In this course, close reading of Chinese-language materials in general and Chinese linguistics combines advanced language training with the chance to develop awareness of disciplinary thinking, and concomitant types of textual analysis and interpretation.

Also see the University Study Guide.

• Registration: through uSis
• Course number: 5684KTRLY

• Second semester, Thursdays 13:15u to 15:00u
• Arsenaal, room 112

Texts

• Chao (1980)

趙元任 Yuen Ren Chao, 序 "Xù" [Preface].In: Chao (1968, 1980)b, frontispiece. Facsimile reproduction of a handwritten endorsement by the original author of a Chinese translation of his A grammar of spoken Chinese (1968).

• Chao (1968, 1980)a

趙元任 Yuen Ren Chao, 連動式 "Liándòng shì" [Verbal expressions in series] In: Chao (1968, 1980)b, pp. 172-176

• Chao (1968, 1980)b

中國話的文法 Zhōngguóhuà de wénfǎ [A grammar of spoken Chinese]. 香港 Hong Kong: 中文大學出版社 Chinese University Press, 1980, pp. 172-176. Translation of Yuen Ren Chao, A grammar of spoken Chinese, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968. Translated by 丁邦新 Pang-Hsin Ting.

 

Assignments

1.  Chao's 序 will be introduced in class. We will also start translating his text on 連動式. No preparation is needed for this first session.

2.  Please pay attention to the historical, cultural and academic contexts of both texts. These will be explained and discussed in class.

Text

• Chao (1968, 1980)a

Assignments

3.  Read the assigned text, taking good notice of the context discussed in week 1.

4.  Please note down any difficulties you may have in reading these texts, and bring your notes to class.

week 3 (17 February)

Texts

• Chao (1959, 2002)

趙元任 Yuen Ren Chao, 第一讲 ∙ 语言学跟跟语言学有关系的些问题 "Dì yì jiǎng: Yǔyánxué gēn gēn yǔyánxué yǒuguān de xiē wènti" [First lecture: Linguistics and some questions relating to linguistics]. In: 语言问题 Yǔyán wènti [Problems of language], 趙元任全集第1卷 Zhào Yuánrèn quánjí dì yí juàn [Collected works of Yuen Ren Chao, Part 1]. 北京 Peking: 商务印书馆 Shāngwù Yìnshūguǎn, 2002, pp. 10-16. Originally published in 1959. Earlier reprint, in traditional characters: 臺北 Taipei, 商務印書館 Shāngwù Yìnshūguǎn, 1968, pp. 1-10.

Assignments

5.  In case you did not finish reading the 連動式 text, please do so first. We will not continue translation of this text, but you can bring any remaining questions for discussion in class.

6.  Read Chao's 第一講, noting down any difficulties you may have in reading the text. Please bring your notes to class.

week 4 (24 February)

Texts

• Chao (1959, 2002)


• Saussure (1916, 1985)

  "Signe, signifié, signifiant" and "Premier principe: l'arbitraire du signe". In Ferdinand de Saussure, Cours de linguistique générale: Édition critique préparée par Tullio de Mauro [A course in general linguistics: Critical edition prepared by Tullio de Mauro], pp. 97-102. Enlarged edition, Paris: Payot, 1985, reprint 1997. Postface by Louis-Jean Calvet. First edition: 1972. De Saussure's original published by Charles Bally and Albert Séchehaye, in collaboration with Albert Riedlinger, Genève, 1916.
  Online Scribd.com edition: Saussure, Ferdinand - Cours de Linguistique Generale, pp. 97-102.
  
  Note: in the online edition, the text can be enlarged by pressing the "Full Screen" button.

...or in English translation:

Saussure (1959)

"Sign, signified, signifier " and "Principle I: the arbitrary nature of the sign". In Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in general linguistics. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959, pp. 65-70. Translation of Saussure (1916), translated by Wade Baskin.
Doc88 online browsable edition: Course in general linguistics, pp. 65-70.
Archive.org PDF edition: Course in general linguistics, pp. 65-70.

Note: on page 65, the illustration has been printed too low: it should follow immediately after the first paragraph of the text.

