Chinese Linguistics Books

[OneEye]

Any recommendations for Chinese Linguistics books? I know the usual Norman, DeFrancis, Ramsey, and Sun Chaofen, but what else would be good to read? Particularly with regard to the writing system and its history. I'm going to have some spare time next semester so I wanted to get started reading before I (hopefully) begin university classes next fall.

[gato]

I know the usual Norman, DeFrancis, Ramsey, and Sun Chaofen, but what else would be good to read? Particularly with regard to the writing system and its history

Are you saying that because you've read the DeFrancis and Norman books? If you haven't, you should read them first.

[Don_Horhe]

You could also take a look at Daniel Kane's 'The Chinese Language'. I read mine on the way to and back from Wudang last week - it's an easy, informative and at times humorous read, especially if you're new to the field. It does, however, have a few mistakes - mostly wrong pinyin and/or tone for a given character, but on the whole it's a nice little book.

[OneEye]

Are you saying that because you've read the DeFrancis and Norman books? If you haven't, you should read them first.

I'm working through Norman and Ramsey right now. I'm mainly just trying to get a list of books to read over the next 9 months or so. I will likely have to read them for school anyway, but I'd like to get a head start so I'm already familiar with some of the work and won't be starting from scratch.

Don_Horne, thanks for the recommendation. I do have Kane's book and I've read it. It is a nice little book.

[OneEye]

Here are some I'm planning on reading, including Norman and Ramsey, both of which I'm working through right now. ISBNs are included.

S. Robert Ramsey - The Languages of China 069101468X

Jerry Norman - Chinese 0521296536

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy 0824810686

Sun Chaofen - Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction 0521530822

Chen Ping - Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics 0521645727

John DeFrancis - Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems 0824812077

Mary S. Erbaugh, ed. - Difficult Characters: Interdisciplinary Studies of Chinese and Japanese Writing 0874153441

William G. Boltz - The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System 0940490188

Tsuen-hsuin Tsien - Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions 0226814181

I found that Dr. Marjorie Chan at Ohio State University has syllabi for her undergrad and graduate Chinese Linguistics courses available here. Her syllabi for the graduate courses also have bibliographies for further reading. Dr. Tim Xie at California State University, Long Beach has the syllabus and other materials (including Powerpoint files) for his undergrad Intro to Chinese Linguistics course available here. I'm following Dr. Xie's course outline and materials, which is why I'm using Norman and Ramsey.

Edited December 28, 2009 at 05:57 AM by OneEye

[OneEye]

On the subject of courses made available online, Dr. David Sena at University of Texas at Austin has his Intro to Classical Chinese syllabus and other materials here.

[wushijiao]

I would recommend Don Snow's Cantonese as a Written Language: The Growth of a Written Chinese Vernacular, if you are interested in how and why written dialect usage has increased in Hong Kong, and failed to materialize elsewhere.

[Daan]

The syllabi at Ohio State are great, thanks for sharing the link. Many good works have already been mentioned here. If you're interested in early Chinese writing, I would also recommend the following two books:

Galembos, Imre. 2006. Orthography of early Chinese writing: Evidence from newly excavated manuscripts. Budapest: Department of East Asian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University.

Shaughnessy, Edward L. 2006. Rewriting Early Chinese Texts. New York: State University of New York Press.

The latter's Sources of Western Zhou history: inscribed bronze vessels (1991) is also highly regarded in the field, but I haven't had time yet to read more than just a few bits here and there.

[OneEye]

wushijiao,

That book looks very interesting. I'm also interested in the different dialects and their written forms (when they exist). Thanks for the recommendation.

Daan,

Those look great. Thank you.

[Don_Horhe]

I currently have two books on Chinese dialects which are absolutely great - 汉语方言概要 by 袁家骅 and 汉语方言词汇 from 北京大学 and published by 语文出版社 which lists 1230 common words in Putonghua and 20 'dialects' in full IPA transcription and dialect characters where applicable. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any English sources which present such a detailed treatment of Chinese 'dialects' as the two books mentioned above.

[OneEye]

Awesome. Thanks, Don_Horne! Definitely something to look at. Maybe in a year or two once my Chinese is a little better.

[chrix]

Since you asked for books on Chinese Linguistics in general, I'd recommend reading Li & Thompson. And even if you already have, read it again

[OneEye]

Thanks, chrix. I had seen that book before but didn't know much about it. Added to the list.

I seem to remember reading something about you being a linguist, is that right?

[Don_Horhe]

A few more to the list:

Jerome L. Packard - The Morphology of Chinese: A Linguistic and Cognitive Approach

San Duanmu - The Phonology of Standard Chinese

Yen-Hwei Lin - The Sounds of Chinese

Philip Philipsen - Sound Business: The Reality of Chinese Characters

Of these, I only have the first two. The second two, I've only read about on the net.