The Morphology of Chinese: A Linguistic and Cognitive Approach
Abstract
This ground breaking study dispels the common belief that Chinese 'doesn't have words' but instead 'has characters'. Jerome Packard's book provides a comprehensive discussion of the linguistic and cognitive nature of Chinese words. It shows that Chinese, far from being 'morphologically impoverished', has a different morphological system because it selects different 'settings' on parameters shared by all languages. The analysis of Chinese word formation therefore enhances our understanding of word universals. Packard describes the intimate relationship between words and their components, including how the identities of Chinese morphemes are word-driven, and offers new insights into the evolution of morphemes based on Chinese data. Models are offered for how Chinese words are stored in the mental lexicon and processed in natural speech, showing that much of what native speakers know about words occurs innately in the form of a hard-wired, specifically linguistic 'program' in the brain.
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Most Chinese words are formed by combining multiple characters, each of which represents a morpheme.
“Most Chinese words are formed by combining multiple characters, each of which represents a morpheme (Packard, 2000).”
From Do word-level skills show cross-linguistic transfer and predict bilingual reading? (2026) · cites this paper as Packard, 2000
Chinese multi-character words are formed via morpheme compounding.
“Chinese multi-character words are formed via morpheme compounding”
From Do word-level skills show cross-linguistic transfer and predict bilingual reading? (2026) · cites this paper as Packard, 2000
Word reading in Chinese strongly involves the process of compounding awareness.
“word reading in Chinese strongly involves the process of compounding awareness (Packard, 2000)”
From Do word-level skills show cross-linguistic transfer and predict bilingual reading? (2026) · cites this paper as Packard, 2000
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Luo, Y. C., Chen, B. X., & Geva, E. (2014) · Written Language & Literacy · doi:10.1075/wll.17.1.05luo · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness between Chinese and English
Ke, S., & Xiao, F. (2015) · Language Awareness · doi:10.1080/09658416.2015.1114624 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Lin, C. Y., Cheng, C., & Wang, M. (2018) · Reading and Writing · doi:10.1007/s11145-017-9775-8 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Morphological awareness in biliteracy acquisition: A study of young Chinese EFL readers
Zhang, D., Koda, K., & Sun, X. (2014) · International Journal of Bilingualism · doi:10.1177/1367006912450953 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Do word-level skills show cross-linguistic transfer and predict bilingual reading?
Xie, Q., & Yeung, S. S.-S. (2026) · Reading and Writing · doi:10.1007/s11145-026-10767-8
- Authors
- Packard, J. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Packard, Jerome L.
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2000-08-03
- OpenAlex
- W46719799
- Cited by
- 460
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 59 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 3.89
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Linguistics and Language Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Keywords
- Chinese morphology, Chinese word formation, morphemes, mental lexicon, word processing, innateness, morphological evolution
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