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Sinography : the borrowing and adaptation of the Chinese script
\"In the more than 3,000 years since its invention, the Chinese script has been adapted many times to write languages other than Chinese, including Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Zhuang. In Sinography: Cross-linguistic Perspectives of the Borrowing and Adaptation of the Chinese Script, Zev Handel provides a comprehensive analysis of how the structural features of these languages constrained and motivated methods of script adaptation. This comparative study reveals the universal principles at work in the borrowing of logographic scripts. By analyzing and explaining these principles, Handel advances our understanding of how early writing systems have functioned and spread, providing a new framework that can be applied to the history of scripts beyond East Asia, such as Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
An anatomy of Chinese : rhythm, metaphor, politics
Rhythms, conceptual metaphors, and political language convey meanings of which Chinese speakers themselves may not be aware. Link's Anatomy of Chinese contributes to the debate over whether language shapes thought or vice versa, and its comparison of English with Chinese lends support to theories that locate the origins of language in the brain.
eBook
Learning Chinese
The acquisition of Mandarin Chinese, one of the most important and widely spoken languages in the world today, is the focus of this innovative study. It describes the rise of Chinese as a global language and the many challenges and opportunities associated with learning it. The collaborative, multiple-case study and cross-case analysis is presented from three distinct but complementary theoretical and analytic perspectives: linguistic, sociocultural, and narrative. The book reveals fascinating dimensions of Chinese language learning based on vivid first-person accounts (with autobiographical narratives included in the book) of adults negotiating not only their own and others' language and literacy learning, but also their identities, communities, and trajectories as users of Chinese.
eBook
Languages, scripts, and Chinese texts in East Asia
This is a wide-ranging study of vernacularization in East Asia, examining Chinese script of the early common era, the spread of Chinese Buddhist, Confucian, and medical texts throughout East Asia, all the way to the end of the nineteenth century when nationalism created new roles for vernacular languages and vernacular scripts.
Book
Learning Chinese, Turning Chinese
In this book Edward McDonald takes a fresh look at issues of language in Chinese studies. He takes the viewpoint of the university student of Chinese with the ultimate goal of becoming 'sinophone': that is, developing a fluency and facility at operating in Chinese-language contexts comparable to their own mother tongue. While the entry point for most potential sinophones is the Chinese language classroom, the kinds of \"language\" and \"culture\" on offer there are rarely questioned, and the links between the forms of the language and the situations in which they may be used are rarely drawn. The author's explorations of Chinese studies illustrate the crucial link between becoming sinophone and developing a sinophone identity - learning Chinese and turning Chinese.
Including chapters on:
relating text to context in learning Chinese
the social and political contexts of language learning
myths about Chinese characters
language reform and nationalism in modern China
critical discourse analysis of popular culture
ethnicity and identity in language learning.
This book will be invaluable for all Chinese language students and teachers, and those with an interest in Chinese linguistics, linguistic anthropology, critical discourse analysis, and language education.
Edward McDonald is currently Lecturer in Chinese at the University of Auckland, and has taught Chinese language, music, linguistics and semiotics at universities in Australia, China, and Singapore.
eBook
Exploring the Challenges of Learning and Teaching Chinese/Mandarin Language at Higher Education Institutes: Voices from Non-Chinese Speaker Teachers and Learners
Chinese/Mandarin language teaching to undergraduate students from non-Chinese speaker countries has garnered significant attention due to China's pivotal role in global political and economic transformations. Mandarin, spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, is not only taught within China but also in several other countries. However, similar to teaching any second or foreign language, instructing Mandarin comes with its share of challenges, which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been thoroughly explored. To delve into these issues, we employed a qualitative (phenomenological) research approach. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers and 20 Mandarin language learners, selected using theoretical sampling. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed into text files and analyzed utilizing qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA. The challenges and problems identified were categorized into four primary themes: linguistic, educational, psychological, and social/political. The findings hold potential implications for Chinese/Mandarin language policymakers, educators, curriculum developers, and learners.
Journal Article
Fictive questions in the Zhuangzi : a cognitive rhetorical study
Rhetoric is intimately related to interaction and cognition. This book explores the cognitive underpinnings of rhetoric by presenting a case study of the rhetorical use of interactional structures, namely expository questions and rhetorical questions, in the classical Chinese tradition.
eBook