Tungumál og menning I

Chinese as a World Language

Jón Egill Eyþórsson
jeythorsson@gmail.com

Autumn 2019
Overview
•0 Spoken Chinese : a crash
course.
•1 General remarks on the
Chinese language.
•2 Brief note on Chinese
language policy.
•3 Structure of written language
– and its relations to spoken
language.
If time allows:
•4 Philosophical reflections on
language and culture.
•5 An exercise in Literary Chinese
Zhao Yuanren 趙元任 (1892-1982): Lion-
Eating Poet

•6 Spoken dialects perhaps as

many as 400.
•7 “Standard Chinese” is based
on the Beijing (northern)
dialect (Mandarin, pǔtōnghuà
普通話), evolved from
guanhua.
•8 Other large variants are yuè
(Cantonese 粵) and wú
(Shanghainese 吳).

Standard Chinese:
putonghua, baihua, guoyu,
huayu (Mandarin)
•9 Belongs to the Sino-Tibetan
family of languages.
•10 Related to Tibetan and
Burmese.
•11 Official language in
People’s Republic of China,
Republic of China (Taiwan),
Singapore and UN.
•12 Probably around 1,2 billion
native speakers.
•13 Currently around 60 million
Chinese learners in the world
(and growing).
•14 “Beijing says 400 million
Chinese cannot speak
Mandarin” (BBC News, 6
September 2013)
•15 Of the 70% of the population
who can speak Mandarin, many do
not do it well enough, a ministry
spokeswoman said.
•16 The admission from officials
came as the government launched
another push for linguistic unity in
China.
•17 The government's policies
have also long been contentious,
particularly among ethnic
minorities.
 •18 In 2010, there were protests
in Tibet about the use of Mandarin
in schools. At the time, protesters
said it was eroding their culture
and language.

Language policy in China:

perspectives
•19 Government‘s perspective:
•20 Establish national unity/identity
(‘Chineseness’ through language).
•21 Recruitment of minorities in
administration.
•22 Providing fair opportunities for
minorities.
•23 (Sometimes): Eliminate dissent.
•24 Minorities‘ perspective:
•25 Preserve identity.
•26 Resist excessive integration
(schooling seen to be less about
education and more about repression).
•27 Thus: the line is very delicate.
Accommodation or
Integration?
•28 In China, three main stages:
•29 First pluralistic stage (1949-1957)
•30 Chinese-monopolistic stage (1958-
1977)
•31 Second pluralistic stage (1978-
present?)
•32 Is another monopolistic
stage emerging?

Historical facts
•33 Chinese has been evolving for
thousands of years.
•34 Oldest written sources date
back to around 1500 BCE.
•35 While spoken dialects have
been many and variable, written
language was more or less
standardized at the end of 3rd c.
BCE.
•36 Characters adopted by many
surrounding nations, e.g. nomad
tribes, Koreans, Japanese and
Vietnamese.
•37 Characters are still used in
Japanese (kanji) along with two
other special alphabets.
•38 Differences in both style and
meaning have evolved.

Chinese:

書 [shū] book
本 [běn] unit for book
Japanese:

本 [hon] book
書 [sho] penmanship
Korean:

冊 [ch'aek] book

Chinese:

火氣 [huǒqì] anger
手紙 [shǒuzhǐ] toilet paper
Japanese:

火気 [kaki] combustion
手紙 [tegami] correspondance

Some linguistic
characteristics
•39 No inflections.
•40 No definite/indefinite
articles.
•41 No singular-plural
distinctions (with rare
exceptions).
•42 Only 413 possible syllables
(more than 11,000 in English).
•43 No consonant clusters.
•44 Only two consonant
endings - [ŋ] (ng) and [n].
•45 Through tonal distinctions,
the total number of unique
syllables become around 1600.
•46 A large number of
homophones.
Homophone games
•47 Māma qí mă, mă màn,
māma mà mă
•48 媽媽 騎馬，馬曼，媽媽罵
馬
•49 Māma mà mă ma, mă mà
māma ma?
•50 媽媽罵馬嗎，馬罵媽媽嗎？
•51 Note character similarity

Homophones – example:
“shi”
•52 Tone 1: shī – can mean:
teacher, humid, poem, to lose,
to carry out, lion, corpse, to
hush…
•53 Tone 2: shí – can mean:
ten, time, stone, food, real, to
erode, to pick up, to know…
•54 Tone 3: shĭ – can mean: to
send, history, to sail,
excrement, arrow, to begin…
•55 Tone 4: shì – can mean: to
be, thing, room, market, test,
pattern, force, generation, to
look at, to wipe, to show, to
swear, family, scholar,
decoration, to lick, persimmon,
posthumous title…
Characters for same words
•56 Teacher 師, humid 濕,
poem 詩, to lose 失, to carry
out 施, lion 獅, corpse 屍, to
hush 噓
•57 Ten 十, time 時, stone 石,
food 食, real 實, to erode 蝕,
to pick up 拾, to know 識
•58 to send 使, history 史, to
sail 駛, excrement 屎, arrow 失,
to begin 始
•59 to be 是, thing/matter 事,
room 室, market 市, test 試,
pattern 式, force 勢,
generation 世, to look at 視, to
wipe 拭, to show 示, to swear
誓, family 氏, scholar 士,
decoration 飾, to lick 舐,
persimmon 柿, posthumous
title 謚