Assignments

7.  Refresh your memory about the way different linguistic units can be represented in transcription. Common conventions have been summarized in the online Transcriptiewijzer. Note down any difficulties in that text, and write out the exercise given in section 4. – Mr Li Runsen: since this text is in Dutch, please email me a.s.a.p. to schedule an appointment to discuss its contents.

8.  Finish reading Chao's 第一講. We will discuss any remaining questions in class.

9.  In this lecture, Yuen Ren Chao tells an anecdote about an old Chinese woman, and then adds the original German version of the story.

 

Your assignment is to summarize the point Chao is making here, and to explain how it relates to the Saussurean notion of the signe.

Please note:

• Your summary is intended for an academically interested audience which does not know any Chinese, and is not necessarily trained in linguistics.
• Your summary need not quote each and every example from the story.
• Please provide transcriptions and/or English translations for expressions from other languages wherever this is appropriate.
• Small is beautiful : maximally two pages A4

Deadline postponed: see assignment 12 below for all details. Type out assignment #9 in full, and bring two printed copies to class on 24 February. Always add full name, student number and date to your hand-in assignments. Please pay attention to written conventions (punctuation, transcription, etc).

week 5 (3 March)

Text

Lǐ (2005)

 

李晓琪 Lí Xiǎoqí, 前言 "Qiányán" [Preface]. In: 现代汉语虚词讲义 Xiàndài Hànyǔ xūcí jiǎngyì [Lecture notes on function words in Modern Chinese], 1992, Vol. 5, pp. 364-370. 北京 Peking: 北京大学出版社, Běijīng Dāxué Chūbǎnshè, 2005, pp. 1-7

Assignments

10.  Read Li's 前言. Please bring your reading notes to class.

11.  On the IPA website, please check the Alphabet section under "Consonants (Pulmonic)", "Tones & Word Accents" and "Vowels".

 

Please try to use these symbols in this week's assignment where appropriate. And if you have any questions about details, please do not hesitate to consult me before handing in the assignment.

To encourage your experimenting, any mistakes in your IPA transcriptions will NOT be graded for this assignment.

Text processing details about IPA fonts and IPA symbol insertion are given on the software page.

12.  The deadline for assignment #8 has been postponed. Note that some details of the assignment have been reformulated, as follows:

 

In his first lecture, Yuen Ren Chao tells an anecdote about an old Chinese woman, and then adds the original German version of the story.

Please summarize the point Chao is making here, and explain how it relates to the Saussurean notion of the signe.

Please note:

• Your summary is intended for an academically interested audience which does not know any Chinese, and is not necessarily trained in linguistics.
• Your summary need not quote each and every example from the story.
• Please provide transcriptions and/or English translations for expressions from other languages, as appropriate.
• Please use IPA symbols where appropriate; for details see #11 above.
• Back to the source: please consult De Saussure's original text to see which unit(s) is/are arbitrary according to him.
• In your summary, please indicate if Chao applies arbitrariness in the same way.
• Small is beautiful : maximally two pages A4.

Hand in assignment #12, printed on paper, at the beginning of class on 3 March, or in my pigeonhole beforehand. Always add full name, student number and date to your hand-in assignments. Please pay attention to written conventions (punctuation, transcription, bibliographical detail of references, etcetera).

Text

Pān (1992)

潘悟云 Pān Wùyún, 陆德名(约公元550-630年) "Lù Démíng (yuē gōngyuán 550-630 nián)" [Lù Démíng, ca. 550-630 AD.]. In: 濮之珍 Pú Zhīzhēn, 中国历代语言学家评传 Zhōngguó Lìdài yǔyánxuējiā píngzhuàn [Biographies and assessments of Chinese linguists through the ages], 上海 Shanghai: 复旦大学出版社 Fùdàn Dàxué Chūbǎnshè, 1992, pp. 131-136

Notes

• This biographical sketch is much shorter than last week's text on function words, but it may require more of your time in terms of preparation.
• One useful source for terminology and backgrounds is the (single) volume on Language and writing of the Chinese encyclopaedia: 中国大百科全书 • 语言文字 (Peking/Shanghai 1988).
  You will find the Chinese encyclopaedia in in the handbook section of the East Asian Library, on the shelves to your right as as you enter the Green Room.

