Space in Languages of China

Dan Xu is currently Professor of Chinese Linguistics at the Oriental Languages and Civilisations Institute of Paris (INALCO) in France. She graduated with a PhD in linguistics from the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1987, and completed her Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches from INALCO in 1998. She was elected and served as a Dean of the Chinese Department of the INALCO (2001-2004), and president of the Association of Chinese Research and Teaching in France (AREC, 2002-2004). In 2004 she was elected as a board member of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics.

From the reviews: "This book presents a collection of papers on the study of various linguistic and cognitive aspects of the category of space in different languages of china ... . the volume provides the reader with a deep theoretical insight into the study of the language representation of space and it will foster further research based on the linguistic data from other language. ... the book constitutes a rich source of information for the scholars from various branches of linguistics and other studies related to it." (Irina Borozdina, The Linguist, June, 2009)

• Space: A Cross-linguistic perspective.- Introduction: How Chinese Structures Space.- Chinese Localizers: Diachrony and Some Typological Considerations.- Syntax Of Space Across Chinese Dialects: Conspiring and Competing Principles and Factors.- The Linguistic Categorization of Deictic Direction in Chinese — with Reference to Japanese —.- The Locative Words in The Waxiang Dialect Spoken in Guzhang, Hunan.- From Locative to Object Markers: The Parallel Development of Two Postpositions in Bai.- The Role of Visual Space in Sign Language Development.- Space in Synchronic and Diachronic Chinese.- Asymmetry in the Expression of Space in Chinese —The Chinese Language Meets Typology.- Two Conditions and Grammaticalization of the Chinese Locative.- Origin and Evolution of the Locative Term HÒU ‘Back’ In Chinese.- The Inessive Structure in Archaic and Medieval Chinese: An Evolutionary Study of Inessive Demonstrative Uses From Archaic to Early Modern Chinese.