DOCSLIB.ORG

Essays on the Chinese Language

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Essays on the Chinese Language CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE. CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Cornell University Library PL 1073.W34 Essays on the Chinese language. 3 1924 023 333 747 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023333747 ESSAYS ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE, BY T. WATTERS. -O^VPO- Pbesbytbeian Mission Pbbss. 1889. PIIEFA.OE. The first beginning of this book was made in Peking more than a quarter of a century ago. It was at the suggestion of the lamented Sir Frederick Bruce, then H. M.'s Minister to China, that the study of the word Tao was taken up, and at the same time the survey of the Chinese language in general was begun. It was originally intended to take in a number of subjects not treated of in the pages which follow. But as the work proceeded it was found impos- sible to carry out the original design. Still the author ventures to hope that what is here given will help or interest students of the Chinese language and form a basis for further researches. Imperfect drafts of part of the book have already appeared in the Chinese Recorder and the China Review. It affords the author much pleasure to acknowledge openly his deep gratitude to his friend, W. R. Carles, Esq., H. M.'s Consul for Chinkiang. The hard and irksome task of correcting the proofs was undertaken by Mr. Carles and carried out by him during the whole time the work was going through the press. The Superintendent of the Mission Press also has done all in his power to printer's errors. > diminish the number of These, however, are still too many, and the author regrets that the book has to appear marred by these and other errors for which the printers are not responsible. Newchwajjg, September, 1889. ; CONTENTS. Chap. 1. SOME WESTERN OPINIONS. Number of those who use the Chinese language, p. I sphere of the language, 1 ; Chinese little known to Western scholars, 2; different opinions, 3; some theories as to origin and family relationship, 4 ; Golius, Leibniz, Farrar, 4 ; John Webb, 5; early Roman Catholic missionaries, 7; Edkins, Marshman, Chalmers, 8 ; Logan, G. von der Gabelenz, 9 ; de Lacouperie, 11 ; Fried. Muller, 12 ; some opinions on Chinese from the morphological point of view, P. von Schlegel, 12; Bopp, W. von Humboldt, 13 ; Schleicher, Pott, L. Adam, Max Miiller, 14 ; Grube, la ; some opinions on the contents and general character of the language, 15 ; Semedo, 16 ; Premare, Amyot, 16; W. von Humboldt, Steinthal, Whitney, Renan, 17 ; materials for correct general judgment not yet ready, 19. Chap. II. THE CULTIVATION OF THEIR LANGUAGE BY THE CHINESE. This chapter does not pretend to give a full account of the cultivation of their language by native authors, p. 20 ; early use cultiva- of writing, 21 ; the state interpreters in Chow period, 22 ; tion of the language in this period, 23 ; Ch'in Shi Huang Ti's dynasty, ; the Buddhist action, 26 ; the scholars of the Han 28 missionaries from India, 36 ; the scholars of the Three Kingdoms ;; U CONTENTS. period, 38 ; the works on the language in the Chin period, 39 the North and South dynasties, 42 ; the Sin dynasty, 46 ; the T'ang dynasty, 48 ; Buddhist monks on the language, 51 ; invention of printing,* 54 ; writers under the Sung dynasty, 55 ; the Mongol or Yuan dynasty, 73 ; works on the language during the Ming period, 78 ; those of the present dynasty, 84 ; treatises to teach natives of Kuangtung and Fuhkeen the Mandarin language, 97. Chap. HI. CHINESE OPINIONS ABOUT THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OP THE LANGUAGE. Chinese opinions as to first men, they were not mute, p. 103 they and barbarians generally chattered like birds, 103 ; Chinese regard speech as natural, 104 ; man speaks when moved, 106 ; speech before or after music, 106; the growth alnd changes in speech not arbitrary, 107 ; earliest articulate utterances of baby, 108; sing-sing, parrot and other creatures can utter words, 109; man alone has faculty of speech, 110 ; two fold source of speech material and mental, 113 ; climatic conditions affect speech, 115 speech not enough and visible record needed, 116; precursors of