The Evolution of the Chinese Language: As Exemplifying the Origin and Growth of Human Speech (Classic Reprint) - Hardcover

Joseph Edkins

9780267800995: The Evolution of the Chinese Language: As Exemplifying the Origin and Growth of Human Speech (Classic Reprint)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0267800991 ISBN 13: 9780267800995

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

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Trace the birth and development of human speech through the study of Chinese, revealing how sounds, roots, and characters shaped a unique language system.

This work surveys how gesture and vocal sound together gave rise to language, focusing on early methods of word formation, derivation, and the shift from gesture to speech. It also delves into how Chinese vocabulary expanded from a small set of roots, the role of tone, and the way meaning and sound influenced each other over time.

Readers will see concrete explanations of how new words could arise from existing roots, the importance of derivation for vocabulary growth, and examples of how ancient sounds evolved into modern expressions. The book also touches on broader questions about language, culture, and the mind’s role in shaping linguistic structure.

How gesture preceded language and how speech emerged as a more efficient way to share ideas
Ways words were formed by derivation from a small set of roots
How sound shifts and aspirates contributed to new meanings
Connections between spoken pronunciation and written characters in early Chinese

Ideal for readers of linguistics, philology, and the history of Chinese language and writing.

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