<blockquote>
<p>noun 者・所 verb 也</p>
</blockquote>
<p>in such structure, the “者” served two purpose:</p>
<ul>
<li>indicate a pause</li>
<li>as a modal particle, to adjust the mood, or flow of the verse</li>
</ul>
<p>in <a href="https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&amp;id=11491#s10119063" rel="nofollow noreferrer">禮記 禮運</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>故君者・所明也</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hence the ruler is he to whose brightness men look</p>
<blockquote>
<p>君者・所養也</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ruler is he whom men support</p>
<blockquote>
<p>君者・所事也</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ruler is he whom men serve</p>
<p>one might interpret “者” as the spotlight and fabfare , when an emcee announces; “and the winner is . . .”; in which, “者” is, to emphasise the preceding noun (君, in this example), as the subject of the following verb (明, 養, 事, in this example)</p>
<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T13:04:10.360Z
2021-12-23T13:04:10.360Z
水巷孑蠻
<p><a href="https://cantoneseplus.com/character/1248" rel="nofollow noreferrer">者</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) (pron) those who, he who, one who.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>(2) (noun suffix) -er, -or, -ist. [3] <strong>used as topic marker</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>pausing after a topic can emphasize it.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>兵，詭道也 = warfare, is an art of deception</p>
<p>兵(者)，詭道也 = (what) warfare (is), is an art of deception</p>
<p>者 here is a &quot;topic marker&quot;, not a noun. It leads the reader to a following statement. It can be omitted, as the example above showed.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T05:28:06.120Z
I think it is a "topic marker". The sentence is a classic topic-comment structure.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T05:31:40.630Z
I agree, it is a pause marker that marks the phrase before the pause as a topic. I would edit the dictionary
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T05:36:13.463Z
Might as well remove 'pause marker' and replace it with 'topic marker' because a pause is a given between the topic and the statement
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T05:24:41.547Z
2021-12-23T05:37:08.107Z
2021-12-23T05:37:08.107Z
Tang Ho
<p>I've recently learned that 者 is used to nominalize an action, whereas I used to think its purpose was just to assign an action to an actor and reference the actor. But I'm going through Fuller's book, and he uses the structure in the title. For example, he says that instead of &quot;从<strong>X</strong>坠&quot;, we can write &quot;<strong>X</strong>者，所从坠也。&quot; This emphasizes <strong>X</strong> and makes it the topic of the sentence. Another similar example is &quot;剑者，涉江者所求也,&quot; where &quot;剑&quot; is emphasized, and that is the object which the &quot;涉江&quot;-er seeks.</p>
<p>I don't understand why we need 者 in these cases. 剑 and any <strong>X</strong> are already nouns, so why do they need nominalization? What is the 者 doing?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T04:24:13.123Z
This thing sword is what the person who wades through the river looking for. Semantically speaking, the first 者 is not needed. "剑，涉江者所求也" also makes sense but that's not the common usage.
joehua
<grammar><literary-chinese>
Purpose of 者 in (noun)者，所(verb)也 structure
# Purpose of 者 in (noun)者，所(verb)也 structure

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-23)

I've recently learned that 者 is used to nominalize an action, whereas I used to think its purpose was just to assign an action to an actor and reference the actor. But I'm going through Fuller's book, and he uses the structure in the title. For example, he says that instead of "从**X**坠", we can write "**X**者，所从坠也。" This emphasizes **X** and makes it the topic of the sentence. Another similar example is "剑者，涉江者所求也," where "剑" is emphasized, and that is the object which the "涉江"-er seeks.

I don't understand why we need 者 in these cases. 剑 and any **X** are already nouns, so why do they need nominalization? What is the 者 doing?

**Tags:** grammar, literary-chinese

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This thing sword is what the person who wades through the river looking for. Semantically speaking, the first 者 is not needed. "剑，涉江者所求也" also makes sense but that's not the common usage.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-12-23. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> noun 者・所 verb 也

in such structure, the “者” served two purpose:

* indicate a pause
* as a modal particle, to adjust the mood, or flow of the verse

in [禮記 禮運](https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&id=11491#s10119063)

> 故君者・所明也

Hence the ruler is he to whose brightness men look

> 君者・所養也

The ruler is he whom men support

> 君者・所事也

The ruler is he whom men serve

one might interpret “者” as the spotlight and fabfare , when an emcee announces; “and the winner is . . .”; in which, “者” is, to emphasise the preceding noun (君, in this example), as the subject of the following verb (明, 養, 事, in this example)

have fun :)


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-12-23. Score: 0

[者](https://cantoneseplus.com/character/1248)

> (1) (pron) those who, he who, one who.

> (2) (noun suffix) -er, -or, -ist. [3] **used as topic marker**

pausing after a topic can emphasize it.

Example:

兵，詭道也 = warfare, is an art of deception

兵(者)，詭道也 = (what) warfare (is), is an art of deception

者 here is a "topic marker", not a noun. It leads the reader to a following statement. It can be omitted, as the example above showed.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I think it is a "topic marker". The sentence is a classic topic-comment structure.  
> **username_3**: I agree, it is a pause marker that marks the phrase before the pause as a topic. I would edit the dictionary  
> **username_3**: Might as well remove 'pause marker' and replace it with 'topic marker' because a pause is a given between the topic and the statement  

---