writing, the Ho-t'u, and Lo-shu, aUd Pa-kua, 118; written characters invented by Tsang Chie but made according to reason, 121; history of writing, 123; Chinese appreciation of value of writing, 125; comparison of written languages of China and India, 126. Chap. IV. ON THE INTERJECTIONAL AND IMITATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. Man's conscious control does not extend to the use of expressions, emotional and imitative p. 128 ; treatment of these by grammarians and philologists, 128; by native scholars in See Errata. ; COMTBSTS. W China, 129; Farrar's "elements of articulate speech," 130; Chinese use of interjections such as ai-ya, 131; uses of ai, 133 ; vocal gestures, 135 ; in some cases such expressions are real words or their ruins, 136 ; blowing of wind, rain, 137 ; imitations of animal cries, 139 ; of involuntary human sounds as coughing and sneezing, 142; defects and peculiarities of utterance, 145; child's language, 147 ; expressions metaphorically imitative, 149. Chap. V. THE WORD TAG. Neithe/' foreign nor native opinions as to the resources of the Chinese language to be trusted, p. 152 ; the word Tao to be investigated, 152 ; cautions with reference to what is stated in this chapter, 153 ; Tao does not give fair specimen of uses of a word, 153 ; writing and pronunciation of the word, 153 ; syno- nyms, 154; combinations with sense of road, 154; special phrases connected with meaning of road, 160; to travel, 161 ; right of way, 161 ; from, district, 162; orbit, course, 164 ; ray, band, line, time, 166 ; Tao as a numerative or classifier, 167 ; in the sense of means and manner, 168; expedient, 169; attainments, char- acteristics, 172 state 170 ; course of conduct, ; or condition, 175 ; to lead or guide, 177 ; doctrine, religion, 180 ; truth, wisdom, 181 principles, 183; to rule, government, institutions, 186; good government, order, 189; law, standard, &c., 190; to talk, discourse, &c., 192; the Ultimate Principle, 197; nature or law of creatures, 201; I'ien-tao's meanings, 202; man's moral constitu- tion, 206 ; conscience, 208 ; tao-hsin and Jen-hsin, 209 ; Reason, 211; duty, 214; relationship, 217; essentials, sum, 219; Tao as title of person, 221 ; source or cause, reason, 222 ; type, emblem, 223; ideal moral perfection, 225; ideal state of society, 228; of Nature, 229 ; Miscellaneous, 232 ; Taoist use the word, 235 Mahometan, 239; Christian, 24X). ; IV CONTENTS. Chap. VI. TERMS RELATING TO DEATH AND BURIAL. The Chinese language is rich in some respects and poor in others, p. 245 ; words and phrases connected with Pig, 246 ; names for year, 249 ; for periods of human life, 252 ; terms for death, 257 ; for dying, 259; to die, 262 ; to die prematurely, 274; to die ill, 279 j the dead, 282 ; terms for ceremonies] on behalf of the dead, 292 ; terms for customs to be observed by mourners, 297 terms for the coffin and its parts, 299 ; the bier, 303 ; the site for the grave, 305 ; terms for burial, 307 ; for temporary resting of coffin, 309 ; the grave and tomb, 310 ; the cemetery, 318 ; terms for mourning, 321. Chap. VII. FOREIGN WORDS IN CHINESE. Foreign words in Chinese not numerous, 328 ; Barbarians, 329; commodities known by names of countries, 329; An-hsi, Chiam-pi, Ho-lan, 330 ; Greek and Roman terms, 331 ; Spanish and Portuguese, 333 ; Dutch and German, 334 ; French, 334 English, 335 ; Malay, 341 ; Persian, 347 ; Arabic, 352 ; Turkish, 356 ; Manchu, 362 ; Mongolian, 369 ; Tibetan, 375. Chap. VIII. THE INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. The influence of Buddhism on Chinese only sketched in outline, p. 379; intercourse with India before the Han period asserted but not proven, 379 ; Chang Ch'ien gives report of India, 380 ; first missionaries from India, 380 ; effects of Buddhism on Chinese like those of Christianity and Mahometanism on other languages, 380; the Chinese were taught Sanskrit by the mis- —; CONTENTS. T sionaries, 381 ; books were written, 382 ; the Chinese were also taught how to study their own language, 383 ; astronomy and other sciences taught, 383 ; the foreign missionaries were not all from India, 384 ; different dialects, Indian and Chinese, 385 Indian words introduced at different periods, 385 ; words relating to the Buddhist religion : the objects of worship