Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 44:1 (2017) ► pp.1–46
The Development of Linguistics in China
A study of the contributions of Yuen Ren Chao and Wang Li
Published online: 3 August 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.44.1.01che
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.44.1.01che
Summary
Prompted by Western science in late 19th century, Chinese linguistics gradually moved to a new direction after two thousand years of philological tradition centered on rhetoric and textual exegesis. Through the intense efforts of a few scholars in the early twenti-eth century, linguistic study in China became a science and a discipline. Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and Wang Li (1900–1986) were first-generation linguists who led the movement to apply the methodology of modern linguistics to the systematic study of Chinese. This paper investigates the trend setting achievements of these founders of the discipline, and it introduces their biographical and scholarly backgrounds. It also provides a brief history of philology through the lens of Wang Li who was the first historian of Chinese linguistics. Contemporary linguists need both a critical mind to understand the philological legacy of Chinese and an open mind to welcome new interdisciplinary approaches that could produce innovative theories and facilitate the growth of the discipline. Moreover, this paper expands the history of linguistics by introducing linguistic features not found in Indo-European languages, thereby making the history of linguistics more inclusive than it has previously been. Consequently, this paper contributes to a rethinking of the definition of language.
Résumé
La linguistique chinoise, favorisée par la science occidentale à la fin du XIXe siècle, a graduellement changé de direction, après deux mille ans de traduction philologique centrés sur la rhétorique et l’exégèse textuelle. À travers les intenses efforts de quelques savants au début du XXe siècle, l’étude linguistique en Chine est devenue une science et une discipline. Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) et Wang Li (1900–1986) ont fait partie de la première génération de linguistes ayant dirigé le mouvement d’application de la méthodologie de la linguistique moderne à l’étude systématique du chinois. Cet article met l’accent sur la tendance qui fait le bilan des réalisations de ces fondateurs de la discipline et présente leur biographie et leur formation. L’article fournit également une brève histoire de la philologie à travers le prisme de Wang Li, premier historien de la linguistique chinoise. Les linguistes contemporains ont besoin à la fois d’un esprit critique, afin de comprendre l’héritage philologique du chinois, et d’un esprit ouvert afin d’accueillir de nouvelles approaches interdisciplinaires qui pourraient produire des théories innovatrices et faciliter le développement de la discipline. De plus, cet article enrichit l’histoire de la linguistique en y introduisant des traits linguistiques qui ne se trouvent pas dans les langues indo-européennes, rendant de cette manière l’histoire de la linguistique plus inclusive qu’elle n’a été jusque-là. En conséquence, cet article contribue à une nouvelle réflexion de la définition de la langue.
Zusammenfassung
Von der westlichen Wissenschaft seit dem späten 19. Jahrhundert angeregt, entwi-ckelte sich die chinesische Sprachwissenschaft allmählich in eine neue Richtung, nach einer philologischen Tradition von zweitausend Jahren, die auf Rhetorik und Textauslegung ausgerichtet war. Durch die intensiven Bemühungen einiger Wissenschaftler zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde die Linguistik zu einer Wissenschaft und zu einer Disziplin. Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) und Wang Li (1900–1986) waren Sprachwissenschaftler der ersten Stunde und standen an der Spitze der Bewegung, die Methodik der modernen Linguistik auf die systematische Untersuchung des Chinesischen anzuwenden. Der vorliegende Beitrag würdigt die richtungsweisenden Leistungen dieser Begründer der Disziplin und skizziert ihren biographischen und fachlichen Hintergrund. Darüber hinaus bietet er eine kurze Geschichte der Philologie aus der Perspektive von Wang Li, des ersten Historiographen der chinesischen Sprachwissenschaft. Linguisten der Gegenwart müssen sowohl über ein kritisches Bewusstsein verfügen, um das philologische Vermächtnis des Chinesischen zu verstehen, als auch über die notwendige Aufgeschlossenheit, um neue interdisziplinäre Ansätze aufzugreifen, die innovative Theorien hervorbringen und die Entwicklung der Disziplin befördern könnten. Und schließlich ergänzt der Beitrag die Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft durch die Einführung sprachlicher Merkmale, die in indoeuropäischen Sprachen nicht vorhanden sind. Die Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft wird dadurch umfassender, als sie zuvor war. Damit trägt der Beitrag dazu bei, die Definition von Sprache neu zu durchdenken.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Yuen Ren Chao — the father of Chinese linguistics
- 2.1Biographical sketch
- 2.2Chao’s research in linguistics in China
- 2.2.1National Romanization
- 2.2.2Chao’s surveys of dialects
- 2.3Chao in the United States of America
- 2.3.1Chao’s language instruction in the American universities
- 2.3.2A Grammar of Spoken Chinese
- 2.4More than a linguist
- 3.Wang Li — founder of the first Department of Chinese Linguistics
- 3.1Biographical sketch
- 3.2Founding the first Department of Chinese Linguistics
- 3.3A prolific scholar and writer
- 3.3.1Works on grammar
- 3.3.2Works on phonology
- 3.3.3Works on lexicology and dictionaries
- 3.3.4Works on versification
- 3.3.5Textbooks on Classical Chinese
- 3.3.6Works on language reform
- 3.4Wang Li’s history of Chinese linguistics
- 3.4.1The study of meaning
- 3.4.2The study of sound
- 3.4.2.1Earliest rhyme book Qièyùn
- 3.4.2.2Living language study
- 3.4.3A comprehensive study of Chinese in Qing era
- 3.4.3.1Official dictionaries
- 3.4.3.2Evidential studies
- 3.4.3.3Old Chinese pronunciation
- 3.4.4The first indigenous Chinese grammar
- 4.Institutional platforms and the relevance to contemporary linguistics
- 4.1Current status of linguistic programs
- 4.2Institutional platforms for Chao and Wang
- 5.Conclusion: A call for innovative theory
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
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Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Wang, Shuyi
Xiaoyu, W., X. Ying, L. Shilin, R. Xiubo, Y. Dan, Y. Xinran, L. Junrui, D. Jinjing & X. Qiujian
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