VIETX31 System of the Chinese script and its adaptations for other Asian languages

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2020
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Ondřej Srba, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Václav Blažek, CSc.
Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Ondřej Srba, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each odd Tuesday 14:00–15:40 B2.33
Prerequisites
at least an elementary knowledge of Chinese is an advantage, but not a prerequisite
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
At the end of the lectures students have knowledge about basic theories and history of Chinese script and are familiar with the history and systems of other scripts of the Chinese family of scripts (adaptations of the Chinese script on other neighboring languages). The lectures will emphasize the latest research and discoveries made on the field of scripts used by the endangered minority languages (Vietnamese chữ nôm, Zhuang sawndip, Yi script), scripts of the extinct languages of the past (Tangut Xixia, Kitan, Jurchen) and historical systems used to record the non-Chinese languages by Chinese characters (ancient mentions of Xiongnu, Xianbei, South-Chinese etc. languages; recordings of Mongolian and Turkic texts by Chinese characters). The students will get insight into the latest state of research, contemporary literature and learn how to use dictionaries of the respective scripts.
Learning outcomes
After passing the series of lectures students will be able to
- describe briefly the presented writing systems, their basic structure, history, main written monuments and define their historical importance;
- will have a general notion about the research development and main literature related to the subject.
Syllabus
  • 1.-2. An introductory overview of the Chinese family of scripts. A basic theory of Chinese script. Its typology. An introduction to the transcription systems of Chinese. Traditional 5 stroke types, derivative stroke types, sequence of strokes. General rules for writing characters. The relation of characters and Chinese language. The inner structure of characters (construction types, classification into six categories liushu). A historical development of Chinese script. Reforms of the Chinese script. An overview of the development of Chinese phonetics (reconstructions of the Old- and Middle-Chinese pronunciations).
  • 3. The application of Chinese characters for the non-Chinese words and texts until the emergence of the independent adaptive writing systems (ancient mentions of Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, South-Chinese etc. languages), possibilities of their reconstruction.
  • 4. Systematic transcriptions rendering some non-Chinese languages (Sanskrit, Mongolian in the Yuan dynasty, Turkic), accompanied by selected readings from the Secret history of Mongols. 5.-6. Scripts inspired by the Chinese script (1): Tangut. An overview of the Tangut literature. Actual problems of Tangut studies.
  • 7.-8. Scripts inspired by the Chinese script (1): Kitan large script. Mixed logographic-syllabographic-phonographic (ideographic-phonographic) systems derived from the Chinese script (1): Kitan small script. History and actual state of the Kitan script decipherment. Monuments of the Kitan script. Relation between Kitan and Mongolian.
  • 9.-10. Mixed logographic-syllabographic-phonographic (ideographic-phonographic) systems derived from the Chinese script (2): Jurchen script. Relation between Jurchen and Manchu. A question of the two Jurchen scripts.
  • 11. Logographic systems combining Chinese characters with the locally created characters (Vietnamese chữ nôm, Zhuang sawndip). Chinese characters in Korea and Japan. Further syllabic and semi-syllabic script systems (Lisu, Nüshu, Zhuyin Fuhao etc.).
  • 12. The influence of Chinese linguistic tradition on the Manchu and Mongol grammatology of 17th-19th centuries.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Đức Thọ Ngô. Nghiên cứu chữ húy Việt Nam qua các triè̂u đại. Les caractères interdits au Vietnam à travers l'histoire. Traduit et annoté par Emmanuel Poisson. [Hà Nội]: Văn Hóa, 1997.
  • WU YINGZHE and JANHUNEN, Juha. New Materials on the Khitan Small Script. A Critical Edition of Xiao Dilu & Yelü Xiangwen. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
  • LI FANWEN (bianzhu). Xixia zidian. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2008. SHI Jinbo. Xixia wen jiaocheng. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2013.
  • KANE, Daniel. The Sino-Jurchen Vocabulary of the Bureau of Interpreters. (Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 153). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 1989.
  • CHEN Naixiong & BAO, Lianqun (bian). Qidan xiaozi yanjiu lunwen xuanbian. Hohhot: Neimenggu renmin chubanshe, 2004.
  • GALAMBOS, Imre. Translating Chinese Tradition and Teaching Tangut Culture. Manuscripts and Printed Books from Khara-Khoto. De Gruyter (Verlag), 2015.
  • The Kitan language and script. Edited by Daniel Kane. Boston: Brill, 2009, xiv, 305 p. ISBN 900416829X. info
Teaching methods
Lectures combined with seminary exercises
Assessment methods
final written test
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2018, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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