and reverence Buddhas, P'usas, Disciples and Patriarchs, 387; Indian gods, Brahma and Indra, 394 ; Yama and Mara, 395 ; other superna- tural beings, Rakshas, Yakshas, G-andharvas, Asurs, 396 ; Chandi, 399; Buddhist heavens and hells, 400; names for professed Bud- dhists and lay members, 401 ; Brahmans, 406 ; terms relating to sacred buildings, 407 ; monks' robes and bowl, 412 ; alms and alms givers, 413; cremation, 415; Nirvana, 416; relics, 417; technical terms such as Prajna-Paramita, Bodhi, 418 ; Yii-lan-hui, 421 ; Nan-wu, 422 ; T'o-lo-ni, 423 ; Buddhist sacred books and the material and way of chanting, 424; grammatical geographical terms and names of places, 425 ; names of numbers and measures, 430 ; names of minerals and precious stones, 432 ; names for trees, ffowers and vegetable medicines and other products, 435 ; names of animals, 442. Chap. IX. THE INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE (Oontinued.) New Chinese terms added by translation from the Sanskrit, p. 445 ; mode of proceeding adopted by early translators, 445 names of Buddhas and P'usas, Sakyamuni, Jan-t^ng, Kuan- Fa-lun, yin, 446 ; Kei-ku-tu, 449 ; Lun-wang and 449 ; Buddhist geographical and topographical names, 450 ; objects clergy, 450 ; associated with Buddhist monks, 452 ; San-tsang, 453 ; Chin-kang, 454; San-sh6ng, 454; other technical terms as Tao-pi-an, Mie- tu, 456 ; new expressions which are not translations, 458 ; Ch'u- chia and similar terms, 458 ; transmit robe and bowl, 460 ; trans- mit lamp, 450 ; sitting cross-legged, 461 ; wood-fish, 461 ; Name for ;; •n CONTENTS.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Generic Subject Guide
    DiMenna-Nyselius Library Chinese Language & Literature • Campus Resources • Directories and Organizations • Dictionaries and Encyclopedias • Almanacs, Handbooks, and • Library Catalog Statistics • Article Indexes and Databases • Primary Documents and Images • Electronic Texts and Journals • Internet Resources • Bibliographies and Reviews • Course Homepage and Course • Biographical and Geographical Reserves Resources • Tips on Using Your Information Campus Resources Fairfield University Language Resource Center (LARC) http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jgoldfield/LARC030506.htm Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage http://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict/ Chinese Characters Dictionary Web http://zhongwen.com/zi.htm Online Chinese Dictionaries http://www.chinalanguage.com/Language/Dictionaries/ ABC Chinese-English comprehensive dictionary: alphabetically based computerized Ref. PL1455.A33 2003 A Dictionary of Chinese mythology Ref. BL1801.W35 1961 Dictionary of 1000 Chinese idioms Ref. PL1273.D53 2000 Mathews’ Chinese-English dictionary Ref. PL1455.M42 1969 A New English-Chinese dictionary Ref. PL1455.N49 1984 Oxford Chinese dictionary: English-Chinese, Chinese-English Ref. PL1455.O94 2003 with an accompanying CD-ROM at the Media Desk, Main Level The Pinyin Chinese-English dictionary Ref. PL1455.P55 1979 The Cambridge encyclopedia of China Ref. DS705.C35 1991 Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture Ref. DS705.P47 1999 Modern China: an encyclopedia of history, culture,
    [Show full text]
  • Singapore Mandarin Chinese : Its Variations and Studies
    This document is downloaded from DR‑NTU (https://dr.ntu.edu.sg) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Singapore Mandarin Chinese : its variations and studies Lin, Jingxia; Khoo, Yong Kang 2018 Lin, J., & Khoo, Y. K. (2018). Singapore Mandarin Chinese : its variations and studies. Chinese Language and Discourse, 9(2), 109‑135. doi:10.1075/cld.18007.lin https://hdl.handle.net/10356/136920 https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.18007.lin © 2018 John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved. This paper was published in Chinese Language and Discourse and is made available with permission of John Benjamins Publishing Company. Downloaded on 26 Sep 2021 00:28:12 SGT To appear in Chinese Language and Discourse (2018) Singapore Mandarin Chinese: Its Variations and Studies* Jingxia Lin and Yong Kang Khoo Nanyang Technological University Abstract Given the historical and linguistic contexts of Singapore, it is both