Laurent Sagart's Books

The Roots of Old Chinese

By: Laurent Sagart

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The phonology, morphology and lexicon of late Zhou Chinese are examined in this volume. It is argued that a proper understanding of Old Chinese morphology is essential in correctly reconstructing the phonology. Based on evidence from word-families, modern dialects and related words in neighboring languages, Old Chinese words are claimed to consist of a monosyllabic root, to which a variety of derivational affixes attached. This made Old Chinese typologically more like modern languages such as Khmer, Gyarong or Atayal, than like Middle and modern Chinese, where only faint traces of the old morphology remain. In the first part of the book, the author proposes improvements to Baxter's system of reconstruction, regarding complex initials and rhymes, and then reviews in great detail the Old Chinese affixal morphology. New proposals on phonology and morphology are integrated into a coherent reconstruction system. The second part of the book consists of etymological studies of important lexical items in Old Chinese. The author demonstrates in particular the role of proportional analogy in the formation of the system of personal pronouns. Special attention is paid to contact phenomena between Chinese and neighboring languages, and unlike most literature on Sino-Tibetan the author identifies numerous Chinese loanwords into Tibeto-Burman. The book, which contains a lengthy list of reconstructions, an index of characters and a general index, is intended for linguists and cultural historians, as well as advanced students.

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267

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John Benjamins Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

9027236909

ISBN 13

9789027236906

Old Chinese

A New Reconstruction

By: William H. Baxter,Laurent Sagart

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Old Chinese

A New Reconstruction

By: William H. Baxter,Laurent Sagart

This book introduces a new linguistic reconstruction of the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of Old Chinese, the first Sino-Tibetan language to be reduced to writing. Old Chinese is the language of the earliest Chinese classical texts (1st millennium BCE) and the ancestor of later varieties of Chinese, including all modern Chinese dialects. William Baxter and Laurent Sagart's new reconstruction of Old Chinese moves beyond earlier reconstructions by taking into account important new evidence that has recently become available: better documentation of Chinese dialects that preserve archaic features, such as the Min and Waxiang dialects; better documentation of languages with very early loanwords from Chinese, such as the Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai and Vietnamese languages; and a flood of Chinese manuscripts from the first millennium BCE, excavated or discovered in the last several decades. Baxter and Sagart also incorporate recent advances in our understanding of the derivational processes that connect different words that have the same root. They expand our knowledge of Chinese etymology and identify, for the first time, phonological markers of pre-Han dialects, such as the development of *r to -j in a group of east coast dialects, but to -n elsewhere. The most up-to-date reconstruction available, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction brings the methodology of Old Chinese reconstruction closer to that of comparative reconstructions that have been used successfully in other language families. It is critical reading for anyone seeking an advanced understanding of Old Chinese.

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Page Count

449

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199945381

ISBN 13

9780199945382

The Roots of Old Chinese

By: Laurent Sagart

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The Roots of Old Chinese

By: Laurent Sagart

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

267

Publisher

John Benjamins Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

9027236909

ISBN 13

9789027236906

Book's by Laurent Sagart

The Roots of Old Chinese

The Roots of Old Chinese

Old Chinese

Old Chinese

The Roots of Old Chinese

The Roots of Old Chinese

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