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Studies in Colloquial Chinese and Its History: Dialect and Text presents cutting-edge research into issues regarding prestige colloquial languages in China in their spoken forms and as well as their relationship to written forms and the colloquial literary language. These include the standard regional languages and prestige dialects of the past, the influence of historical forms of spoken Chinese on written Chinese, the history of guānhuà and the history of báihuà, proto-dialects and supra-regional common languages (koines), and their relationship to spoken dialects. The various studies in this collection focus on the dialect groups with the most substantial written tradition, including Mandarin, Wu, Min, and Cantonese, in north, central and eastern coastal, and southern China respectively. The contributors explore the histories of these dialects in their written and spoken forms, presenting a variegated view of the history and development of the regional forms, including their evolution and influence. This edited volume expands our understanding of the underlying factors in the formation of supra-regional common languages in China, and the written forms to which they gave rise. It broadens our understanding of the evolution of written and spoken forms of Chinese from a comparative perspective, revealing the interrelationships of various areal forms of Chinese and historical koines in China.
Price: £73.00
Pages: 296
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Imprint: Hong Kong University Press
Publication Date:
15 July 2022
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9789888754090
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
“This is a rigorous and cohesive collection of articles important to our understanding of the development of the current modern varieties, and also to our understanding of the creation and interpretation of the texts themselves. Anyone interested in empirical work on Chinese dialects would find this of interest.”
—Randy J. LaPolla (羅仁地), Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA)
“The history of Chinese dialects and Mandarin is a source of interest for many scholars. It is rare, however, to meet a collection that addresses the history and appearance of writing in such a detailed and unconventional way. This unique volume deepens our understanding and offers new insights into established scholarship. A highly recommended publication.”
—Marinus van den Berg (范德博), Editor of the Journal of Asian Pacific Communication (JAPC)
—Randy J. LaPolla (羅仁地), Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA)
“The history of Chinese dialects and Mandarin is a source of interest for many scholars. It is rare, however, to meet a collection that addresses the history and appearance of writing in such a detailed and unconventional way. This unique volume deepens our understanding and offers new insights into established scholarship. A highly recommended publication.”
—Marinus van den Berg (范德博), Editor of the Journal of Asian Pacific Communication (JAPC)
Richard VanNess Simmons is a professor in the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong, and director of the Chinese Language Center; he is also professor emeritus at Rutgers University. His research focuses on the history, geography, and relationships of Mandarin and the Chinese dialects. He has done extensive fieldwork investigating and mapping China’s Mandarin and Wu dialects. His publications include Shanghainese-English/English-Shanghainese Dictionary & Phrasebook (2011), Chinese Dialect Geography: Distinguishing Mandarin and Wu in Their Boundary Region (2006), Chinese Dialect Classification: Theory and Practice (1999 and 2011), Issues in Chinese Dialect Description and Classification (1999), and The Sōushén hòujì: Latter Notes on Collected Spirit Phenomena Attributed to Táo Yuānmíng (365–427), an Annotated Translation (2022).