theoretically and practically significant to study Singapore Mandarin (SM), an important member of Global Chinese. This paper aims to present a relatively comprehensive linguistic picture of SM by overviewing current studies, particularly on the variations that distinguish SM from other Mandarin varieties, and to serve as a reference for future studies on SM. This paper notes that (a) current studies have often provided general descriptions of the variations, but less on individual variations that may lead to more theoretical discussions; (b) the studies on SM are primarily based on the comparison with Mainland China Mandarin; (c) language contact has been taken as the major contributor of the variation in SM, whereas other factors are often neglected; and (d) corpora with SM data are comparatively less developed and the evaluation of data has remained largely in descriptive statistics.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Chinese Writing: Ancient Autochthonous Perspective Fran蔞ise Bott廨o CRLAO-CNRS-EHESS Paris in Order to Compare What Could
    1 Chinese writing: ancient autochthonous perspective Françoise Bottéro CRLAO-CNRS-EHESS Paris In order to compare what could also be compared between ancient writing systems and enrich our problematics, I would like to provide another possible perspective. Instead of signs structure or origins of writing, I would like to discuss some more theoretic or analytic points such as, for example, the kinds of reflections made by the ancient people on their own writing system. Indeed, It could be worth comparing how and when ancient scribes/scholars started asking questions about their writing system : How they conceived the origins of their writing system, what kind of reflections and theories they elaborated on their script, how they classified and analysed the written signs, what kind of lexical lists they provided, when did they start using a special terminology, etc. This could help us understand constraints imposed by the so called logographic writing system as opposed to phonetic writing systems, and the ways ancient scribes/lexicographs used to handle them. 1. The origins of writing in ancient China The oldest mention to the origins of writing in China goes back to the 3rd century BC. The great philosopher Xu2nzi3 荀子 (335-238) and his disciple Ha2n Fe1i 韓非 (280-233) present Ca1ng Jie2 倉頡 as someone specialised in writing and eventually as the inventor of writing. The Heroic invention of writing progressively developed, and around the 1rst century AD, Ca1ng Jie2 had become the scribe of the Mythical “Yellow Emperor” Hua2ngdi4 who drew his inspiration to invent writing from the marks left by the birds and the beasts on the soil.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuring Synonyms in Erya by Probabilistic Semantics
    Measuring Synonyms in Erya by Probabilistic Semantics Kam Tang LAU 1, Yan SONG 2, Pang Fei KWOK3 1, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong China Email: [email protected] 2, Microsoft Search Technology Center Asia, Beijing China Email: [email protected] 3, Department of Chinese and History, City University of Kong Kong, Hong Kong China [email protected] Abstract Erya is the earliest Chinese dictionary which was edited and circulated before Qin Dynasty (BC 221). It is used for annotating the Confucian Classics. Therefore, the words collected in Erya are from pre-Qin Confucian Classics. It is recognized as one of the most important work of Chinese Philology. Erya later was listed as one of the Shisan Jing (Thirteen Confucian Classics). This shows that Erya is as important as the other Confucian Classics compiled in the pre-Qin Dynasty. Erya is like a synonym thesaurus. It puts all synonyms in parallel and explained by the last word and Ye. (“Ye” is using as verb-to-be “is” in Classical Chinese and placed after the explained word.) There are two main explanation patterns presented in Erya, one is “A, B, C, D Ye.” Another one is “E, F Ye, F, G Ye.” There are many Chinese Philology scholars discussed why the editors didn’t just record “E, F, G Ye”. They explained these phenomena by providing many evidences and examples from the Confucian Classics. They believed although E and F are the synonyms of G, F has shorter distance to G than E.
