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Acta linguistica asiatica
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-3317
• COBISS.SI-ID: 255902464

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Kitajski binomi : je njihova osnova grafična ali fonološka?

Abstract

V sodobni kitajščini so dvozložni morfemi lahko sestavljeni iz sinogramov, ki nimajo samostojnega pomena. Besede lianmian, na primer, vzbujajo precejšnjo pozornost, medtem ko so druge strukture z nepomenskimi sinogrami pogosto spregledane. Ti nepomenski sinogrami se povezujejo s tipološko podobnimi sinogrami in tvorijo večzložne strukture, domnevno kot kompenzacija za njihovo pomensko praznino. Osnovni namen tega članka je preusmeriti pozornost na dvozložne strukture, t.i. »binome«, nasploh, ne glede na to, ali so hkrati opredeljeni kot besede lianmian. Študija temelji na korpusni analizi binomov, pri čemer podrobno obravnava njihovo grafično in fonetično sestavo ter jih razvršča glede na stopnjo sorodnosti sestavnih delov. Prispeva k razumevanju vloge, strukturne tipologije in estetskih značilnosti nepomenskih sinogramov znotraj binomov.

• Keywords: sodobna kitajska gramatologija, fonološka podobnost, grafična analogija, binom, nadpomenski sinogram, wúyì zì, 无义字

Projects

• Funder: Czechia, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
• Project number: IGA_FF_2023_058