Description

This new interpretation of the early history of Chinese argues that Old Chinese was typologically a "mixed" language. It shows that, though its dominant word order was subject-verb-object, this coexisted with subject-object-verb. Xu describes the typological changes that have taken place since the Han period and shows how Chinese evolved into a more analytic language, supporting her exposition with abundant examples from recently discovered texts. She focusses on syntactic issues, but pays close attention to closely related changes in phonology and the writing system.

Features

• Combines phonological, morphological, and syntactic approaches
• Uses recently excavated texts to throw new light on Old Chinese syntax
• Can be used as a text for courses in Classical Chinese and Chinese diachronic syntax
• Makes an original contribution to word-order typology

Product Details

272 pages; ISBN13: 978-0-19-929756-6ISBN10: 0-19-929756-8

About the Author(s)