波多野结衣办公室双飞_制服 丝袜 综合 日韩 欧美_网站永久看片免费_欧美一级片在线免费观看_免费视频91蜜桃_精产国品一区二区三区_97超碰免费在线观看_欧美做受喷浆在线观看_国产熟妇搡bbbb搡bbbb_麻豆精品国产传媒

  Home>News Center>Life
         
 

The legacy and future of the Chinese language
By Eric Abrahamsen and Jerry Chan (That's Shanghai)
Updated: 2004-09-03 15:45

A picture tells a thousand words ... or is it the other way around? It's incredible to think that after 4,000-odd years, the basic structural tenets of written Chinese characters have remained relatively unchanged.

It's even more amazing that a nation (make that a planet) of people who speak hundreds, perhaps even thousands of different Chinese dialects can all read the same script.

The Chinese language is unique precisely because of its distinct history and development. But it is also a language in constant flux.

Consider this: Although English is largely considered the most practical language for business and commerce, Chinese remains the most widely used language in the world - spoken by one-fifth of the world's population.

There may even come a day when learning Chinese, like present-day English, becomes compulsory for business, politics and cultural exchanges - a trend that has become increasingly plausible as more foreign students enrol in Chinese courses and China as a nation takes a more prominent role on the international stage.

But what forces are shaping the ongoing development of the Chinese language? Making sense of this requires an understanding of the changes it's undergone in the past.

Like most early writing systems, written Chinese evolved out of a 'pictographic' script - meaning that each character was a picture of an idea or thing (like the inscriptions on oracle bones and shells from the Shang Dynasty), into a 'logographic' system, in which each character stands for a spoken syllable.

But what sets Chinese apart today is that it is the only logographic writing system still in use - others either died out or, like Egyptian hieroglyphics, were converted into alphabets.

There have been many movements to standardize Chinese over the ages. China's legendary emperor Qinshihuangdi is credited with making the first attempt, when he devised a nationwide script called 'Small Seal.' Later, during the Han Dynasty, this was further refined into four categories: the 'clerical,' 'running,' 'draft,' and 'standard' scripts.

In the centuries that followed, official Chinese (wen yan wen) was written following these guidelines - a condition that made it very difficult for ordinary citizens to learn how to read and write.

Nonetheless, this standardization gradually allowed people of varying dialects (some of which are so different they could almost be considered separate languages) to all read and write in the same way.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that reformers like Lu Xun and Hu Shi successfully campaigned to have official written Chinese follow the everyday vernacular we now refer to as 'baihuawen.'

After Liberation, the government called for a new 'national alphabet' and began considering proposals for switching over to Roman, Cyrillic, Arabic characters and even a system based on numerals.

Out of this emerged 'pinyin' - the highly useful writing system based on the Latin alphabet that's made learning Chinese a hell of a lot easier for many a foreign student.

For a time it looked as if pinyin would replace characters altogether, but when this proved infeasible, the jianti zi character system was standardized, which simplified the strokes in a number of common words.

The Chinese we hear, speak and read around us everyday is a direct outcome of this long evolution of reform and refinement - an interplay of visionaries chasing ideals, and common people trying to make themselves understood.

Today, the centrally orchestrated reform of the Chinese script (along with centrally orchestrated decrees in general) is probably a thing of the past.

The State Language Affairs Commission, which evolved from the government body responsible for script reform in the 1950s, plays a more passive role than it once did - mostly just watching the natural evolution of language and giving the official stamp to generally accepted terms.

With the advent of new technologies comes new language (jingji, for 'economy,' entered the language during the Republican period; shouji, for 'cellphone,' much more recently), but it is the general populace that settles on the favored usage. Shouji won out over the more awkward yidong dianhua, for example, and the phonetic transliteration for 'laser' - leishe - fell to jiguang, (lit. 'machine light') which more or less means what it says.

New technology is changing the language in more ways than one - the popularization of computers in the 1980s necessitated a practical method of getting Chinese characters onto the screen using the widely-available Western keyboard. Early systems where each character was assigned a four-digit code (usable only by highly trained typists) quickly gave way to a host of new input programs created by companies vying to make their product the industry standard. Next up were programmes modeled on the stroke-order of traditional calligraphy, where certain brush-strokes were assigned to certain keys.

Fang Shizeng, now retired, was once at the heart of the effort to make a millennia-old tradition cooperate with 20-year-old technology. As a member of the State Language Affairs Commission, he worked with scholars at Peking University to develop the first really practical pinyin-based input programme - ABC. If you've got a Chinese version of Windows on your computer, you've got a copy of ABC (you've also got a copy of MS-PinYin, Microsoft's ABC knock-off - but if you want a discussion of Microsoft's business practices, it's best to contact Fang directly).

"Pinyin input programmes are a great tool for literacy," says the fervent Fang. "We did studies - people who used wubi (brushstroke-based input programs) don't learn new characters, their putonghua doesn't improve, children's literacy is not increased. Pinyin helps people learn new characters, and spreads the use of putonghua."

