Corpus-based comparison of verbs of separation “qie” and “ge”

Abstract

This paper predicts that Chinese Synonyms qie and ge are verbs of separation and uses a variety of Chinese Word Sketch (CWS) functions to distinguish them. Several subtle differences are demonstrated in modifying relation and noun-verb relation, showing that the use of the two target words differ mainly in terms of the purpose of separation. Developing history is one of the factors why the use of qie and ge differ across the straits. These findings are more detailed when comparing with the work focusing on dictionary study. Obviously, traditional dictionary is no longer enough to Chinese language learners. This study is expected to provide some insights for Chinese dictionary editors and hence Chinese teachers.