Some more characters

pronounced “shi”
眎溼匙似适仕釋嗜逝什侍
噬軾恃虱諡峙豕弑鰣螫蒔
貰炻殖蒒葹筮蓍蝨舓褆褷
襫襹繹觢絁籭簭箷笶竍秲
諟祏睗眡眂痑瑡跩狶狧煶
烒濕澨澤溮溡湤辻遈遞遞
適遰遾邿醳釃檡釶榯鉂鉃
鉇鉐栻鉽柹枾銴昰旹鍦敆
揓戺惿恀忯忕徥弒嵵崼峕
寔宲宩飭嬕餙餝媞姼馶塒
囸魳啇鮖鯴咶鰘鰤呩呞鳲
鳾叓厔卋鶳冟兘鼭佦齛亊
乨丗丆奭湜。。。
Characters for same words
•60 Teacher 師, humid 濕,
poem 詩, to lose 失, to carry
out 施, lion 獅, corpse 屍, to
hush 噓
•61 Ten 十, time 時, stone 石,
food 食, real 實, to erode 蝕,
to pick up 拾, to know 識
•62 to send 使, history 史, to
sail 駛, excrement 屎, arrow 矢,
to begin 始
•63 to be 是, thing 事, room 室,
market 市, test 試, pattern 式,
force 勢, generation 世, to
look at 視, to wipe 拭, to show
示, to swear 誓, family 氏,
scholar 士, decoration 飾, to
lick 舐, persimmon 柿,
posthumous title 謚

Some more characters

pronounced “shi”
眎溼匙似适仕釋嗜逝什侍
噬軾恃虱諡峙豕弑鰣螫蒔
貰炻殖蒒葹筮蓍蝨舓褆褷
襫襹繹觢絁籭簭箷笶竍秲
諟祏睗眡眂痑瑡跩狶狧煶
烒濕澨澤溮溡湤辻遈遞適
遰遾邿醳釃檡釶榯鉂鉃鉇
鉐栻鉽柹枾銴昰旹鍦敆揓
戺惿恀忯忕徥弒嵵崼峕寔
宲宩飭嬕餙餝媞姼馶塒囸
魳啇鮖鯴咶鰘鰤呩呞鳲鳾
叓厔卋鶳冟兘鼭佦齛亊乨
丗丆奭湜。。。
 Writing system -
logographic
•64 Characters instead of
alphabet.
•65 Written language same
despite phonetic differences.
•66 In principle, any language
could be written in Chinese.
•67 漢語是很難語言 = Chinese
漢語 is 是 very 很 difficult 難
language 語言.
•68 A language like Icelandic with all it’s
inflections would be hard

•69 A language like English would be easier

to accomplish
 •70 Combining Ideographs with Phonetic
script like Japanese and Korean

4 main types of characters -

1
•71 Pictographs (4%)

Type no. 2
•72 Ideographs (1%)
上 Shàng ‘up’
下 Xià ‘down’
中 Zhōng ‘middle’
本 Bĕn ‘root, origin’
末 Mò ‘end’
凶 Xiōng ‘danger’
 Type no. 3
•73 Compound indicative (13%)
仁 rĕn 人+二 person + two =
‘benevolence’
信 xìn 人+言 person + word =
‘trust’
明 míng 日+月 sun + moon =
‘bright’
休 xiū 人+木 person + tree =
‘rest’
看 kàn 手+目 hand + eye =
‘look’
男 nán 田+力 field + force =
‘male person’
好 hăo 女+子 woman + son =
‘good’

Type no. 4
Semantic-phonetic compounds
(82%)

Radicals
Some examples
•74 No. 38: 女 = female
 Obvious: 姐 jie = elder sister, 姑 gu
=aunt
Distant: 妝 zhuang = make up, 姓
xing = surname
Derogatory?: 婞 xing = stubborn,
媢 mao = envy
Obscure: 要 = want, 如 ru = if
•75 No. 113: 示 / 礻= an omen,
to manifest, sacred
Obvious: 禮 li = ceremony, 祈 = to
pray
Distant: 社 shi = society, 福 fu =
prosperity
Obscure: 祛 qu = drive away, 禕 yi
= fine, pretty
Language reforms in China
•76 Around 1915-1925:
wenyanwen (classical style of
writing) was replaced by
baihuawen (vernacular).
Classical and Modern
Chinese
•77 Clear relations but
significant differences.
•78 Classical Chinese
(wenyanwen) probably not
spoken at all, except in poems
and songs.
•79 But both Classical and
Modern Chinese evolved from
a common root and have much
in common.