    [Show full text]
  • Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary Free
    FREECONCISE ENGLISH-CHINESE CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY EBOOK Manser H. Martin | 696 pages | 01 Jan 2011 | Commercial Press,The,China | 9787100059459 | English, Chinese | China Excerpt from A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers | Penguin Random House Canada Notable Chinese dictionariespast and present, include:. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia list article. Dictionaries of Chinese. List of Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary dictionaries. Categories : Chinese dictionaries Lists of reference books. Concise English- Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. First Chinese dictionary collated in single-sort alphabetical order of pinyin, John DeFrancis. A Chinese-English Dictionary. Herbert Allen Giles ' bestselling dictionary, 2nd ed. A Dictionary of the Chinese Language. A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language. Small Seal Script orthographic primer, Li Si 's language reform. Chinese Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary English Dictionary. Popular modern general-purpose encyclopedic dictionary, 6 editions. Concise Dictionary of Spoken Chinese. Tetsuji Morohashi 's Chinese- Japanese character dictionary, 50, entries. Oldest extant Chinese dictionary, semantic field collationone of the Thirteen Classics. Yang Xiongfirst dictionary of Chinese regional varieties. Le Grand Ricci or Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise,". First orthography dictionary of the regular script. Grammata Serica Recensa. Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects. Compendium of dictionaries for 42 local varieties of Chinese. Zhang Yi 's supplement to the Erya. Rime dictionary expansion of Qieyunsource for reconstruction of Middle Chinese.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduce to the Non-Symmetry of Word Derivation Between 'Wenhua' and 'Culture'
    International Journal of Linguistics and Communication June 2015, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 145-150 ISSN: 2372-479X (Print) 2372-4803 (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n1a15 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/ijlc.v3n1a15 Introduce to the Non-symmetry of Word Derivation between ‘Wenhua’ and ‘Culture’ Fei Deng1 & Jianli Tang2 Abstract The western civilizations have brought many new thoughts to Chinese language in the 19th century, and further influenced and changed the words’ meanings of Chinese words. To studying the Chinese-English translated terms and knowing their different derivation can bridge the gap between different cultures. The scholar translated the English word ‘Culture’ into Chinese word ‘Wenhua’. ‘Wenhua’ is derived from two words which are ‘Wen’ and ‘Hua’ in ancient Chinese language. ‘Wen’ means ‘to feel and experience the nature by heart, and then painting and describing things, at last, one can achieve correlating knowledge through this process in ancient Chinese language’. ‘Hua’ means ‘to change’ which stresses persons can improve them based on ‘Wen’. The start-point of meanings emphasizes the harmonious relationship between human beings and outer nature, and stresses the inner harmony of human beings by themselves. Namely, ‘Wenhua’ focuses on the all sorts of social and ethical relationship which comes from the inner human beings society. The start- point of meanings derivation of English word ‘Culture’ emphasizes the interrelation between human being society and the outer nature, and focuses the contrary relationship which embody as the remolding one and the reformed one.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese-English Dictionary. by John Defrancis. Honolulu: University of Hawai’I Press, 1996
    Language (Journal of the Linguistic Society of America), 74.3 (1998), p. 660-661. ABC (Alphabetically Based Computerized) Chinese-English dictionary. By John DeFrancis. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1996. Pp. xix, 897 + radical charts. $28.00. Comprehensive, practical and reliable Chinese-English dictionaries are few and far between, so John DeFrancis’s ABC Chinese-English dictionary is definitely a welcome addition to current offerings. Unfortunately, the alphabetic arrangement of this work is, in the reviewer’s opinion, also its biggest drawback. While compounds sharing the same character are usually grouped under the same entry, D arranges all entries, including compounds, strictly alphabetically, disregarding morpheme boundaries. And while this may reflect an ideal of treating Chinese primarily as a spoken rather than written language, it also goes against native habit and intuition. To find all the compounds beginning with shí, ‘to realize’, for example, you must plow through numerous unrelated compounds with first elements also pronounced shí, in all the four tones, i.e. all the 70-some homophones. This makes using the work burdensome and time-consuming if you are doing anything but looking up a very specific compound you already know how to pronounce. D draws on other dictionaries, apparently most heavily on the standard-setter for the whole field, Wu Jingrong’s A Chinese-English dictionary, of which a revised edition has recently come out (Wei Dongya (ed.) 1995. Beijing: Foreign Language and Research Press). Yet, in the interest of producing a conveniently-sized volume, D’s lexicon omits quite a bit of information and detail included in Wu’s work.
