Journal | Bhasha
Journal issue | 1 | 2 | 2022
Research Article | The Creoloid Origins of Chinese
The Creoloid Origins of Chinese
Abstract
From 1513, Chinese mystified Western observers with its phonology and grammar. In the 19th century, von Klaproth, Lepsius and Karlgren extended the comparative method to Chinese and established Chinese historical phonology and grammar, but a lineage of benighted thinkers promulgated a racist rendition of language typology. This trend reached a crescendo during the Opium Wars and culminated in the Sino-Tibetan family tree model. Whereas sound comparative linguistics supports von Klaproth’s Trans-Himalayan model, embattled Sino-Tibetanists, unable to adduce evidence for their phylogenetic beliefs, today seek recourse to lexicostatistics.
Submitted: Sept. 20, 2022 | Accepted: Sept. 30, 2022 | Published Oct. 28, 2022 | Language: en
Keywords Historical grammar • Lexicostatistics • Historical phonology • Trans-Himalayan • Language typology • Chinese • Sino-Tibetan
Copyright © 2022 George van Driem. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/bhasha/2785-5953/2022/01/003