The program he helped create can analyse a sentence written in pinyin and guess, using a database of common phrases culled from years of newspaper text, which characters the typist wants. It adapts to users' preferences, and can even extrapolate from strings of initials - typing in p-t-h, for instance, will produce the characters for putonghua.

Fang is wholeheartedly in favor of technology's effects on the written language and there's no doubt that the programme is a small masterpiece of design, but Fang doesn't seem to have considered the extent to which it can, in turn, affect the language people use. Typing unusual characters can require several seconds of hunting through a list, increasing the chances that typists will settle for more common turns of phrase, and though newspapers are an accepted authority on language usage, straying from the programme's database can require a deliberate effort of will. The inevitable trend is towards a homogenisation of language.

And, potentially, towards the elimination of characters themselves. "With a large amount of computer inputting being based on Pinyin with automatic conversion to characters, Chinese are increasingly forgetting how to write characters," says John DeFrancis, a professor of linguistics at the University of Hawaii who foresees the eventual demise of the written character. Though older generations of Chinese speakers are often unfamiliar with pinyin, younger generations are almost universally proficient in it. For now, Chinese schooling heavily emphasises written characters, but as computers become more common, it's conceivable that, in time (DeFrancis estimates about one hundred years), pinyin will replace characters altogether.

Fang isn't so sure. "Have you looked at something written entirely in pinyin? It's not really readable." That's true, though it might be easier for someone who had never known anything else.

DeFrancis cites the "increasing vernacularisation of the Chinese writing style" as a potential factor in the death of characters. Academic and literary Chinese are dense forms of the language, fraught with rare characters and esoteric references that would be almost impenetrable if rendered into pinyin. As written Chinese comes more to resemble spoken Chinese, this difficulty will be bypassed (spoken Chinese, after all, can be more or less perfectly represented by pinyin and the four tones).

On the other hand one has to wonder - what will become of Chinese poetry (to take the most extreme example) when characters are gone? The Daode Jing would be gibberish in pinyin. The loss of characters would slam a door between modern speakers and the Chinese literary tradition, whose continuity is one of its greatest marvels.

But perhaps complaints such as these are no longer pertinent - it may simply be too late for anyone to do anything about it. Fang's greatest wish is that the Chinese would learn to put spaces between words to make them easier to read. DeFrancis, though he predicts the eventual end of the Chinese character, seems to have no personal feeling about it one way or the other. The future will be decided by the evolution of usage; the Chinese language is in the hands of the Chinese.



Zeta-Jones is the tops in fashion
HK Queen of film to portray Olympic champion
Speed matches for 1 yuan mobile phone card
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Russia school standoff ends with 250 dead

 

   
 

Beijing slams Chen's splittism remark

 

   
 

China to have 140 million cars by 2020

 

   
 

China eager to promote prosperity in Asia

 

   
 

Hearing held on disputed traffic regulation

 

   
 

Nation ups efforts in fight against TB

 

   
  Stewardesses vie for "beautiful angel" title
   
  Bill Clinton to undergo bypass surgery
   
  Jackson acknowledges settling past claims
   
  Zeta-Jones is the tops in fashion
   
  Documentary explores Beckham's sex secrets
   
  The legacy and future of the Chinese language
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  Chinese Lady Dai leaves Egyptian mummies for dead  
Advertisement
         
