Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 49:1 (2022) ► pp.102–132
The Adaptation of Western and Chinese Categories to the Description of Manchu
Published online: 17 January 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00105.gia
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00105.gia
Summary
Frequent contacts between European countries and China during the Qing period kindled interest in the languages
spoken in the Qing empire and led to the publication of numerous Western books on Chinese varieties but also on the Manchu
language. To describe the features of these distant languages, most of these works adapted Western linguistic categories and
terminologies. This was the case of the earliest Western grammar of Manchu, Verbiest’s Elementa linguae
tartaricae (1682). However, some Western works progressively integrated elements of the Chinese linguistic tradition.
For instance, the grammars of Kaulen, Franz (=Franciscus). 1856. Lingua Mandshuricae
Institutiones quas conscripsit, Indicibus ornavit Chrestomathia et Vocabulario
auxit. Ratisbonae [=Regensburg]: G. Josephus Manz. Available at: [URL] and Harlez, Charles. 1884. Manuel
de la langue mandchoue; grammaire, anthologie &
lexique. Paris: Maisonneuve frères & Ch. Leclerc. Avaliable at: [URL] refer to the Chinese categories “full words” (content words) and “empty words” (function words). Other
Western works translated or drew on Chinese-Manchu bilingual primers, which in turn adapted the methodology and categories of
Chinese philology to the description of Manchu, such as in the textbooks by Shěn, Qǐliàng 沈啟亮. 1682. Manju bithe j’i nan Qīngshū zhǐnán 清書指南 [A Guide to Manchu]. Manuscript Mandchou
68, French National Library (BNF).
and Wǔ-gé 舞格. 1730. Cing wen ki meng bithe.
Qīngwén qǐméng 清文啟蒙. Manuscript Mandchou
56. French National Library (BNF). Accessible at the
following address: [URL]. Their western translations (Domenge, Jean. n.d. Fragmens
d’un Essay de Méthode pour apprendre La langue des Moüan-tchoux ou Tartares Orientaux qui sont aujourd’hui Maitres de la
Chine. Ms Mandchou 275. French National Library (BNF).; Wylie, Alexander. 1855. Translation
of the Ts’ing Wan K’e Mung, A Chinese Grammar of the Manchu Tartar Language; with Introductory Notes on Manchu
Literature. Shanghae [=Shanghai]: London Mission Press. Available at [URL]; Hoffman 1883) resulted in interesting examples of
circulation of linguistic knowledge and amalgamation of descriptive categories.
Résumé
L’époque Qing se caractérise par des contacts croissants entre les pays européens et la Chine, lesquels
conduisent à une riche production d’ouvrages destinés à l’apprentissage des langues chinoises ainsi que du mandchou. La plupart de
ces ouvrages décrivent la grammaire mandchoue en adoptant les catégories et la terminologie de la tradition occidentale, à
l’instar de la première grammaire occidentale du mandchou, les Elementa linguae tartaricae de Verbiest, Ferdinand. 1682. Elementa linguae tartaricae [Elements of the Manchu
Language]. Paris: Thomas Moette. Available at: [URL]. Cependant, certains ouvrages intègrent progressivement des éléments de
la tradition linguistique chinoise. Les grammaires de Kaulen, Franz (=Franciscus). 1856. Lingua Mandshuricae
Institutiones quas conscripsit, Indicibus ornavit Chrestomathia et Vocabulario
auxit. Ratisbonae [=Regensburg]: G. Josephus Manz. Available at: [URL] et de Harlez, Charles. 1884. Manuel
de la langue mandchoue; grammaire, anthologie &
lexique. Paris: Maisonneuve frères & Ch. Leclerc. Avaliable at: [URL] font par exemple référence aux catégories chinoises de « mots pleins » et
de « mots vides ». Par ailleurs, d’autres ouvrages occidentaux sont influencés par les méthodes chinoises de mandchou qui, à leur
tour, adaptent les catégories et la terminologie de la philologie chinoise à la description du mandchou. C’est notamment le cas
des ouvrages de Shěn, Qǐliàng 沈啟亮. 1682. Manju bithe j’i nan Qīngshū zhǐnán 清書指南 [A Guide to Manchu]. Manuscript Mandchou
68, French National Library (BNF). et de Wǔ-gé 舞格. 1730. Cing wen ki meng bithe.
