- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: WW Norton; New edition edition (Oct 25 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393321878
- ISBN-13: 978-0393321876
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,058,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
Not a how-to text, this beguiling book is instead a fascinating look at Chinese language and culture. Ranging through history, literature, folklore, linguistics, and sociology, this is a breezy, straightforward primer of surprising breadth.
About the Author
Raymond Chang teaches at Williams College, and Margaret Scrogin Chang teaches at Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
The language is at least three thousand years old. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The language is at least three thousand years old. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent introduction to the language,
By Edward G. Nilges "Author, 'Build Your Own .Ne... (Hong Kong, China) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Speaking Of Chinese (Paperback)
I write as a newbie to China and its ancient language, who used this book as orientation and as a break from the rote work that learning Chinese demands.The book is a well-written overview of the written and spoken languages which provides a "top-down" overview of the terrain that language learning neglects for drill in basic conversation. In particular, "business" Chinese can be easily a form of Klingon, an oversimplified language informed only by current concerns, which may create the very misunderstandings it pretends to avoid. But as a Western educator I disagree with an implication in the chapter "Old Wisdom, New Technology", and this is that because "technology" is "Western", Chinese students are better off learning Pinyin and computers than writing the characters...or, perhaps, that we must accept this naturalized development. The continued survival of the abacus and the fact that it's faster than electronic calculators in the hands of a skilled operator should teach us not to reify Western Technology, that is, to treat it as a natural force like global warming to which we must necessarily, perhaps with a sigh of ai-ya, demur. Understood as an extension of culture, the Chinese up to about 1750 had MORE technology in the sense of practical solutions to problems of daily life than did Europeans. The "complexity" of Chinese characters is not an absolute. It is relative to the origins of the Western encoding of "all" characters in 256 bits, the "ASCII" code, which in the early 1960s simply ignored the fact that most people use a richer "character set". Complementary to the complexity of Chinese characters is the fact that their mastery imparts information handling skills at an early age and results in the self-discipline which has made Chinese software developers, for years, highly successful at creating "Western" solutions. In general any claim that a system of writing is "too complex" needs to be classified with Plato's original charge against writing, that it was marginal and unnecessary to the conduct of affairs, and, as Derrida has shown, this charge is bad faith since it can only be made in writing, in traditional Chinese terms, by a vermilion decree swaying all under heaven.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be afraid...,
By
This review is from: Speaking Of Chinese (Paperback)
The subtitle sounds daunting, doesn't it? But this clever little book is so well written, in a friendly, colloquial voice, that you'll turn the pages as quickly as you might while reading a frothy novel. At the same time, the book is jammed with information--about the basics of the Chinese language and how it has managed to survive without an alphabet; about various dynasties; about Chinese folklore and everyday life. If you're thinking of visiting China, if you're interested in languages, or if you've adopted a child from China, this book is a wonderful introduction to a land and culture that we Westerners tend to dismiss.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to read primer to the history of Chinese,
By Jan DOUMEN (Brussel Belgium) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Speaking Of Chinese (Paperback)
For people who just started learning Chinese and would like to have a wider background on the language. Chinese as a language is looked at from all possible directions : written, spoken, origin, calligraphy ...Very easy to read, well explained, interesting examples, fascinating stories ...
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Regional > Middle Eastern
- Books > History > Asia > China
- Books > Nonfiction > Education > Language Instruction > Instruction > Chinese
- Books > Nonfiction > Education > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauri > Foreign Language > Chinese
- Books > Nonfiction > Education > Reference > Words & Language > Linguistics
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Cultural
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Applied
- Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Chinese
- Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Chinese
- Books > Reference > Spanish-Language Reference
- Books > Reference > Words & Language > Linguistics
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
