Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars) (Paperback)

It is fortunate that the long-felt need for a Cantonese grammar should have been socompetently 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

'It is fortunate that the long-felt need for a Cantonese grammar should have been socompetently 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

'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

'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

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 Yips 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 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

The book, covering all major areas of Cantonese grammar, is meticulously researchd and carefully edited and proof-read. Written clearly and articualtely, it is very readable for readers from layman to specialist. Examples are plentiful; and idioms and other interesting tidbits are placed here and there within frames to entice and intrigue the reader. Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip are to be highly commended for their excellent scholarship in producing this immensely useful volume as a resource for a wide readership. This book is a valuable reference source for a grammatical description in English of modern spoken Cantonese and will remain so for many years to come. Professor Marjorie Chan, Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association