Assignments

13.  Read Pān's text on Lù Démíng, taking care to look up

• technical vocabulary,
• Classical Chinese phrases, and
• the titles of works quoted in the text.

14.  Please bring your reading notes to class, and answer the following questions.

15.  Why does this modern text start out in Classical Chinese? What would be the likely source for this opening passage?

16.  First check the 合计 mentioned in the first line of p. 133. Then correct the error on the basis of the original 经典释文 text.

17.  Please assign approximate dates to the reconstructed languages identified as 上古汉语 and 中古汉语 in the text.

18.  On p. 135, fǎnqiè spellings for the same character include one starting with 乃, and one starting with 人. What does this tell us about the initial consonant of the character in question?

19.  On p. 136, what is the function of the asterisk in *–s?

20.  Can you identify a modern reflex of the Old Chinese *-s suffix?

Text

• Pān (1992)

• William H. Baxter, A handbook of Old Chinese phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1992, §§2.2-2.2.1.3 (pp. 32-41).
  You can either consult the East Asian Library's copy (signature code "SINOL. 23 A 3") or consult the online pages of the work:

  • see the Online Google-Books edition: A handbook of Old Chinese phonology By William Hubbard Baxter, §§2.2-2.2.1.3 (pp. 32-41)
  • or use this direct link to the relevant pages

Assignments

21.  Please finish reading Pān's text on Lù Démíng, and answer the remaining questions.

22. Your graded hand-in assignment of week 5 will be available in the blue folder in my pigeonhole on Monday, 14 March.

Most of my editing symbols can be found in the Colorado Style Guide.

23.  Consider page 134 of Pān's article, from the beginning of section 3 up to "...仍然有别." at the bottom of that page.

Now compare §§2.2.1.1-2.2.1.3 of Baxter's book, which was published in the same year as Pān's article.

• Please identify the titles of works which are discussed in both texts.
• Compare Pān's and Baxter's views on each of these sources.

Please note:

• In Pān's text, please make sure to identify the name 高本汉 before you start.
• Small is beautiful: maximally two pages A4.

Please bring assignment #23, printed on paper, to class on 17 March. We will discuss your results and any remaining problems in class. Final deadline to hand in this assignment is Monday, 21 March, 11:00h, printed on paper, in my pigeonhole.

Text

• Sūn e.a. (2007) 孙宏开 Sūn Hóngkāi, 胡增益 Hú Zēngyì, 黄行 Huáng Xíng (eds.), 汉语 "Hànyǔ” [Chinese]. In: 中国的语言 Zhōngguó de yǔyán [The languages of China], 北京 Peking: 商务印书馆 Shāngwù Yìnshūguǎn, 2007, pp. 108-128.

Assignments

24.  As announced, your oral presentation on the 反切 spelling system is scheduled for 14 April, i.e. next week. The assignment will be as follows:

Please bring any questions about this assignment to class on 14 April.

25.  Please read the new text, and bring your reading notes to class.

26. Can you spot anything remarkable about the publishing details printed on page ii?

27. How would you characterize the first paragraph of p. 108?

28. On pp. 109-111, tone is established as the main criterion for a division of Sinitic dialect groups. Are other criteria available?

To answer this question, please consult pp. 181-182 of Jerry Norman, Chinese (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988; on the East Asian Library's handbooks shelves).

29. Are the two tabels on p. 111 given in phonetic or phonemic transcription?

30. Please check if the overview of Peking Mandarin initials, finals and tones on p. 111 is complete.

31. On p. 113, the general lack of "形变" is described for Peking Mandarin. Can you name a productive morphological process in Peking Mandarin nonetheless?

32. The overview of Cantonese tones on p. 113 (lines 4-6) is followed by a number of examples.

• For speakers of Cantonese: please check if all 入声 tones that you can think of are covered in this overview.
  • If the answer is yes, please provide your own examples, citing free (not bound) forms only.
  • If the answer is no, please write down any missing tones, indicating their tonal values according to the five-point scale used in the text.

