lecture 3 introduction to the Chinese language and

Languageandculture－AcomparativestudyAnintroductiontotheChineseandEnglishlanguageWarm-upQuestions1.WhodoyouthinkcreatedtheChineselanguage?2.HowmanydialectsarethereinChinese?3.WhenandhowweretheOracleBoneinscriptions(甲骨文)discovered?4.WhendidpeopleintheWeststarttostudyChinese?BasicfactsaboutChinese•Chinese(汉语／漢語,华语;中国话;中文)isalanguageconsistingofmanydialects,someofwhichareevenmutuallyunintelligible,whichiswhysomelinguistsconsiderChineseasalanguagefamily.•Aboutone-fifthoftheworld’spopulation,oroveronebillionpeople,speaksomeformofChineseastheirnativelanguage.•ThestandardizedformofspokenChineseisStandardMandarin(Putonghua/Guoyu/Huayu),basedontheBeijingdialect,whichispartofalargergroupofNorth-EasternandSouth-Westerndialects.•StandardMandarinistheofficiallanguageofthePeople'sRepublicofChinaaswellasoneofthe4officiallanguagesofSingapore,whereitiscalledHuayu.Chineseisalsooneofthe6officiallanguagesoftheUnitedNations.•Theother5officiallanguagesare…•Therearebetween7and13mainregionalgroupsofChinese(dependingondifferentwaysofclassification)andamongthemthemostspokenisofcourseMandarin(官话,北方话),withabout850millionspeakers.7maindialectgroups(inorderofpopulationsize):Namesimplifiedcharactertotalspeakers1)Mandarin官话/北方话c.850million2)Wu吴语c.90million3)Yue粤语c.80million4)Min闽语c.50million5)Xiang湘语c.35million6)Hakka/Kejia客家话c.35million7)Gan赣语c.20millionoriginofChinesecharacters•WhendidChinesecharactersoriginate?Noprecisedateisgiven.LegendhasitthatduringthereignoftheYellowEmperoramannamedCangJie(仓颉)createdtheChinesecharactersaround4,600yearsago.•CangJiesawadivinebeingwhosefacehadunusualfeatureswhichlookedlikeapictureofwritings.Inimitationofhisimage,CangJiecreatedtheearliestwrittencharacters.AnotherstorysaysthatCangJiesawthefootprintsofbirdsandbeasts,whichinspiredhimtocreatewrittencharacters.ThedevelopmentofChinesewriting•TheearliestexamplesofChinesewritingdatetothelateShangperiod(c.1200BC).Thesearetheso-calledOracleBoneInscriptions(jiaguwen甲骨文)whichwerefoundatthesiteofthelastShangcapitalnearpresent-dayAnyang,Henanprovince.Oraclebones•ThediscoveryoftheoraclebonesinChinagoesbackto1899,whenascholarfromPekingwasprescribedaremedycontainingdragonbonesforhisillness:dragonboneswerewidelyusedinChinesemedicineandusuallyrefertofossilsofdeadanimals.•Thescholarnoticedsomecarvingsthatlookedlikesomekindofwriting.ThisluckyfindingledtothediscoveryofAnyang,thelastcapitalofShangdynasty.BronzeInscriptions•ThenextstageinthehistoryofChinesewritingisthebronzeinscriptions(jinwen).•Thesearetextseithercastedintobronzevesselsorcarvedintothesurfaceofanalreadycarvedvessel.ThesevesselsbecamewidelyusedduringtheEasternZhoudynasty(ca.1150-771BC).BeginningsofModernWriting•Startingfromaboutthe5centuryBC,writingsonbamboostrips(竹简)appeared.•ThebamboostripscontainstheearliestmanuscriptsoffamousChinesephilosophicaltexts,suchastheLaozi,andLunyu.Thewrittenlanguagebythistimeiscalled“classicalChinese”(wenyan,文言文)whichhadremainedmoreorlessthesameaslateasthe19thcentury.•AmajoreventinthehistoryofChinesescriptisthestandardizationofwritingbytheFirstEmperorofQinwhounifiedChinain221BC.TheFirstEmperorintroducedtheQinscriptastheofficialwritingandalltheunifiedstateshadtouseit.•Thecalligraphicstyleofthisperiodistheclericalscriptorlishu(隶书)whichiseasilyreadableeventoday.WritingstylesofChinesecalligraphy•Moderncharactersarestyledafterthestandardscript(楷书).•VariousotherwrittenstylesarealsousedinEastAsiancalligraphy,includingsealscript(篆书),cursivescript(草书),runningscript(行书)andclericalscript(隶书).2systemsofcharacters•TherearecurrentlytwosystemsofChinesecharacters.•TheSimplifiedChinesecharactersystemwasdevelopedbythePRCin1954topromoteliteracy.•Thetraditionalsystem,stillusedinHongKong,Taiwan,MacauandChinesespeakingcommunities(exceptSingaporeandMalaysia)outsidemainlandChina.Atonelanguage•Chineseisatonelanguage.•4tones(声调)ofStandardMandarin•妈／媽(mā)mother—highlevel•■麻(má)hemportorpid—highrising•■马／馬(mǎ)horse—lowfalling-rising•■骂／罵(mà)scold—highfalling•■吗／嗎(ma)questionparticle—neutralChineseVocabulary•TheentireChinesecharactercorpuscompriseswellover20,000characters,ofwhichonlyroughly10,000arenowcommonlyinuse.•Question:Howmanycharactersdoyouhavetoknowtobecalled“literate”?•Awell-educatedChineserecognizesapproximately6,000-7,000characters.TheChinesegovernmentdefinesliteracyamongworkersasaknowledgeof2,000characters.loanwords•Discussion:WhydoesChineseborrowwordsfromotherlanguages?Whataresomeoftheloanwordsthatweoftenuse?•Likeanyotherlanguage,Chinesehasabsorbedasizeableamountofloanwordsfromothercultures.•WordsborrowedfromalongtheSilkRoadinclude葡萄“grape,”石榴“pomegranate”and狮子“lion.”SomewordswereborrowedfromBuddhistscriptures,including佛“Buddha”and菩萨“bodhisattva.”Otherwordscamefromnomadicpeoplestothenorth,suchas胡同,琵琶,骆驼.•ModernneologismsaretranslatedintoChineseprimarilyinthreeways:freetranslation(bymeaning),phonetictranslation(bysound)andacombinationoftheabovetwo(partiallytranscriptivewithacarefulselectionofmeaning-encodingcharacters).•Examples:电话,手机,猪流感，蓝牙；沙发，克隆，时髦，歇斯底里；水门，汉堡包，拖拉机……•Moreexamples.It’syourturn!Chi