The Use of the Chinese Negative Adverbs ‘bù’ and ‘méi’ by Secondary School Students in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Abstract

Negation is an indispensable grammatical category common to all languages in the world. It is used in a unique way by each language. In Chinese, negation is expressed using negative adverbs, the most common of which are ‘bù’ and ‘méi. The usage of these negative adverbs in Chinese is different from that in French, so the difference in usage is a challenge for Yaoundé’s secondary-school students. To effectively analyse the use of the Chinese negative adverbs ‘bù’ and ‘méi’ by Yaoundé secondary-school students, this article divides the use of ‘bù’ and ‘méi’ into eight grammatical structures, and presents research gathered from questionnaires and interviews. The author then analyses the different types of mistakes made by Yaoundé secondary-school students in using ‘bù’ and ‘méi’, exploring the motivation and purpose of their use. Recommendations are also provided to advise local secondary schools on how to approach teaching negative words in Chinese.