• For other participants: please make an inventory of all the 入声 tones given here. For each of these, please
  • give the tonal values according to the five-point scale used in the text;
  • cite the example, providing transcription, Chinese character, and English translation;
  • try to pronounce the example, and check your pronunciation with a Cantonese speaker.

33. In note 1 of p. 115, the original table quoted and reproduced here is supplemented by one extra possibility. Can you give more?

̄34. Please make sure that you understand all technical terms in the section on 六书 on p. 116.

35. Note that on p. 118, 《经上》is a typo for 《经说上》.

36. Page 122 describes the 尔雅 dictionary. Please indicate in which ways this dictionary differs from a modern Chinese dictionary.

37. On p. 124, please identify 王力 and 俞敏.

38. On p. 126, please identify 陈第. One of his most famous quotes is shown below; can you translate it?

Text

• Sūn e.a. (2007) 孙宏开 Sūn Hóngkāi, 胡增益 Hú Zēngyì, 黄行 Huáng Xíng (eds.), 汉语 "Hànyǔ” [Chinese]. In: 中国的语言 Zhōngguó de yǔyán [The languages of China], 北京 Peking: 商务印书馆 Shāngwù Yìnshūguǎn, 2007, pp. 108-128.

Assignments

39.  Please finish reading Sūn's 汉语 "Hànyǔ" chapter. We will pick up the text from page 116; see assignment 34.

Texts

• 吕叔湘 Lǚ Shūxiāng, 关于 ' 很 ' 和' 狠 ' "Guānyú 'hěn' hé 'hěn' " [On hěn 'very' and hěn 'cruel']. In: 吕叔湘自选集 Lǚ Shūxiāng zìxuǎn jí [Lǚ Shūxiāng’s works: A personal selection], 上海 Shanghai: 上海教育出版社 Shànghǎi Jiàoyù Chūbǎnshè, 1987, pp. 544-546.
• 聂志平 Niè Zhìpíng, 关于"X得很"中"很"的性质 "Guānyú 'X de hěn' zhōng 'hěn' de xìngzhi" [On the nature of hěn 'very' in X de hěn]. In: 中国语文 Zhōngguó yǔwén [Chinese language], 2005, Vol. 1, pp. 60-64.

Assignments

41.  Read Lǚ's text.

42.  Substract the time spent on assignment #31 from eight hours, and spend the remaining time on Niè's text.

43.  Please bring your reading notes to class.

Text

甘于思 Gān Yúsī and 吴芳 Wú Fāng, 释"办馆" "Shì bànguǎn" [Baahngwún explained]. In: 方言 Fāngyán [Dialects], 2006, Vol. 2, pp. 186-188.

Assignments

44.  Consider the account given in Lǚ (1987) on various Chinese etymons, all of which can be (or have been) written with a character containing 艮 gèn as a phonetic component.

On page 544-545, you will find

(a) a table summarizing data from traditional sources;

(b) a diagram summarizing Lǚ's analysis of those data;

(c) three conclusions.

In the first of his conclusions, Lǚ mentions an item which he identifies as "很₂". However, no "很₂" appears either in the table or in the diagram.

Your assignment this week is to find out what went wrong here. Please

– correct the error(s), and

– provide arguments indicating why your textual correction(s) represent what Lǚ must have intended.

As always, your target audience is an intelligent and interested lay readership, i.e. not necessarily trained in Chinese or in linguistics. Please bear this in mind in your presentation of characters, pronunciations and meanings, and in your overall argumentation.

Your text must be self-contained. Please introduce your subject, and provide references for any text you have to quote.

Small is beautiful: maximally two pages A4.

Please bring assignment #44, printed on paper, to class on 28 April. We will discuss your results and any remaining problems in class. Final deadline to hand in this assignment is Monday, 2 May, 11:00h, printed on paper, in my pigeonhole.

45.  Read Gān & Wú's text. Please check all place names on a good map!

46.  Please bring your reading notes to class.

week 6 (5 May)

NO CLASS

week 7 (12 May)

Excursion

47.  On this last day of class, we will make a sightseeing tour of various linguistic hotspots at the Leiden Faculty of Humanities.

No preparation is needed; we will assemble in class at the usual time.

updated 10 May 2011