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What is writing and what is Chinese writing: A historical, linguistic, and social literacies perspective Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Hung, Yueh-Nu Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 09:14:30 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280352 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has t)een reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fece, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 WHAT IS WRITING AND WHAT IS CHINESE WRITING: A HISTORICAL, LINGUISTIC, AND SOCIAL LITERACIES PERSPECTIVE by Yueh-Nu Hung Copyright © Yueh-Nu Hung 2000 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE, READING, AND CULTURE In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2000 UMI Number: 3002514 Copyright 2000 by Hung, Yueh-Nu All rights reserved. (R UMI UMI Microfomi 3002514 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of Che Final Examination Committee, ve certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Yueh-Nu Hung entitled V3hat Is variting and Vlhat Is Chinese Vhriting: A Historical, Linguistic, and Social Literacies Perstective and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy • j— !•» f rt leth S. 9gxx3nian. Date / 7 6 0 . Yetta M. Goodman Date' OufP ^Uo loo Dr. Carol Evans Date 3//0 /oo Dr. Ferig-Hsi Liu Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. '7 . ^ I r / "—^ Dissertation Director Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial flilfilhnent of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations firom this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to the professors in my committee for their support throughout the period of my advanced studies at the University of Arizona and during the course of writing this dissertation. Drs. Ken and Yetta Goodman made me realize that I could accomplish and taught me to become an independent thinker and learner. They trusted me and believed in me. They listened, shared, helped, guided, advised, encouraged, probed, urged, and cheered for me. I have lived through their trusting and caring teaching philosophy, and that will be my teaching philosophy too, inside and outside classroom. I would also like to thank Dr. Carol Evans, who shared with me her experiences and thoughts about the process of dissertation writing. She helped me think more thoroughly about the role of culture in written language, which is an indispensable facet in any study about writing system. My special thanks also go to Dr. Feng-Hsi Liu, who shared with me her expertise in Chinese linguistics. From studying with her, I found an interesting world of research in Chinese literacy. Finally, I owe much gratitude to my family in Tucson and in Taiwan. This dissertation would not be possible without them. My husband Shih-Chieh, my son Jeremy, and I went through the process of completing this dissertation together, and we all learned to share and to be patient and supportive to one another. I am also deeply indebted to my family in Taiwan, who endured my absence for many years and never wavered in their belief that I could do it. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 8 ABSTRACT 9 1. INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION OF PROBLEMS 11 Misconceptions, Myths, and Fantasies About Chinese Writing 13 Chinese Characters Are Iconic and Pictorial 14 Too Many Characters to Memorize 15 Chinese Is Very Difficult to Write 16 Chinese Is Unable to Express New Ideas in Writing 17 Logographic Chinese Should Be Replaced by the Alphabet Because of Difficulty in Word Processing 18 Problems in Literacy Research and Education 18 Confusion About the Relationships Between Written and Oral Language 19 Evolutionary View of Writing 20 Ethnocentric Attitude Towards Writing 20 Biases Against Non-Alphabetic Writing Systems 21 Problems in Literacy Research 22 Problems in Literacy Education 24 Why Is a Historical, Linguistic, and Social Literacies Study Necessary? 24 Historical Perspective 25 Linguistic Perspective 27 Social Literacies Perspective 28 About This Study 28 2. THE EVOLUTIONARY PROBLEM 31 What Is the Evolutionary View of Writing 31 How Did the Evolutionary View of Writing Come to Exist ? 36 Ignorance About How Written Chinese and Other Non-Alphabetic Writings Work 37 European Ethnocentrism 38 Over-Emphasis on Oral Language 40 A Posteriori Mistake 43 Belief in the Superiority of the Internal Linguistic Structure of the Alphabet 45 Reconsidering the Evolutionary View of Writing 47 There Are All Types of Signs at the Beginning of Writing 47 Language Development as a Process of Borrowing and Adapting 49 The Choice of a Writing System Has to Do With the Internal 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Continued Structural Features of Oral Language 50 What Is Next in the Evolution Line 51 3. THE CHINESE WRITING SYSTEM 54 What's All in a Name 55 The Chinese Orthography—What Is a Character 62 Function of Character 62 The Relationship Between Character and Morpheme 63 The Relationship Between Character and Syllable 63 The Relationship Between Character and Word 64 Formation of Character 65 Pictograph 65 Ideograph 66 Conjoined-Meaning 66 Semantic-Phonetic Compound 66 Phonetic Borrowing 67 Mutually Interpretive Symbols 68 A Close-Up Look at the Semantic-Phonetic Compound Characters 69 About the Radicals 70 About the Phonetics 73 A Modem Logograph That Works 76 4. WHAT IS WRITING 84 What Makes Writing Possible 84 What Writing Really Is 88 The Relationships Between Oral and Written Language 93 Properties of Written Langtiage 98 All Writings Are Semiotic Systems 98 All Written Languages Are Ambiguous 100 All Written Languages Are Redundant 103 There Is No Pure Writing System 104 5. LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE CHINESE 108 Word Recognition Verses Text Reading 109 The Chinese Reading Process: Character Recognition 112 The Chinese Reading Process: Reading Real Texts 118 Learning to Read Chinese 120 Reading Different Orthographies 124 Writing Different Orthographies 128 Implications for Literacy Education 134 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS — Continued The Teaching of Zhuyin Fuhao and Pinyin 137 The Teaching of Chinese Character Formation 140 Re-Evaluating Children's Early Writing 141 Conclusion 143 RERERENCES 148 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Different Terms for the Chinese Writing System 56 Figure 2. Fish Names Written in Chinese Characters 70 Figure 3. Five Types of Compound Word in Chinese 78 Figure 4. Fruit, Flower, and Vehicle Names in Chinese 79 Figure 5. A Pictorial Road Sign 89 Figure 6. Fish Names Written in Chinese Characters 103 Figure 7. Bi-Syllabic Chinese Fish Names 104 Figure 8. A Writing Sample of a Four-Year-Old Argentinean Child Learning Spanish 129 Figure 9. A Writing Sample of a Four-Year-Old Taiwanese Child Learning Chinese 130 Figure 1 O.Chinese Consonants Represented in Pinyin and Zhuyin Fuhao 138 9 ABSTRACT Many misconceptions and misunderstandings about what writing is pervade in the field of literacy research and practice, and often school children fi-om almost every household bear the brunt of misguided literacy research and inappropriate literacy practice. This dissertation examined the nature of written language generally and the nature of Chinese writing specifically fi'om historical, linguistic, and social literacies perspectives. The problems with the evolutionary concept of writing development are discussed in depth. Several possible explanations for this evolutionary account of writing are discussed, and these are followed by some alternative ways to understand the historical change of writing.

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