or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Trade in Yours
For a £2.55 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars) [Paperback]

Stephen Matthews (Author), Virginia Yip (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £39.99
Price: £37.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.00 (5%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Monday, 20 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover £121.19   -- --
Paperback £37.99   -- --
Trade In this Item for up to £2.55
Trade in Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.55, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
There is a newer edition of this item:
Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars) Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars) 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£41.36
In stock.

Book Description

Publication Date: 20 Oct 1994 | Series: Comprehensive Grammars
Matthews and Yip present a fresh and accessible description of the contemporary language. The book is organised by both syntactic categories and language functions, providing comprehensive treatment of grammatical structures and paying special attention to idiom and speech registers. Grammatical points are illustrated by authentic examples from films, advertising and conversation in Hong Kong.
An extensive index, numbered paragraphs and generous use of cross references provide readers with easy access to the information they require. This grammar will be the standard reference for years to come.

Frequently Bought Together

Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars) + Reading and Writing Chinese: Guide to the Chinese Writing System
Price For Both: £61.99

Buy the selected items together

Product details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Routledge (20 Oct 1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 041508945X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0415089456
  • Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 52,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

  • See Complete Table of Contents

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Stephen Matthews Page
Stephen Matthews
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

Reviews of the first edition:

'It is fortunate that the long-felt need for a Cantonese grammar should have been so competently met at the first attempt. This is an excellent book, down to earth, up-to-date, full of insights, replete with well-selected and illuminating examples, and written with minimal reliance on jargon, so that it is accessible to all who are interested in Cantonese.' - Professor Hugh Baker, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

'Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar represents the latest effort in writing a dialectal grammar, a grammar that aims to serve language students, teachers, and linguists alike with both challenge and elegance.' - Professor Samuel H.N. Cheung, International Review of Chinese Linguistics

'A cover-to-cover reading leaves the impression that Matthews and Yip's work is undoubtably the reference grammar of Cantonese that we have been waiting for.' - Professor Alain Peyraube, International Review of Chinese Linguistics

'Matthews and Yip make a formidable team in putting together what is, in essence, the first full-length treatment in English to date of the grammar of modern spoken Cantonese.' - Professor Marjorie Chan, Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association

'The lack of a comprehensive reference grammar of Cantonese has long been a curious and embarrassing situation. Matthews and Yip's work therefore constitutes a landmark in Chinese linguistics.' - Professor Jeroen Wiedenhof, Glot International

'Matthews and Yip have indeed written a comprehensive grammar, which addresses the needs of Western learners of Cantonese and of general linguists in a thorough and detailed way... the authors have given the Cantonese language a long overdue, rightful place and a proper prominence within the descriptions of Chinese.' - Professor Gisela Bruche-Schulz, Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

The University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

5 star
2
4 star
1
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
4.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive grammar 20 Jun 2006
By Dyl.
Format:Paperback
Learners of any language will often have to refer to a grammar reference sometime in their studies. The authors of this grammar also have other grammars out for various levels of study, but the comprehensive one, is perhaps killing several birds with one stone.

I rate this 4 stars, because it does a very good job in presenting Cantonese grammar and syntax in a way which is understandable and enjoyable. But, for people who have learnt Chinese in another form, say Mandarin, don't think this is an easy book, because you can read Chinese. There is, in fact, no chinese characters in it at all. It would have been very helpful had they put them in, but over the years, having been a speaker of a similar language - Hakka, I've come to the conclusion that to learn another Chinese language from already knowing one initially, it is probably more work, but ultimately less fallable if you start anew, and not resting on your laurels just by getting the gist from Chinese characters. Often, Cantonese surprises you with constructions and vocabulary totally different to Mandarin, and Matthews and Yip's choice not to put in Chinese characters (for me at least) is sound. Some people will not like it for that reason.
1 Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very detailed look at Cantonese 4 Nov 2006
By M. Tosney
Format:Paperback
This book is very comprehensive, providing an academic approach to the language. Students of linguistics would be comfortable with this book, but it is still accessible to people who are at least comfortable with basic linguistics terms like nouns and verbs. For those readers who might need a reminder, an appendix provides a glossary of terms used.

Concepts are explained with many examples using Yale romanisation. Ideas are laid out in a very structured manner, as you might expect of a textbook. As said in a previous review there are no characters at all (due to the high level of inconsistency between spoken and written Cantonese), so bear in mind this is a book for people interested in speaking the language.

The only downside in my opinion was the high price of this book (probably due to the relatively specialist area). If you are seriously considering studying Cantonese however, this is the best book I've come across - the content more than makes up for this downside. If you have a more casual interest, you might find "Colloqiual Cantonese" by Keith S.T. Tong and Gregory James a good start.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars Very comprehensive! 13 Mar 2013
By PhilosJunior
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I like this book because as it says on the book 'comprehensive'. I was quite surprised that they even had the traditional chinese text in it because their previous ones didn't have any of that. As a Cantonese speaker, I love books with the pinyin and traditional chinese text. Absolutely a must have book if you are considering learning Cantonese!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

    Your Shopping Basket is empty.

    Give it purpose -- fill it with books, DVDs, clothes, electronics and more.

    If you already have an account, sign in.

    There's a problem previewing your shopping basket at the moment.

    Check your Internet connection and go to your cart, or try again.

    View Shopping Basket (0 items)

      Customer Discussions

      This product's forum
      Discussion Replies Latest Post
      No discussions yet

      Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
      Start a new discussion
      Topic:
      First post:
      Prompts for sign-in
       

      Search Customer Discussions
      Search all Amazon discussions
         

      Listmania!

      Create a Listmania! list

      Look for similar items by category

      Feedback


      Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges