The present article seeks to investigate the notion of vowels and consonants in the Chinese linguistic tradition, which developed independently of Western linguistic traditions, despite being ...influenced by the phonetic science of India. In particular, this study seeks to discuss the questions of (1) how traditional phonologists in China had split the syllable into smaller units, (2) what was the nature of the units, and (3) whether Chinese phonologists had already been aware of the existence of vowels and consonants. This study also discusses the question of whether the Four Grades of traditional rime tables were actually related to the quality of vowels, and the presence of medial glides. It is concluded that vowels were probably understood as sounds that may have been pronounced alone, whereas consonants were interpreted as sounds which should be attached to a vowel. Occasionally, a comparison with Western linguistic tradition is also offered.
Sino-Tibetan is the hypothesis that postulates a bifurcate genetic relationship between Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman. The history of the subgrouping of its components as well as its overall membership ...are briefly though exhaustively summarized. Special attention is given to the methodological shortcomings of a recent Bayesian approach that further professes to substantiate this bifurcate Sino-Tibetan model. Future directions and broader affinities of TransHimalayan are also discussed.
This paper constitutes a preliminary linguistic test of the hypothesis which postulates that shared Kyushu-Ryukyuan lexicon related to maritime knowledge provides evidence for a Kyushu-Ryukyuan ...subgrouping within the Japonic cladogram. The paper introduces Kyushu-Ryukyuan cognates and potential shared lexical innovations in seafaring vocabulary, cardinal directions and navigation, and marine fauna, all of which suggest a shared Kyushu-Ryukyuan navigation culture, as well as common maritime subsistence and lifestyle patterns. The case is reinforced by several promising cases of common morphological features between Kyushu and Ryukyuan. The overall conclusion is that the compared linguistic data does support the Kyushu-Ryukyuan clade. Finally, we identify a mismatch between lexical and morphological evidence concerning lower-unit classification of the South Japonic node. We observe that while shared innovative vocabulary allows to postulate Proto-Satsugū-Ryukyuan within Kyushu-Ryukyuan as the most direct mainland ancestor of Ryukyuan languages – the predecessor pre-Proto-Ryukyuan language that was still spoken in Kyushu in the first millennium AD – shared grammatical features do not suggest any particular subdivision of Kyushu-Ryukyuan.
Christopher Beckwith has recently devoted two publications concerning the origin of the word for "monastery" in East Asia. The proposed Aramaic origin has met with criticism from two eminent ...authorities, Laurent Sagart and Alexander Vovin. While the present article is not interested in the debate per se, here renamed the "Beckwith Controversy," it is important to discuss in more detail Beckwith's view about the Chinese word si 寺 (monastery), its origin, and its reconstruction. It is concluded that, although very imaginative in its conclusions, Beckwith's argument is methodologically opaque and, therefore, should be definitely abandoned in favour of more plausible solutions.
This paper analyzes the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) through the lens of the Structural Demographic Theory (SDT), a general framework for understanding the drivers of socio-political ...instability in state-level societies. Although a number of competing ideas for the collapse have been proposed, none provide a comprehensive explanation that incorporates the interaction of all the multiple drivers involved. We argue that the four-fold population explosion peaking in the 19th century, the growing competition for a stagnant number of elite positions, and increasing state fiscal stress combined to produce an increasingly disgruntled populace and elite, leading to significant internal rebellions. We find that while neither the ecological disasters nor the foreign incursions during the 19th century were sufficient on their own to bring down the Qing, when coupled with the rising internal socio-political stresses, they produced a rapid succession of triggering events that culminated in the Qing collapse.
This paper analyzes the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) through the lens of the Structural Demographic Theory (SDT), a general framework for understanding the drivers of socio-political ...instability in state-level societies. Although a number of competing ideas for the collapse have been proposed, none provide a comprehensive explanation that incorporates the interaction of all the multiple drivers involved. We argue that the four-fold population explosion peaking in the 19th century, the growing competition for a stagnant number of elite positions, and increasing state fiscal stress combined to produce an increasingly disgruntled populace and elite, leading to significant internal rebellions. We find that while neither the ecological disasters nor the foreign incursions during the 19th century were sufficient on their own to bring down the Qing, when coupled with the rising internal socio-political stresses, they produced a rapid succession of triggering events that culminated in the Qing collapse.
This paper analyzes and evaluates the linguistic ideas of the British Protestant missionary Joseph Edkins (1823-1905), as well as the linguistic trends of his time, in order to recognize the merits ...and the achievements in the field of historical Chinese phonology. Furthermore, this paper seeks to demonstrate that many ideas about the sound system of Old Chinese were posited or at least presaged by Edkins in his philological works, where the earliest attempt to reconstruct the old language of the ancient Chinese classics took place for the first time.
Abstract
The book under review serves as a significant contribution to the field of Trans-Himalayan linguistics. Designed
as a
vade mecum
for readers with little linguistic background in these three ...languages, Nathan W. Hill’s work
attempts, on the one hand, a systematic exploration of the shared history of Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese, and, on the other, a
general introduction to the reader interested in obtaining an overall understanding of the state of the art of the historical
phonology of these three languages. Whilst it is acknowledged that the book in question has the potential to be a solid
contribution to the field, it is also felt that few minor issues can be also addressed.
