漢語詞綴界定-以「x子」、「x手」為例探析

This thesis contributes to the study of Chinese word formation by examining a group of nominal compounds in Chinese ending in子 zi and 手 shou. These compounds frequently include the meaning of either agent or instrument. In addition, they also sometimes indicate various types of attributes such as kinship. They are thus similar in many ways to the English derivational suffix -er. However, as this thesis shows, the morphemes zi and shou show semantic and syntactic differences significant enough to justify placing them into separate morphological categories. This study argues that only zi is a true suffix in the sense of -er in English. The morpheme shou, on the other hand, differs from zi in both syntax and semantics, and we place it in a new category: quasi-suffix.