    [Show full text]
  • Concise Chinese English Dictionary Romanized Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    CONCISE CHINESE ENGLISH DICTIONARY ROMANIZED PDF, EPUB, EBOOK James C. Quo | 256 pages | 15 Aug 2006 | Tuttle Publishing | 9780804838726 | English, Chinese | Boston, United States Concise Chinese English Dictionary Romanized PDF Book An introduction to writing Chinese and stroke order. To ensure that the dictionary is up—to—date, recently coined terms have been included reflecting the dramatic changes taking place in Chinese society, business and education. Tuttle Learner's Korean-English Dictionary. The Tuttle English—Chinese Dictionary is the only English—Chinese dictionary specifically designed for English speakers who are learning the Chinese language. What would you like to know about this product? Entries contain idiomatic expressions and detailed notes on Chinese culture, grammar and usage that are extremely useful for foreigners--a unique feature found in no other Chinese dictionary. Xiaolu Guo published six books in China before moving to London in Here, we are focused on bringing you a large selection of books for download so that you can save your time and effort. Shau Wing Chan. Gardens of Water. Conversational German. Shani Boianjiu. That is my identity, then I make films, because some stories work well with the visuals —- images and sound. Complete Physics for Cambrid.. Author : United States. Silent House. Still Here. It provides comprehensive, accurate and up—to—date definitions for over 40, words, phrases and idioms, including the latest vocabulary for business, technology, sport and the media. The real China today has developed extremely fast and it is complex. Write a Review. Advanced Biology For You, 2n.. Price may change from time to time as advised by the publishers.
    [Show full text]
  • For the Computer, Program, and a List of Errors in the "Hanly Fangyin Zihui
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 025 740 AL 001 373 By-Lyovin. Anatole A Chinese Dialect Dictionary on Computer: Progress Report. California Univ., Berkeley. Phonology Lab. Spans Agency-National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. Report No- POLA -2 -7 Pub Date Jun 68 Note-45p.; Paper in Project on Linguistic Analysis, Reports. Second Series, No. 7. EDRS Price MF-$0.25 HC-$2.35 Descriptors-Cantonese, *Chinese, Computational Linguistics, Contrastive Linguistics, Diachronic Linauistics, Dialects, Dialect Studies, Dictionaries, Japanese, Korean, *Mandarin Chinese, Phonology, *Regional Dialects, Tone Languages Identifiers- Annamese, Cuang Yun,.*Hanyu Fangyin Zihui, Ji Yun, Logographs The use of cOmputers makes possible analysis of the vast amount of data available in recent dialect dictionaries and surveys and in the ancient Chinese rhyme books, such as "Cuang yun" and "Ji yun: Comparison of dialects can enable a historical study of Chinese, a major language group outside the Indo-Europeanarea, tO offer "a more balanced perspectiveon the nature of sound change in human language The problems of coding are great, but once the coding system is established, the encoding .of materials can be shared by a number of institutions. The coding of the seven Mandarin dialects in the "Hanjy fangyin zihui" is complete, and preliminary tests of the computer program have shown it to be satisfactoi-y: After further testing and refinement, other dialect surveys, rhyme books, and Sino-Korean. Sino-Japanese. and Sino-Annamese can be added to the system. The author gives details of the organization of the data, the coding system, the computer program, and errors in the source data. Appendices give the actual computer code, flow charts for the computer, program, and a list of errors inthe "Hanly fangyin Zihui: Correspondence concerning POLA matters should be addressed to William S-Y.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of the Standardization of Chinese Writing/ Ying Wang University of Massachusetts Amherst
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2008 A study of the standardization of Chinese writing/ Ying Wang University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Wang, Ying, "A study of the standardization of Chinese writing/" (2008). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 2060. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/2060 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF THE STANDARDIZATION OF CHINESE WRITING A Thesis Presented by YING WANG Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2008 Asian Languages and Literatures © Copyright by Ying Wang All Rights Reserved STUDIES OF THE STANDARDIZATION OF CHINESE WRITING A Thesis Presented by YING WANG Approved as to style and content by: hongwei Shen, Chair Donald E. GjertsoH, Member Enhua Zhang, Member hongwei Shen, Director Asian Languages and Literatures Program Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures Julie Caii s, Chair Departira hguages, Literatures and Cultures ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to earnestly thank my advisor, Professor Zhongwei Shen, for his helpful, patient guidance and support in all the stages of my thesis writing. Thanks are also due to my committee members Professor Donald Gjertson and Professor Enhua Zhang, for their generous help. My friends, Mathew Flannery and Charlotte Mason, have also edited thesis my in various stages, and to them I am truly grateful.