波多野结衣办公室双飞_制服 丝袜 综合 日韩 欧美_网站永久看片免费_欧美一级片在线免费观看_免费视频91蜜桃_精产国品一区二区三区_97超碰免费在线观看_欧美做受喷浆在线观看_国产熟妇搡bbbb搡bbbb_麻豆精品国产传媒
亚洲精品女人久久久| 欧美一区二区精品| 中文av一区二区| 精品一区二区三区久久| 中国一级特黄录像播放| 欧美日韩在线精品一区二区三区激情| 国产精品初高中害羞小美女文| 国产成人免费高清| 国产美女高潮视频| 国产精品美女一区二区三区 | 国产欧美日韩久久| 国产麻豆精品theporn| 少妇av片在线观看| 久久久亚洲高清| 久久午夜国产精品| 久久成人精品无人区| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区人| 精品乱码亚洲一区二区不卡| 久久99深爱久久99精品| 亚洲AV无码成人精品区明星换面| 精品久久一区二区三区| 黑人精品欧美一区二区蜜桃| 日本一区二区视频在线播放| 久久九九国产精品| 国产成人av网站| 日本道免费精品一区二区三区| 亚洲精品视频在线观看免费| 91色porny在线视频| av不卡在线播放| 国产精品国产精品88| 亚洲欧洲性图库| 91年精品国产| 欧美一区二区三区四区高清| 美美哒免费高清在线观看视频一区二区| 国产高潮呻吟久久| 国产精品视频第一区| av成人免费在线| 91精品国模一区二区三区| 秋霞成人午夜伦在线观看| 免费看污片网站| 欧美激情综合五月色丁香| 99这里只有久久精品视频| 欧美色手机在线观看| 日产国产高清一区二区三区| 日本猛少妇色xxxxx免费网站| 中文字幕亚洲区| 国产黑丝一区二区| 亚洲精品在线观看视频| 成人午夜av在线| 欧美日本在线观看| 狠狠色狠狠色综合日日91app| 国产精品视频一区二区三 | 国产一区三区三区| 色菇凉天天综合网| 日本不卡免费在线视频| а天堂中文在线资源| 亚洲免费资源在线播放| 国产高清自拍视频| 国产精品三级视频| 国产一线在线观看| 国产三级久久久| 免费啪视频在线观看| 久久久精品欧美丰满| 91日韩在线专区| 久久综合色鬼综合色| 久久久久久国产精品日本| 精品成人一区二区三区| 91视频观看免费| 日韩欧美高清一区| 不卡免费追剧大全电视剧网站| 91精品免费在线观看| 成人做爰69片免费看网站| 91麻豆精品国产自产在线观看一区| 国产激情一区二区三区| 7777女厕盗摄久久久| 成人黄色片在线观看| 欧美成人官网二区| 97超碰欧美中文字幕| 久久亚洲私人国产精品va媚药| 国产精品久久久久野外| 国产午夜一区二区三区| 无码成人精品区在线观看| 亚洲国产精品成人综合色在线婷婷 | 亚洲男女一区二区三区| 舐め犯し波多野结衣在线观看| 亚洲另类春色国产| 刘亦菲国产毛片bd| 日韩av中文字幕一区二区| 91久久精品午夜一区二区| 国内外成人在线| 555www色欧美视频| 99久久综合精品| 国产欧美一区二区三区鸳鸯浴 | 日韩av片在线| 午夜伦欧美伦电影理论片| 91日韩中文字幕| 国产综合久久久久影院| 在线播放国产精品二区一二区四区| 国产成人精品在线看| 精品精品欲导航| 国产成人av无码精品| 又紧又大又爽精品一区二区| 国产在线观看免费视频软件| 麻豆一区二区在线| 日韩一区二区三区在线| 稀缺呦国内精品呦| 亚洲精品国产一区二区三区四区在线 | 97人妻人人揉人人躁人人| 亚洲va国产va欧美va观看| 91久久精品一区二区三| 成人性视频免费网站| 久久久99精品免费观看| 黑人巨大精品欧美| 秋霞影院一区二区| 91精品国产综合久久久久久漫画| 久久久久久久久久久影视| 亚洲欧美另类综合偷拍| 中文字幕亚洲欧美日韩| 国产精品99久久久久久似苏梦涵 | 欧洲第一无人区观看| 国产伦精品一区二区三区在线观看| 日韩精品一区二区三区老鸭窝| 免费不卡的av| 天堂精品中文字幕在线| 日韩一区二区三区在线视频| 免费无码一区二区三区| 男女男精品视频| 欧美成人午夜电影| 国产肥白大熟妇bbbb视频| 美女视频第一区二区三区免费观看网站| 91精品欧美一区二区三区综合在| 老司机免费视频| 日韩精品1区2区3区| 日韩一区二区电影| 国内精品久久99人妻无码| 青青草国产成人av片免费| 欧美www视频| 色综合99久久久无码国产精品| 国产一区二区三区综合| 国产欧美精品一区二区色综合| 可以免费看av的网址| 顶级嫩模精品视频在线看| 中文字幕一区二区三区乱码在线| 国产乱国产乱老熟300| 欧美体内she精高潮| 亚洲一区二区三区四区中文字幕| 欧美精品丝袜中出| 国产伦精品一区二区三区妓女| 狠狠色狠狠色综合系列| 国产精品国产精品国产专区不蜜 | 瑟瑟视频在线观看| 国产在线观看一区二区| 国产精品女同一区二区三区| 一本到不卡精品视频在线观看| 成年人看片网站| 奇米影视7777精品一区二区| 久久久三级国产网站| 日韩福利小视频| 无码人妻aⅴ一区二区三区玉蒲团| 日本vs亚洲vs韩国一区三区| 久久久久久久久久久黄色| www.毛片com| 美女伦理水蜜桃4| 久久精品国产99国产| 国产精品少妇自拍| 欧美日本免费一区二区三区| 乐播av一区二区三区| 成人h精品动漫一区二区三区| 亚洲国产视频在线| 久久品道一品道久久精品| 欧美一区二区三区爽爽爽| 亚洲最大视频网| 国内久久婷婷综合| 亚洲色图欧美在线| 欧美大片国产精品| 懂色av懂色av粉嫩av| 国产 中文 字幕 日韩 在线| 国产一区二区三区免费| 一区二区在线观看视频在线观看| 欧美videossexotv100| 波多野结衣在线网址| 亚洲美女在线播放| 国产suv精品一区二区三区| 伊人开心综合网| 久久九九久精品国产免费直播| 欧美视频一区在线| 免费视频91蜜桃| 91看片淫黄大片一级在线观看| 久久国产夜色精品鲁鲁99| 亚洲视频你懂的| 精品毛片乱码1区2区3区| a级黄色片免费看| 日本二区在线观看| 在线观看欧美一区二区| 国产一区二区福利| 午夜私人影院久久久久| 中文在线免费一区三区高中清不卡| 在线播放/欧美激情| 26uuu成人网| 91视频在线网站|