What are the principles for dividing the pauses in classical Chinese reading?

The method of dividing classical Chinese pauses is as follows:

1. There should be a pause between the subject, verb and object.

2. There should be a pause after the empty words at the beginning of the sentence and the general words.

3. There can be a pause after the related words and before the conjunctions.

4. For more complex adjectives, adverbials, and complementary words, whether it is a front bridge attack or a posterior position, there should be a pause.

5. Pause between parallel phrases.

6. After taking over the demonstrative pronouns above, there should be a pause, such as "yes", "this".

Classical Chinese

It refers to an article composed of a written language in ancient China, mainly including a written language based on the spoken language of the pre-Qin period. Classical Chinese is relative to the vernacular literature after the New Culture Movement, and it is characterized by its emphasis on allusions, battles, and neat rhythms, including strategies, poems, lyrics, songs, eight strands, and prose texts.

Mr. Wang Li, a well-known linguist and educator, pointed out in "Ancient Chinese" that Wenyan refers to the written language of ancient Chinese formed on the basis of the spoken language of the pre-Qin period and the language in the antique works of later writers. Classical Chinese, that is, articles written in classical Chinese, that is, works of ancient classical Chinese and works that imitated it throughout the ages.

As a stereotyped written language, classical Chinese has been used for two or three thousand years, from the pre-Qin Zhuzi, the two Han Cifu, and the pure historical prose, to the ancient texts of the Tang and Song dynasties, and the eight strands of the Ming and Qing dynasties, all of which belong to the scope of classical Chinese. In other words, classical Chinese is the written language of ancient China and the source of modern Chinese.

The pause rule is in line with the ancient people's expression of the Lingling, where words or words with the same meaning are read together, with a pause in the middle, as follows:

The trip of a husband and a gentleman is to cultivate oneself quietly and to cultivate virtue through frugality. Non-indifferent, no ambition, non-tranquility, no far-reaching. Husbands must be quiet in learning, and only then can they learn, and if they do not learn, they will not be able to broaden their talents, and if they are not ambitious, they will not be able to learn.

If you are slow, you will not be able to exalt yourself, and if you are impatient, you will not be able to treat nature. As the years pass with the times, the will and the days go away, and then they become withered and fallen, and many do not receive the world. Sad and poor, what will be the return!

Translation: The conduct of a gentleman is to improve his self-cultivation from tranquility and cultivate his character with frugality. If you are not quiet and have few desires, you will not be able to clarify your aspirations, and you will not be able to achieve lofty goals without excluding external interference.

Learning must be quiet and single-minded, and talent comes from learning. Therefore, if you don't study, you can't grow your talents, and if you don't have ambition, you can't make achievements in learning. Indulgence and laziness will not lift the spirit, and impatience and adventure will not cultivate the temperament.

The years fly with the light, and the will passes with the years. In the end, they withered and scattered, most of them did not come into contact with the world, were not used by the society, and could only sit sadly in the poor and poor dregs of the house, how could they regret it at that time?

This article is from Zhuge Liang's "Book of Commandments" of the Three Kingdoms.

1. There should be a pause after the particle and related words at the beginning of the sentence. There are some imaginary words in classical Chinese that are placed at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the tone or lead up the whole sentence or even the whole paragraph, such as to the husband and the husband, and the recitation should be paused slightly, and cannot be connected with the words that follow. For example, in the "Nuclear Boat Record", the cover of the person who repaired the peach core is a pronounced word, indicating the original meaning, and we should pause for a moment when reading.

Second, pause according to the structure of the sentence.

1) Pause according to the subject predicate object, that is, between the subject and the predicate, and between the predicate and the object. For example, in "The Story of the Nuclear Boat", the tail of the boat lies horizontally, the tail of the boat in the sentence is the subject, the horizontal lie is the predicate, and the one is the object. So we can pause like this:

The stern of the boat lies horizontally. Another example is that in the sentence that Wuling people fish for business, Wuling people are the subject, so they should pause behind Wuling people, and the meaning of the sentence is that there is a Wuling person who takes fishing as a profession.

2) There should be a pause between the predicate and the complement. For example, in "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring", this person is said and heard one by one, in which what is heard is the complement of the words, so we can make such a pause: this person is said and heard one by one.

3. In ancient times, there were two monophonic words, while in modern Chinese, there is a polyphonic word, which should be read separately. For example, in "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring", the wife in the sentence is a two-syllable word in modern Chinese, indicating a meaning of the husband's spouse, but in ancient Chinese it is two monosyllabic words, one refers to the wife and the other refers to the child, so we must read it separately when reading, otherwise we will misunderstand the meaning of the sentence.

1. There should be a pause after the first sentence particle (also called the first sentence of the sentence) and the related word.

There are some imaginary words placed at the beginning of a sentence in classical Chinese to emphasize the tone or lead the whole sentence or even the whole paragraph. The commonly used sentence first sentences and related words are mainly as follows: sentence first sentences:

Such as "to", "if", "to if", "husband", "if fu", "cover", "then", "then", "then", "then", "how", "if", "appropriate", "sincere", "whatever, whatever, whatever, etc. Related words: and, although, cause, "only", "therefore", etc.

When reciting, these words should be followed by a slight pause and should not be read in conjunction with the words that follow.

2 In ancient times, it was a two-syllable word, while in modern Chinese, it is a two-syllable word, which should be read separately.

3. Pause according to the linguistic order, that is, according to the "subject-predicate-object", "adverb-predicate", "verb-complement" to pause, that is, between the subject and the predicate, between the verb and the complement (there is generally no pause between the definite and the central word), so that the meaning is obvious.

4. The noun acting as an adverbial and the central word should be read continuously, that is, when the noun is used as an adverbial, it generally pauses before the word, and the adverbial and the central word cannot be disconnected. If you read it separately, you mistake the adverbial for the subject and change the meaning of the sentence.

5 There should be a pause after the word "and". However, if the word "while" plays the following role in the sentence, then it cannot be paused, that is, the word "while" cannot be read separately from the following words, but should be read consecutively.

And "if the adjective (or adverb) and the verb are connected in the sentence, that is, "the adjective (adverb) and the verb", then the adjective or adverb in front of it acts as an adverb and plays the role of modifying the following verb, and cannot be read separately. And if "in the sentence is connected with two verbs, that is, "verb and verb", then "and" means that it is connected, that is, the previous action has occurred, and the following action has occurred, and then "and" cannot be followed by a pause, and should be read in conjunction with the following verb. "And" concatenate two words with the same parts of speech (i.e., two nouns, two verbs, two adjectives) to indicate juxtaposition, equivalent to "and", "and", "and" or not translated, in this case there should be no pause after "and".

6 The pause should reflect the original sentence structure.

7 Rhythmic pauses should reflect the element of elision.

8 It is necessary to understand the ancient country names, year names, official positions, titles, historical facts, and place names, otherwise it is easy to lead to errors in reading aloud.

9 "Also" is used to reveal a pause in a sentence and to pause after it when read aloud.

10 Use the understanding of the context to determine the pause. When reading classical Chinese, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the text according to the context, and only when the meaning of the text is accurately understood can the pause be accurate.

11 There should be a pause between the beats of the verse. The reading of ancient poems has its regularity, generally speaking, it is a pause in two words, that is, a pause according to the syllable.