    [Show full text]
  • 3. Dictionaries Introduction
    Handbook of Reference Works in Traditional Chinese Studies (R. Eno, 2011) 3. DICTIONARIES INTRODUCTION The earliest Chinese dictionary was probably composed during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 8 CE). It is known as the Erh-ya 爾雅 (the meaning of this title is not entirely clear), and it is more a classified list of near-synonyms than a dictionary. The evolution from the Erh-ya to modern dictionaries basically included six subsequent stages: 1. Shuo-wen chieh-tzu 說文解字 (compiled by Hsu Shen 許慎, c. 100 CE). The Shuo-wen (as it is generally known) established the precedents of individual word definition, word etymology, and radical organization. (We will explore the Shuo-wen more thoroughly in considering Philological Studies.) 2. Ch’ieh-yun 切韻 (compiled by Lu Fa-yen 陸法言 in 601). This was the first of the great rhyming wordbook-dictionaries, intended to guide the art of poetic composition. The T’ang enlargement and annotation of this book was known as the T’ang-yun 唐韻, and this text was in turn enlarged during the Sung; the extant text is known under the Sung title of Kuang-yun 廣韻. (We will consider the Kuang-yun more fully in the section on Literary Studies.) 3. P’ei-wen yun-fu 佩文韻府 (compiled under Imperial auspices, 1711). A huge rhyming word book which, although including definitions only for characters (tzu), was the first “dictionary” to include encyclopaedic lists of precedents for compound words (tz’u). (We will consider the P’ei-wen yun-fu further in the Literary Studies section.) 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Hanzi, Concept and Computation: a Preliminary Survey of Chinese Characters As a Knowledge Resource in NLP
    Hanzi, Concept and Computation: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Characters as a Knowledge Resource in NLP von Shu-Kai Hsieh Philosophische Dissertation angenommen von der Neuphilologischen Fakultät der Universität Tübingen am 06.02.2006 Tübingen 10.04.2006 Gedruckt mit Genehmigung der Neuphilologischen Fakultät der Universität Tübingen Hauptberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Erhard W. Hinrichs Mitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Eschbach-Szabo Dekan: Prof. Dr. Joachim Knape Hanzi, Concept and Computation: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Characters as a Knowledge Resource in NLP Shu-Kai Hsieh Acknowledgements There are many people to whom I owe a debt of thanks for their support, for the completion of my thesis and supported me in science as well in privacy during this time. First, I would like to sincerely thank my advisor, Prof. Dr Erhard Hin- richs, under whose influence the work here was initiated during my fruit- ful stay in Germany. Without his continuous and invaluable support, this work could not have been completed. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Eschbach-Szabo for reading this thesis and offering constructive comments. Besides my advisors, I am deeply grateful to the rest of my thesis commit- tee: Frank Richter and Fritz Hamm, for their kindly support and interesting questions. A special thanks goes to Lothar Lemnitzer, who proofread the thesis carefully and gave insightful comments. I would like to thank my parents for their life-long love and support. Last but not least, I also owe a lot of thanks to my lovely wife Hsiao-Wen, my kids MoMo and NoNo for their understanding while I was away from home.
    [Show full text]