Classical Chinese:
some difficulties (at least
for us)
•80 No inflections
•81 No definite/indefinite
articles
•82 No singular-plural
distinctions
•83 No consistent punctuation
(in unprocessed texts)
•84 Few grammatical markers.
•85 Vague distinction between
description
and prescription
•86 Semantics largely
contextually based

The punctuation problem

Classical Chinese traditionally
written on bamboo or silk strips
from top down
 Example (from Mencius, 4
c. BCE)
齐宣王问曰汤放桀武王伐纣有诸
孟子对曰与傅有之曰臣杀其君
可乎曰贼仁者谓之贼贼义者谓
之残残贼之人谓之一夫闻诛一
夫纣未闻杀君也

(60 characters)
Include punctuation
齐宣王问曰：“汤放桀，武王伐
纣，有诸”？孟子对曰：“与傅
有之。”曰：“臣杀其君，可
乎？”曰：“贼仁者谓之‘贼’，贼
义者谓之‘残’。残贼之人谓之
‘一夫’。闻诛一夫纣矣，未闻杀
君也。”
(87 characters, including
punctuation)
Modern Chinese version
齐宣王问道：“商汤流放夏桀，
武王讨伐殷纣，真有这回事
么？”孟子回答说：“史书上有
这样的记载。”齐宣王又说：
“做臣子的杀死他的君王，这可
取吗？”孟子回答：“损害仁爱
的人叫做‘贼’，破坏道义的人叫
做‘残’，这两种人我们称为‘独
夫’。我只听说武王诛杀了独夫
殷纣，而没有听说他杀过君
王。”
(111 characters, 140 including
punctuation)
English version (D.C. Lau)
King Xuan of Qi asked, ‘Is it true
that Tang banished Jie and King
Wu marched against Zhou?’ ‘It is
so recorded,’ answered Mencius.
‘Is regicide permissible?’ ‘A man
who mutilates benevolence is a
mutilator, while one who
cripples rightness is a crippler.
He who is both a mutilator and a
crippler is an “outcast”. I have
indeed heard of the punishment
of the “outcast Zhou”, but I have
not heard of any regicide.’
(74 words, 414 characters)
Translation and vagueness
故 王 之 不
王 不
a reason prince to arrive at not
prince not
a cause king to go to a negative
king a negative
a pretext ruler he, she, it, this…
ruler
consequently royal possessive article
royal

为 也 非 不
能 也
to be a particle wrong not
able to a particle
to do and bad a negative
can and
to make even a negative
power even
to practise also not
talent also
to act out besides not to be
ability besides
to cause still without
still

Translation and vagueness

故 王 之 不
王 不
a reason prince to arrive at not
prince not
a cause king to go to a negative
king a negative
a pretext ruler he, she, it, this…
ruler
consequently royal possessive article
royal

为 也 非 不
能 也
to be a particle wrong not
able to a particle
to do and bad a negative
can and
to make even a negative
power even
to practise also not
talent also
to act out besides not to be
ability besides
to cause still without
still

English
•87 故王之不王，不为也，非
不能也。
•88 Consequently, Your
Majesty’s not becoming a true
king is (a matter of) not-doing,
it is not not-being able.
•89 “Hence Your Majesty’s
failure to become a true king is
due to a refusal to act, not an
inability to act.”
Language reforms in China
•90 Around 1915-1925:
wenyanwen (classical style of
writing) was replaced by
baihuawen (vernacular).
•91 1956: Putonghua
established as standard spoken
language.
•92 Since 1964: A total of 2264
characters have been
simplified (not in Hong Kong
and Taiwan, but Singapore had
followed suit by 1976).
Simplified characters
•93 臺, 檯, 颱 → 台 (tai =
platform, terrace)
•94 毉, 醫 → 医 (yi = medical
doctor)
•95 氣 → 气 (qi = vital energy)
•96 禮 → 礼 (li = ceremony,
customs)
•97 義 → 义 (yi = correct,
appropriate)
•98 蔔 → 卜 (bo, used in luobo
萝卜 = turnip)
•99 學 → 学 (xue = learn,
study)

Could Chinese be written

phonetically?
•100 Yes… but…
•101 Level of ambiguity would
increase considerably.
•102 Literary and cultural
treasures would become
inaccessible to most people.
•103 Would probably have a
significant impact on cultural
continuity.
•104 Karlgren 1923 about this

Philosophical reflections on
language and culture
•105 Is our way of viewing and
classifying the world
contingent upon the peculiar
nature of (alphabetic) Indo-
European languages and
cultures (Sapir-whorf
hypothesis)?
•106 Do noun-oriented
languages prioritize thinking in
substances, while verb-
oriented languages prioritize
thinking in actions?
•107 Consider Nietzsche:
 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-
1900)
“The strange family resemblance of all
Indian, Greek, and German philosophizing is
explained easily enough. Where there is an
affinity of languages, it cannot fail, owing to
the common philosophy of grammar – I
mean, owing to the unconscious
domination and guidance by similar
grammatical functions – that everything is
prepared at the outset for a similar
development and sequence of philosophical
systems; just as the way seems barred
against certain other possibilities of world-
interpretation.”
Beyond Good and Evil, 1886