Western grammars of the Chinese language in the 18th and 19th centuries
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Mariarosaria Gianninoto
Abstract
The development of studies on Chinese grammar was an important innovation of European sinology, as the systematic descriptions of the language were scarcely represented in native tradition. The genre of bilingual grammars involved adapting the methodologies elaborated for Western languages to Chinese. Even though the Western model was predominant, bilingual grammars progressively integrated aspects of Chinese linguistics. Moreover, in their attempt to give an account of the specific features of Chinese, missionaries and scholars also developed new categories and theories, absent both in Latin and Chinese traditions. In this paper, we aim to retrace the evolution of the Western grammars of Chinese during the 18th and 19th centuries, by focusing particularly on the interplay between the analytical models of European origin and the descriptive obligations for the specific features of the Chinese language.
Abstract
The development of studies on Chinese grammar was an important innovation of European sinology, as the systematic descriptions of the language were scarcely represented in native tradition. The genre of bilingual grammars involved adapting the methodologies elaborated for Western languages to Chinese. Even though the Western model was predominant, bilingual grammars progressively integrated aspects of Chinese linguistics. Moreover, in their attempt to give an account of the specific features of Chinese, missionaries and scholars also developed new categories and theories, absent both in Latin and Chinese traditions. In this paper, we aim to retrace the evolution of the Western grammars of Chinese during the 18th and 19th centuries, by focusing particularly on the interplay between the analytical models of European origin and the descriptive obligations for the specific features of the Chinese language.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements ix
- Honorary President’s Address xi
- Editors’ introduction xv
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Part I. European linguistics in the 17th and late 18th centuries
- “Inversions of word order generate higher costs” 3
- Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ? 13
- Travail du pouvoir et productions sur la ‘langue française’ au XVIIe siècle 27
- The main characteristics of grammar-writing in Slovenia between 1584 and 1758 37
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Part II. Linguistics in the late 18th and 19th centuries
- Western grammars of the Chinese language in the 18th and 19th centuries 53
- L’universalité du discours et le génie des langues dans la Grammaire philosophique et littéraire (1823–1824) de Nicolas Paquis de Sauvigny 63
- The reception of Court de Gébelin in 19th-century Portuguese grammar 71
- Morphologie du langage et typologie linguistique 87
- L’évolution du terme ‘sémiologie’ chez Saussure: 1881–1891 103
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Part III. Theoretical issues in the 20th-century linguistic thought
- Questioning the idea of ‘founding text’ 117
- Earlier and later anti-psychologism in linguistics 127
- Looking for a semantic theory 137
- Jakobson’s circles 145
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Part IV. Russian and Soviet linguistics
- Soviet linguistics and world linguistics 159
- Anti-positivism in early Soviet linguistics 169
- De la fusion des langues au repli sur soi (URSS 1917–1953) 181
- Semantics as a background for (pre)semiotic trends in Russian intellectual history of the 1920s–1930s (and beyond) 191
- Présence de la Russie dans le réseau phonétique international (1886–1940) 201
- Index of biographical names 216
- Index of subjects and terms 219
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements ix
- Honorary President’s Address xi
- Editors’ introduction xv
-
Part I. European linguistics in the 17th and late 18th centuries
- “Inversions of word order generate higher costs” 3
- Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ? 13
- Travail du pouvoir et productions sur la ‘langue française’ au XVIIe siècle 27
- The main characteristics of grammar-writing in Slovenia between 1584 and 1758 37
-
Part II. Linguistics in the late 18th and 19th centuries
- Western grammars of the Chinese language in the 18th and 19th centuries 53
- L’universalité du discours et le génie des langues dans la Grammaire philosophique et littéraire (1823–1824) de Nicolas Paquis de Sauvigny 63
- The reception of Court de Gébelin in 19th-century Portuguese grammar 71
- Morphologie du langage et typologie linguistique 87
- L’évolution du terme ‘sémiologie’ chez Saussure: 1881–1891 103
-
Part III. Theoretical issues in the 20th-century linguistic thought
- Questioning the idea of ‘founding text’ 117
- Earlier and later anti-psychologism in linguistics 127
- Looking for a semantic theory 137
- Jakobson’s circles 145
-
Part IV. Russian and Soviet linguistics
- Soviet linguistics and world linguistics 159
- Anti-positivism in early Soviet linguistics 169
- De la fusion des langues au repli sur soi (URSS 1917–1953) 181
- Semantics as a background for (pre)semiotic trends in Russian intellectual history of the 1920s–1930s (and beyond) 191
- Présence de la Russie dans le réseau phonétique international (1886–1940) 201
- Index of biographical names 216
- Index of subjects and terms 219
