The Roots of Old Chinese

Author

Laurent Sagart | C.R.L.A.O., Paris

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027236906 (Eur) | EUR 110.00

ISBN 9781556199615 (USA) | USD 165.00

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ISBN 9789027284495 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

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.

[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 184] 1999. xi, 255 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.184

Table of Contents

List of Tables | p. x

Acknowledgements | p. xi

Abbreviations | p. xi

1. Introduction | p. 1

1.1 The importance of word families in reconstructing Old Chinese
1.2 Old Chinese
1.3 Methodology of reconstruction
1.4 Plan of this book

2. Old Chinese Words and Roots | p. 13

2.1 The Asian look of Old Chinese words
2.2 Words, roots, word-families, affixes
2.3 Chinese words and the Chinese script
2.4 Root structure
2.5 Place of insertion of the infix
2.6 Working hypothesis: morphological nature of consonant clusters
2.7 A/B distinction

3. Root Segmentals | p. 24

3.1 Initials
3.2 Some controversial issues relating to Old Chinese root initials
3.3 Medials
3.4 Vowels, codas, rhymes

4. Prefixe *s- | p. 63

4.1 Clusters which include prefix *s- as their first element
4.2 The functions of *s-

5. Prefix *N- | p. 74

6. Prefix *m- | p. 79

6.1 The reconstruction of m-
6.2 The functions of m-

7. Prefix *p- | p. 87

8. Prefix *t- | p. 90

8.1 The reconstruction of *t-
8.2 The functions of *t-

9. Prefix *k- | p. 98

9.1 The reconstruction of *k-
9.2 The functions of *k-

10. Other Prefixes | p. 108

10.1 Prefix *q-
10.2 Voiced stop prefixes

11. Infix *-r- | p. 111

11.1 Medial -r- as an infix in OC
11.2 Infixed -l- in the Jin dialects
11.3 Infixed -VI- in the Min dialects
11.4 -l- insertion in modern dialects as the continuation of OC *-r- infixation

12. Initial Clusters | p. 121

12.1 Infixal clusters
12.2 Prefixal clusters

13. Suffixation | p. 131

13.1 Chinese tones and OC suffixes
13.2 Suffix *-ŋ ?
13.3 Suffix *-n?

14. Reduplication and Compounding | p. 137

14.1 The die2 yun4 reduplications
14.2 The shuang1 sheng1 compounds

15. Etymologizing Old Chinese Words | p. 139

16. Personal Pronouns | p. 142

16.1 The first- and second-person pronouns
16.2 The third-person pronoun
17. Numerals
17.1 Three
18. Body Parts
18.1 Blood
18.2 Eye
18.3 Head
18.4 Hand

19. The Physical World | p. 157

19.1 Water, river
19.2 Fire
19.3 Moon, night

20. Wild Animals | p. 161

20.1 Deer
20.2 Snake
20.3 Dove

21. Mankind and Kinship | p. 163

21.1 Man (human being)
21.2 Child (young human)
21.3 Child (kinship term)
21.4 Nephews and nieces; maternal uncle
21.5 Brothers
21.6 Wives and concubines
21.7 Sons

22. Agriculture: The Cereals | p. 176

22.1 Millets
22.2 Rice
22.3 Wheat
22.4 Field

23. Other Cultivated Plants | p. 185

23.1 Beans
23.2 Tea

24. Domesticated Animals | p. 190

24.1 Dogs
24.2 Pigs
24.3 Fowl
24.4 Horned cattle
24.5 Goats and sheep
24.6 Horses

25. Food | p. 197

25.1 Gruel
25.2 Vegetables
25.3 Meat

26. Metals | p. 198

26.1 Copper and bronze
26.2 Iron
26.3 Silver

27. Transportation | p. 204

27.1 Chariot
27.2 Boat

28. Commerce | p. 206

28.1 Buy/sell I
28.2 Buy/sell II
28.3 Price
28.4 Money coin

29. Writing | p. 209

29.1 To read
29.2 To write
29.3 Chinese character
29.4 Writing brush
29.5 Ink
29.6 Book

Appendix A: Chinese Chronology | p. 234

Appendix B: List of Reconstructions | p. 235

Index of Chinese Characters | p. 243

General Index | p. 249

“[...] the scholarly community should be pleased to have the views and a wealth of etymological suggestions of this prominent sinologist available in the form of a book [...]”

Axel Schuessler in Language and Linguistics Vol.1:2

“[...] a major achievement in Chinese linguistics [...] Sagart's book belongs on the shelf of every serious Chinese historical linguist and many Asian language comparativists. It presents the best reconstruction of OC available [...]”

Marc Miyake in Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale, Vol. 30:2 2001

“[...] an invaluable abundance of information together with challenging and clever proposals.

[...] an ansolute pleasure to read and should interest not only Sinologists but also linguists concerned with the reconstruction of the internal history of languages.

”

Gonzalo Rubio, Ohio State University

“This is a truly significant book for East Asian historical linguistics and is necessary reading for all specialists in the field.”

Christopher I. Beckwith, Indiana University, in Anthropological Linguistics, December 2002

“This is easily the most important book on the Old Chinese lexicon since Karlgren's Word-Families [...] and the most challenging contribution on Old Chinese morphology ever written. It deserves to be taught and tested, applied or amended, by whoever reads Old Chinese texts.”

Wolfgang Behr

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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 01 november 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects & Metadata

Linguistics

Historical linguistics

Morphology

Sino-Tibetan languages

BIC Subject: CF – Linguistics

BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General

ONIX Metadata

ONIX 2.1

ONIX 3.0

U.S. Library of Congress Control Number: 99016629 | Marc record