21.762, Books: General Linguistics/Phonology/Writing Systems: Button

[linguist at LINGUISTLIST.ORG]

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-762. Fri Feb 12 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.762, Books: General Linguistics/Phonology/Writing Systems: Button

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Eric Raimy, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
       <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Fatemeh Abdollahi <fatemeh at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers
are available at the end of this issue. 

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 25-Jan-2010
From: Ulrich Lueders < lincom.europa at t-online.de >
Subject: Phonetic Ambiguity in the Chinese Script: Button
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:54:58
From: Ulrich Lueders [lincom.europa at t-online.de]
Subject: Phonetic Ambiguity in the Chinese Script: Button

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=21-762.html&submissionid=2607818&topicid=2&msgnumber=1
  



Title: Phonetic Ambiguity in the Chinese Script 
Subtitle: A Palaeographical & Phonological Analysis 
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Chinese Linguistics 08  

Publication Year: 2010 
Publisher: Lincom GmbH
	   http://www.lincom.eu
	
Author: Chris Button

Paperback: ISBN:  9783895866326 Pages: 111 Price: Europe EURO 43.20


Abstract:

Rejections of ideographic Huiyi graphs, whose composition belies membership
of the Xingsheng category of phonetic compounds and the Xiangxing category
of pictographs that form their phonetic base, may be questioned on the
basis that Xiangxing and Huiyi cannot be clearly distinguished in the
earliest inscriptions. However, once these original Huiyi graphs have
become firmly entrenched as Xiangxing graphs and viable entities for the
production of Xingsheng graphs, it does seem unlikely that new graphs would
be created irrespective of their pronunciation. 

The reasonable premise, that Chinese writing essentially consists of
Xiangxing graphs with their Xingsheng derivatives, means that the issue is
not whether Huiyi is a viable distinction but rather whether explanations
via polyphony are viable alternatives. A role for polyphony in the Chinese
script is without doubt, yet any notion that polyphony was a fundamental
driving force in the creation and development of the script differs
fundamentally from these sporadic cases of graphic convergence or synonymic
interchange. More thorough palaeographical analyses, combined with more
sophisticated reconstructions of Old Chinese, vindicate suggestions that
Huiyi is an artificial distinction without requiring any recourse to
polyphony. 



Linguistic Field(s): Phonology
                     Writing Systems
                     Chinese Linguistics
                     General Linguistics


Written In: English  (eng)
	
See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=45790


MAJOR SUPPORTERS

	Cambridge Scholars Publishing          
		http://www.c-s-p.org	

	Cascadilla Press          
		http://www.cascadilla.com/	

	Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd          
		http://www.continuumbooks.com	

	De Gruyter Mouton          
		http://www.degruyter.com/mouton	

	Edinburgh University Press          
		http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/	

	Elsevier Ltd          
		http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics	

	Emerald Group Publishing Limited          
		http://www.emeraldinsight.com/	

	Georgetown University Press          
		http://www.press.georgetown.edu	

	John Benjamins          
		http://www.benjamins.com/	

	Lincom GmbH          
		http://www.lincom.eu	

	MIT Press          
		http://mitpress.mit.edu/	

	Multilingual Matters          
		http://www.multilingual-matters.com/	

	Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG          
		http://www.narr.de/	

	Oxford University Press          
		http://www.oup.com/us	

	Peter Lang AG          
		http://www.peterlang.com	

	Rodopi          
		http://www.rodopi.nl/	

	Routledge (Taylor and Francis)          
		http://www.routledge.com/	

	University of Toronto Press          
		http://www.utpjournals.com/	

	Wiley-Blackwell          
		http://www.wiley.com	

OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS	

	Graduate Linguistic Students' Association, Umass
		http://glsa.hypermart.net/ 

	Langues et Linguistique
		http://y.ennaji.free.fr/fr/ 

	Linguistic Association of Finland
		http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/ 

	Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke - LOT
		http://www.lotpublications.nl/ 

	Pacific Linguistics
		http://pacling.anu.edu.au/ 

	SIL International
		http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp 

	St. Jerome Publishing Ltd
		http://www.stjerome.co.uk 
	



-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-21-762