Chinese Language and Characters (中國語言與文字研究)
Introduction
China is refer to one of the recognized great, oldest and continuous civilizations in the world. Ancient China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization especially in East Asia region.
The components of long developed and historical culture of China including martial arts, Chinese classical literature and texts ( The Four Books and Five Classics 四書五經), philosophy such as Confucianism, Taoism etc . Chinese language and Characters are part of Chinese culture and play important roles as carrier of culture and communicative medium.
The Chinese civilization originated in the areas of Yellow River. It is recorded that there were many clans and tribes inhabiting areas along the Yellow River towards the end of the Shang Dynasty. As commercial and military activities among these different languages speakers increased, the need for lingua franca and writing arose. Therefore, standard language and writing needed to be used in educational, culture, social activities and etc.
The components of long developed and historical culture of China including martial arts, Chinese classical literature and texts ( The Four Books and Five Classics 四書五經), philosophy such as Confucianism, Taoism etc . Chinese language and Characters are part of Chinese culture and play important roles as carrier of culture and communicative medium.
The Chinese civilization originated in the areas of Yellow River. It is recorded that there were many clans and tribes inhabiting areas along the Yellow River towards the end of the Shang Dynasty. As commercial and military activities among these different languages speakers increased, the need for lingua franca and writing arose. Therefore, standard language and writing needed to be used in educational, culture, social activities and etc.
Origins of Language
Chinese is the native language of approximately billions people distributed over vast geographical areas of the world. It is the official language of China and Taiwan. It is also one of the two official languages in Hong Kong. Many scholars argue that Chinese language belongs to the family of Sino-Tibetan genealogically. The earliest reliable records of Chinese was in the form of Jiǎgǔwén (甲骨文) - oracle bone inscriptions.
The Chinese civilization originated in the areas of Yellow River. It is recorded that there were many clans and tribes inhabiting areas along the Yellow River towards the end of the Shang Dynasty. As commercial and military activities among these different languages speakers increased, the need for lingua franca and writing arose. Therefore, standard language and writing needed to be used in educational, culture, social activities and etc.
There are often much controversy surrounding the periodization of the Chinese language partly due to the process of discovering documentary evidence about chronological changes in the language which is still in progress. Archaic Chinese (ShangguHanyu) can be found in the language used in classic works of the pre-Qin period and the Western Han dynasty. Writings from the Eastern Han onwards displayed an increasing number of innovations in grammar and vocabulary which is believed to be reflective of changes in the contemporary vernacular while basically still follows the style of Archaic Chinese. Medieval Chinese (ZhongguHanyu) represents a transitional period. Archaic Chinese and Medieval Chinese constitute Old Chinese (GudaiHanyu). The appearance of substantial texts in mainly vernacular style marked the beginning of Pre-Modern Chinese (JindaiHanyu) in the late Tang dynasty. The developments in the language involved a growing number of grammatical, lexical and phonological features in the texts. The next ten centuries, during the period of Modern Chinese (XiandaiHanyu) was when almost all the most important characteristic features gradually took shape. By early Qing dynasty, all the major changes in phonology, grammar, and basic vocabulary that characterize Modern Chinese had been completed.
The Chinese civilization originated in the areas of Yellow River. It is recorded that there were many clans and tribes inhabiting areas along the Yellow River towards the end of the Shang Dynasty. As commercial and military activities among these different languages speakers increased, the need for lingua franca and writing arose. Therefore, standard language and writing needed to be used in educational, culture, social activities and etc.
There are often much controversy surrounding the periodization of the Chinese language partly due to the process of discovering documentary evidence about chronological changes in the language which is still in progress. Archaic Chinese (ShangguHanyu) can be found in the language used in classic works of the pre-Qin period and the Western Han dynasty. Writings from the Eastern Han onwards displayed an increasing number of innovations in grammar and vocabulary which is believed to be reflective of changes in the contemporary vernacular while basically still follows the style of Archaic Chinese. Medieval Chinese (ZhongguHanyu) represents a transitional period. Archaic Chinese and Medieval Chinese constitute Old Chinese (GudaiHanyu). The appearance of substantial texts in mainly vernacular style marked the beginning of Pre-Modern Chinese (JindaiHanyu) in the late Tang dynasty. The developments in the language involved a growing number of grammatical, lexical and phonological features in the texts. The next ten centuries, during the period of Modern Chinese (XiandaiHanyu) was when almost all the most important characteristic features gradually took shape. By early Qing dynasty, all the major changes in phonology, grammar, and basic vocabulary that characterize Modern Chinese had been completed.
Dialects
Chinese language comprises dozens of dialects. Norman and B.Xu Zhan classified all the dialects into seven major groups. The major dialect groups are Beifanghua (Mandarin), Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Min, Kejia (Hakka), Xiang and Gan, in which Mandarin has the largest group of speakers for the Chinese population. The non-Mandarin groups are called the Southern dialects. Mandarin is composed of four major sun-dialects namely Northern, Northwestern, Southwestern and Jiang-Huai. The standard form of Modern Chinese is known by Putonghua which means ‘the common language’
Reference :
Chen, P. (1999). Modern Chinese : History and Sociolinguistics. United Kingdom :
Cambridge University Press.
張岱年 (1993). 傳統文化與現代化 (Chinese Culture : Tradition & Modernization). 北京:
中華書局
國際漢學研討會編輯組 (1994). 國際漢學研討會論文集(Collected Papers International
Conference on Chinese Studies). Long Champ Enterprise.
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