Qīngwén qǐméng 清文啟蒙. Manuscript Mandchou
56. French National Library (BNF). Accessible at the
following address: [URL]. Les traductions de ces ouvrages en langues occidentales (Domenge s.d. ; Wylie, Alexander. 1855. Translation
of the Ts’ing Wan K’e Mung, A Chinese Grammar of the Manchu Tartar Language; with Introductory Notes on Manchu
Literature. Shanghae [=Shanghai]: London Mission Press. Available at [URL] ; Hoffman 1883) ont donné lieu à des exemples intéressants de circulation des savoirs linguistiques et
d’hybridation des catégories descriptives.
Zusammenfassung
Während der Qing-Dynastie (1644–1911), der letzten Dynastie des chinesischen Kaiserreichs, kam es immer
häufiger zu Kontakten zwischen europäischen Ländern und China. Nicht nur wurden in europäischen Sprachen zahlreiche Grammatiken
verschiedener chinesischer Sprachen verfasst, sondern auch Texte, die das Mandschu, eine agglutinierende Sprache und eine der
offiziellen Sprachen des Reiches, zum Gegenstand haben. In der Regel wurden diese Sprachen anhand der Kategorien und der
Terminologie der westlichen Grammatiktradition beschrieben, so etwa in den Elementa linguae tartaricae (Verbiest, Ferdinand. 1682. Elementa linguae tartaricae [Elements of the Manchu
Language]. Paris: Thomas Moette. Available at: [URL]) von Ferdinand Verbiest. Erst allmählich wurden auch Elemente der chinesischen
Grammatiktradition integriert, insbesondere die Kategorien der “vollen Wörter” (Inhaltswörter) und “leeren Wörter”
(Funktionswörter), z.B. in den Grammatiken von Kaulen, Franz (=Franciscus). 1856. Lingua Mandshuricae
Institutiones quas conscripsit, Indicibus ornavit Chrestomathia et Vocabulario
auxit. Ratisbonae [=Regensburg]: G. Josephus Manz. Available at: [URL] und Harlez, Charles. 1884. Manuel
de la langue mandchoue; grammaire, anthologie &
lexique. Paris: Maisonneuve frères & Ch. Leclerc. Avaliable at: [URL]. Andere Texte bauten auf zweisprachigen Elementarbüchern Chinesisch-Mandschu auf, die
Methoden und Kategorien aus der chinesischen Philologie, u.a. Shěn, Qǐliàng 沈啟亮. 1682. Manju bithe j’i nan Qīngshū zhǐnán 清書指南 [A Guide to Manchu]. Manuscript Mandchou
68, French National Library (BNF). und Wǔ-gé 舞格. 1730. Cing wen ki meng bithe.
Qīngwén qǐméng 清文啟蒙. Manuscript Mandchou
56. French National Library (BNF). Accessible at the
following address: [URL], übernahmen. Die Übersetzungen dieser Texte in verschiedene europäische
Sprachen (Domenge o.J., Wylie, Alexander. 1855. Translation
of the Ts’ing Wan K’e Mung, A Chinese Grammar of the Manchu Tartar Language; with Introductory Notes on Manchu
Literature. Shanghae [=Shanghai]: London Mission Press. Available at [URL], Hoffman 1883) führten dazu, dass sich deskriptive
Kategorien unterschiedlicher Herkunft miteinander vermischten und sich neue linguistische Wissensformen verbreiteten.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The first Western grammar of Manchu and its translations
- 3.The Chinese textbooks of Manchu
- 4.Western translations of Chinese primers
- 5.Chinese categories in Western grammars
- 6.Concluding remarks
- Notes
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