This grammar presents a linguistic study of the Shangshui dialect, which belongs to Central Plains Mandarin. The latter is a sub-branch of Mandarin and is spoken over a vast region of the middle of China in a long, narrow belt, extending across 11 provinces and covering an area of about 200,000 square kilometers. In total, more than 100 million people speak Central Plains Mandarin. Central Plains Mandarin has the most extensive distribution of the eight Mandarin branches, and it is regarded as the base of Standard Mandarin. However, compared with other dialect groups, very little research has been conducted on it. Scholars have considered that there are no grammatical distinctions between Central Plains Mandarin and Standard Mandarin, although there are slight differences in the phonological systems and vocabulary. This may be the reason why scholars have, up until now, neglected the grammar of Central Plains Mandarin. However, we are of the opinion that this lack of research is incongruous with the status of Central Plains Mandarin, and our present work proves that its grammar contains many unique features worthy of investigation.

App designers dream of creating a platform that users never want to leave, that keeps them glued forever - a platform that is "sticky". Over 846 million WeChat users leave text and voice messages, share life moments, play games, use stickers, purchase rail and flight tickets, shop online, pay utilities and bills, transfer money to friends, and even donate to charity without leaving WeChat, the super-sticky platform. The Economist called WeChat "one app to rule them all", and as it starts to gain global appeal, it is rewriting the rules for social media platforms. This book provides a balanced and nuanced study of how the super-sticky WeChat platform interweaves into the fabric of Chinese social, cultural, and political life. It keeps the wider global and national social media landscape in view and compares and contrasts WeChat with Weibo and QQ, two other popular social media platforms in China, and other Western social media platforms.

App designers dream of creating a platform that users never want to leave, that keeps them glued forever - a platform that is "sticky". Over 846 million WeChat users leave text and voice messages, share life moments, play games, use stickers, purchase rail and flight tickets, shop online, pay utilities and bills, transfer money to friends, and even donate to charity without leaving WeChat, the super-sticky platform. The Economist called WeChat "one app to rule them all", and as it starts to gain global appeal, it is rewriting the rules for social media platforms. This book provides a balanced and nuanced study of how the super-sticky WeChat platform interweaves into the fabric of Chinese social, cultural, and political life. It keeps the wider global and national social media landscape in view and compares and contrasts WeChat with Weibo and QQ, two other popular social media platforms in China, and other Western social media platforms.

This grammar presents a linguistic study of the Shangshui dialect, which belongs to Central Plains Mandarin. The latter is a sub-branch of Mandarin and is spoken over a vast region of the middle of China in a long, narrow belt, extending across 11 provinces and covering an area of about 200,000 square kilometers. In total, more than 100 million people speak Central Plains Mandarin. Central Plains Mandarin has the most extensive distribution of the eight Mandarin branches, and it is regarded as the base of Standard Mandarin. However, compared with other dialect groups, very little research has been conducted on it. Scholars have considered that there are no grammatical distinctions between Central Plains Mandarin and Standard Mandarin, although there are slight differences in the phonological systems and vocabulary. This may be the reason why scholars have, up until now, neglected the grammar of Central Plains Mandarin. However, we are of the opinion that this lack of research is incongruous with the status of Central Plains Mandarin, and our present work proves that its grammar contains many unique features worthy of investigation.

App designers dream of creating a platform that users never want to leave, that keeps them glued forever - a platform that is "sticky". Over 846 million WeChat users leave text and voice messages, share life moments, play games, use stickers, purchase rail and flight tickets, shop online, pay utilities and bills, transfer money to friends, and even donate to charity without leaving WeChat, the super-sticky platform. The Economist called WeChat "one app to rule them all", and as it starts to gain global appeal, it is rewriting the rules for social media platforms. This book provides a balanced and nuanced study of how the super-sticky WeChat platform interweaves into the fabric of Chinese social, cultural, and political life. It keeps the wider global and national social media landscape in view and compares and contrasts WeChat with Weibo and QQ, two other popular social media platforms in China, and other Western social media platforms.

App designers dream of creating a platform that users never want to leave, that keeps them glued forever - a platform that is "sticky". Over 846 million WeChat users leave text and voice messages, share life moments, play games, use stickers, purchase rail and flight tickets, shop online, pay utilities and bills, transfer money to friends, and even donate to charity without leaving WeChat, the super-sticky platform. The Economist called WeChat "one app to rule them all", and as it starts to gain global appeal, it is rewriting the rules for social media platforms. This book provides a balanced and nuanced study of how the super-sticky WeChat platform interweaves into the fabric of Chinese social, cultural, and political life. It keeps the wider global and national social media landscape in view and compares and contrasts WeChat with Weibo and QQ, two other popular social media platforms in China, and other Western social media platforms.