Areal Linguistics & Chinese

[Wolfgang Behr]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dear Lyle & Sanja,
 
just for the record --- some of the papers by Hashimoto Mantaroo arguing
for what became known as the "altaicization hypothesis" are:
 
        "Language diffusion on the Asian continent", _Computational
        Analyses of Asian and African Languages_ 3 (1976), pp.49-65
 
        "The agrarian and the pastoral diffusion of languages",
        in: M.J. Hasihmoto ed., _Genetic Relationship, Diffusion and
        Typological Similarities of East- and Southeast-Asian Languages.
        (Papers for the 1st Japan-U.S. Joint Seminar on East and Souht-
        east Asian Linguistics)_, Tookyoo [:Institute for the Study of
        Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa] 1976, pp. 1-14
 
        "The double object construction in Chinese", _Computational
        Analyses of Asian and African Languages_ 6 (1976), pp. 33-42
 
        "The double-object construction in Chinese", _Monumenta
        Serica_ 33 (1977-78), pp. 268-285
 
        "Origin of the East Asian linguistc structure. Latitudinal
        transitions and longitudinal developments in East and South-
        east Asian languages", _Computational Analyses of Asian and
        African Languages_ 22 (1984), pp.35-41
 
For a (rather harsh) critique cf. also
 
        Peter Bennett
        "A critique of the altaicization hypothesis", _Cahiers de
        Linguistique Asie Orientale_ 3 (1979) pp. 91-104
 
On balance, Scott DeLancey's total denial of "northern" influences on
Chinese might be a little bit overstated. Phonological influence of
Altaic languages on adjacent Chinese dialects in Qinghai, Ningxia,
Gansu, Xinjiang, Shaanxi etc. has been documented in a number of
cases, the same applies to syntactical phenomena like gei3-insertion
in double-object and passive constructions, classifier-inventory re-
duction etc. As Hashimoto's hypothesis enjoyed most popularity in the
PRC during the 80es, I would suggest that you browse through the
relevant articles in _Fangyan_ and the local university journals
(_Ningxia Shehuikexue_, _Qinghai Minzuxueyuan Xuebao_, _Gansu Shifan-
xuexuan Xuebao_, _Xinjiang Daxue Xuebao_ etc.) occasionally dealing
with Altaic languages (I'm sure they won't be available in Christchurch,
though.) Then, there is also Jerry Norman's much quoted article
 
        "Four notes on Chinese-Altaic Linguistic Contacts",
        _Tsinghua Journla of Chinese Studies_ (1982), 14 (1-2), 243-48,
 
which has just recently come under heavy (but, to my mind, rather
unconvincing), criticism by Zhang Hongming
 
        "Chinese etyma for river", _Journal of Chinese Linguistics_
        26 (1998) 1, pp. 1-46
 
Apart from lexical influences of Tungusic and Turkic languages on
northern Chinese (described in various articles in Zhongguo Yuwen,
in the Beijing dialect dictionaries of Chen2 Gang1 or Gao1 Ai4jun1,
in dictionaries of Yuan drama colloquialisms "su2yu3" etc. ), there
is, as far as I am aware of, little to no serious work on areal lingui-
stic traits involving these languages, let alone Gilyak or Ainu. Given
the fact, that at least _one_ author (i.e. Sergej A. Starostin) claims,
that Yeniseiyan and Old Chinese are genetically related ("Praenisejskaja
rekonstrukcija i severokavkazskimi jazykami", in: _Ketskij Sbornik_,
L.: Nauka 1982, pp. 144-237; "Gipoteza o genetic^eskix svazjax sino-
tibetskix jazykov s enisejskimi i severnokavkazskimi jazykami", in:
_Lingvistic^eskaja rekonstrukcija i drevnejs^aja istorija vostoka_ 4,
M., pp. 19-38), you might wish to have a closer look at the typology
of these languages (making good use of the recent publications by Hein-
rich werner on Ketic matters). I am sure there are many more Soviet
and Russian studies on Altaic-Chinese linguistic contacts, but I don't
have the _Bibliograifija kit. jazykonanii_ here at hand.
 
Finally, an absolute MUST as background reading on the whole geogra-
phical, historical, ethnological _and_ linguistic setting of the
question you're adressing, is Juha Janhunen's superb
 
        _Manchuria -- an Ethnic History (Me'moires de la Socie'te'
        Finno-Ougrienne; 222)_, Helsinki 1996 (esp. chap. VI)
 
Cheers, Wolfgang
 
 
ps: so, yes to (1), the project is viable, although it involves the
    almost superhuman task of studying dozens of languages which are
    not taught in NZ and, more often than not, rather poorly documented.
 
 
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Wolfgang Behr <w.behr at em.uni-frankfurt.d400.de>
 Kaiser Sigmund-Str. 3, 60320 Frankfurt, F.R.G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~