Abstract
The Chinese adjectives “duo(多)”, “shao(少)” and “gou(夠)” show some peculiarities in their use. Modification of nouns using “duo(多)” is not the same as for other adjectives. For example, “新的習慣” (new habit), and “ 新的工廠” (new factory) are correct, but “多的習慣”, and “多的工廠” are not. They must be written as “很多習慣” (many habits), and “很多工廠” (many factories). The Japanese adjectives “ooi(多い)”, “sukunai(少ない)”, “tooi(遠い)” and “chikai(近い)” also show some peculiarities in their use. “Ooi” is not used in the same way as other adjectives as it cannot directly modify nouns. For example, “新しい習慣” (new habit), and “新しい工場” (new factory) are correct, but “多い習慣”, and “多い工場” are not. They must be changed to “多くの習慣” (many habits), and “多くの工場” (many factories).
This dissertation addresses the attribute usage of quantitative adjectives in Chinese and Japanese from the perspective of Chinese and Japanese language teaching.I have taken the Chinese adjectives “duo”, “shao”, and “gou”, and the Japanese adjectives “ooi”, “sukunai”, “tooi”, and “chikai” as my research subject, and have attempted to clarify the various ways in which these adjectives are used. This dissertation is divided into four sections as follows:
First, corpus analysis was performed to identify the universal and basic attribute usage of Chinese adjectives including “duo”, and of Japanese adjectives including “ooi”. Second, analysis of the problems of Chinese/Japanese translation was performed, specifically, analysis of translating the Japanese adjectives “ooi”, “sukunai”, “tooi”, and “chikai” into Chinese, and the Chinese adjectives “duo”, “shao”, and “gou” into Japanese. Particular attention should be paid to the special attribute usage rules of these adjectives when translating them. Third, to apply the research results to teaching, we should identify how previously published textbooks have dealt with the issues related to attribute usage of adjectives, and identify the best approach in order to design the ideal teaching methodology for attribute usage of adjectives. Fourth, contrastive analysis of the solid compounds with the initial characters of “多” and “少” in Chinese and Japanese dictionaries was performed. The common solid compounds identified in the contrastive analyses are helpful for Chinese speaking learners of Japanese, and vice versa.