Modern Chinese History and Sociolinguistics.pdf

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Modern Chinese

The Chinese language, spoken by over one billion people, has undergone

drastic changes over the past century in a way unparalleled at any time

previously. This book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the

development of Modern Chinese from the late nineteenth century up to the

1990s, concentrating on three major aspects: Modern Spoken Chinese, Modern

Written Chinese, and the Modern Chinese writing system. It describes and

analyses in detail, from historical and sociolinguistic perspectives, the

establishment and promotion of Modern Spoken Chinese and Modern Written

Chinese and the reform of the Chinese script. Through an integrated discussion

of these three areas of the language it highlights the close interrelationships

between them and reveals the interaction of linguistic, historical, and social

factors in the development of Modern Chinese.

PING CHEN is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Language and Linguistics in the

Department of Asian Languages and Studies at the University of Queensland.

He has previously taught at UCLA, the University of Oregon, the Chinese

Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, and the City University of Hong Kong.

He has published widely in the area of Chinese linguistics.

Modern Chinese

History and Sociolinguistics