Tham khảo tài liệu 'mandarin chinese a functional reference grammar phần 3', ngoại ngữ, ngữ pháp tiếng anh phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | 118 SIMPLE DECLARATIVE SENTENCES Some adjectives can appear either in a relative clause that is with the nominalizer de or as a simple attributive adjective that is without the de M shown in 90 - 94 90 a. hóng de huã red NOM flower a flower that is red b. hóng huã red flower a red flower 91 a. yìng de xiàngpí hard NOM rubber rubber that is hard b. ylng xiàngpí hard rubber hard rubber 92 a. yuan de zhuozi round NOM table a table that is round b. yuan zhuozi round table a round table 93 a. jiù de shỏushi old used NOM jewelry jewelry that is secondhand SIMPLE DECLARATIVE SENTENCES 119 b. jiù shỏushi old used jewelry used jewelry 94 a. xiáo de jiizi small NOM orange an orange that is small b. xiảo júzi small orange a small orange In general adjectives that modify a noun without the particle de tend to be more closely knit with the noun. The consequence is that the adjective-plus-noun phrase tends to acquire the feature of being a name for a category of entities. The relative clause usage of adjectives on the other hand always has the function of further clarifying or delineating the reference of the head noun. What determines when a name is called for of course concerns our perception and categorization of entities in the world. If a type of entity is likely to be perceived as an integral and relevant category by speakers of Mandarin then they are more disposed toward giving a name to that category of entities. As a general rule the more people are disposed toward naming a category of entities the more they are likely to refer to that category of objects by using the formula adjective noun where the adjective specifies the type of entity referred to by the noun. For example it is perfectly natural to perceive red flowers as a category and quite reasonable to name a group of flowers according to their color hence we have hóng huã red flower where de is absent. On the other hand it is less likely that we should perceive comfortable chairs as a relevant category of items
