The lián (连) construction

The lián construction has to have either dōu 都 “all” or yĕ 也 “also” to express the meaning of focus/emphasis in modern Chinese (lián + focused element + dōu/yĕ + verb). Although lián has a number of other functions (e.g., it can be used as a preposition meaning “including” or an adverb meaning “continuously”) both historically and in modern Chinese, its focus/emphatic function is the primary one in written discourse (Xing 2004: 99), hence it is important in Chinese acquisition.

When examining the discourse in which the lián construction is found, I have realized that it is often used to further explain the situation discussed in the previous discourse, as demonstrated below:

(6.41) 房间太小，连电脑都放不下。 (Yao, et al. 1997: 113) fángjiān tài xiăo, lián diànnăo dōu fàng bú xià.

“The room is very small. It does not even have room for my computer.”

(6.42) 你这人怎么搞的？连这点儿小事都办不了。

nĭ zhèi rén zĕnme găo de? lián zhèi diăn xiăoshì dōu bàn bù liăo.

“What’s wrong with you? You cannot even take care of this kind of trivial stuff.”

(6.43) 他天天都很忙，连周末也不休息。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián zhōumò yĕ bù xiūxi.

“He is busy every day; he does not even have spare time on the weekend.”

(6.44) a: 这个周末，到我们家来吧。

zhèige zhōumò dào wŏmen jiā lái ba.

“This weekend, please come to our house.”

b: 不去、不去。

bú qù, bú qù.

“(I’m) not going. (I’m) not going.”

a: 连你爸都来，你为什么不来？

lián nĭ bà dōu lái, nĭ wèi shénme bù lái?

“Even your father is coming. Why aren’t you?”

In (6.41), the first sentence states, “the room is very small” followed by a lián construction that explains how small the room is, that is, “[it is so small that]

there is no place in the room even for a computer.” Apparently, the reason that

“computer” is focused in this lián construction arises from the conventional wisdom which says that regular rooms normally have a place for such a common commodity. Similarly, in (6.42), the speaker complains in the first sentence about the way that the referent nĭ zhèi rén “you the person” does things and then uses a lián construction to further explain why the speaker complains, namely “even this trivial matter you cannot handle.” In (6.43)–(6.44), both lián constructions are used to provide specific explanations of the general comments in the preceding discourse. Notice that although these lián constructions serve the same discourse function – providing further comments on the situation mentioned in the preceding discourse, their contexts vary. The one in (6.41) explains how small the room is, the one in (6.42) explains why the speaker complains, the one in (6.43) explains how busy he is, and the one in (6.44) explains why the listener should go to the speaker’s house. Therefore, the focused part varies accordingly [i.e.

“computer” in (6.41), “this trivial matter” in (6.42), “weekend” in (6.43), and

“your father” in (6.44)]. Furthermore, both “computer” and “this trivial matter”

are patients/receivers in the two sentences, whereas “weekend” functions as adverb and “your father” functions as the agent/subject of the lian construction.

All these variations pose some problems for students in acquiring the lián construction.

When teaching students how to use the lián construction, it is common for teachers to explain the structure of the lián construction, and then give examples.

As a result, students can identify and understand the lián construction, but cannot use it whenever necessary in discourse. Therefore, I suggest that teachers first explain when the lián construction is likely to be used in discourse, such as when

a speaker gives a further explanation to a general comment given in the immediately preceding discourse, and then encourages students to create circumstances under which the lián construction may be used. When students become familiar with the discourse situation of the lián construction, teachers may proceed to explain and demonstrate what elements are most likely to be the focus of the lián construction.

By examining students’ errors in using the lián construction, I find that it is more difficult for them to find an adequate focused element than to understand the general function of the lián construction, which seems to suggest that more explanation is needed as to the types of elements that can be focused on and the relationship between the focused elements and unfocused elements in the sentence and discourse. Taking the lián construction in (6.43) as an example, the focused element is zhōumò “weekend”. Teachers may provide other elements that can be used in that context, as illustrated in (6.45).

(6.45) a: 他天天都很忙，连吃饭的时间都没有。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián chīfàn de shíjiān dōu méiyŏu.

“He is very busy every day and does not even have time to eat.”

b: 他天天都很忙，这事儿他连想也没时间想。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, zhèi shìr tā lián xiăng yĕ méi shíjiān xiăng.

“He is very busy every day. This issue, he does not even have time to think about it”

c: 他天天都很忙，连家都不回。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián jiā dōu bù huí.

“He is very busy every day and does not even go home.”

All three lián constructions in (6.45) explain how busy the referent is: no time to eat in (a), no time to think about this issue in (b), and “no time” to go home in (c). This means all three lián constructions are used in the right discourse.

If we look at the focused elements in these constructions “eating time”, “thinking time”, and “home time”, we find that the speaker chooses the elements that are of importance in his/her life to focus on. In other words, “eat”, “think” and “home”

are all important concepts to the speaker, therefore, they are emphasized or focused on in the discourse using the lián construction. If, on the other hand, the focused element does not play any important role in the speaker or listener’s life, then the lián construction may not be used, as shown in (6.46)–(6.47).

(6.46) ??他天天很忙，连玩儿都没时间。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián wánr dōu méi shíjiān.

“He is very busy every day; he does not even have time to play.”

(6.47) a: *他天天很忙，连没有时间都看电影。

* tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián méiyŏu shíjiān dōu kàn diànyĭng.

Gloss: he every-day very busy, lián no time dou watch movie”

b: 他天天很忙，连看电影的时间都没有。

tā tiāntiān dōu hĕn máng, lián kàn diànyĭng de shíjiān dōu méiyŏu.

“He is very busy every day. (He) does not even have time to watch a movie.”

The acceptability of the lián construction in (6.46) depends on the understanding of the concept wánr “play”. To some people, “play” cannot be possibly considered important in life; therefore, focusing on it using the lián construction is not acceptable. However, to many others, it is perfectly appropriate to focus on “play” in describing their lifestyles. In comparison, the lián construction in (6.47a) is totally unacceptable because the focused element is méiyŏu shíjiān “no time” which cannot be considered an important factor in anybody’s life. However, if the focused element is changed into kàn diànyĭng

“watch a movie” as in (6.47b), then the lián construction becomes acceptable.

To sum up this section, instead of discussing all lián’s functions, I have focused on its emphatic/focus function — the most commonly used function. It was demonstrated that the lián construction is most likely to be used to further explain or comment on the situation described in the immediately preceding discourse. When teaching this function, instructors may emphasize why some concepts can be focused on using the lián construction while others cannot, so that students have a clear understanding of the discourse pragmatic function, namely where and why the lián construction is used in discourse.