2. A Sketch of Spoken Chinese

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Contents VII
3. Illustrations and Tables VIII
4. Preface IX
5. Introduction 1
6. Part I. Rethinking "The Chinese Language"
7. 1. On Defining "Chinese"and "Language" 35
8. 2. A Sketch of Spoken Chinese 41
9. 3. Idiolects, Dialects, Regionalects, and Languages 53
10. Part II. Rethinking Chinese Characters
11. 4. What's in a Name? 69
12. 5. From Pictographs to What? 74
13. 6. How Do Chinese Characters Represent Sounds? 89
14. 7. How Do Chinese Characters Convey Meaning? 116
15. Part III. Demythifying Chinese Characters
16. 8. The Ideographic Myth 131
17. 9. The Universality Myth 149
18. 10. The Emulatability Myth 161
19. 11. The Monosyllabic Myth 177
20. 12. The Indispensability Myth 189
21. 13. The Successfulness Myth 204
22. Part IV. Chinese Language Reform
23. 14. Speech Reform 221
24. 15. Writing Reform 240
25. Notes 289
26. Glossary 297
27. Suggested Reading 301
28. References 303
29. Index 317
30. About the Author 331