Chinese Dialects - Description and History
Catalog Description:
Introduction to the Chinese dialects and their description with an emphasis on their relationships, historical origins, and development from earliest evidence of diversity to the present. Prerequisite: 01:165:302 or equivalent
Course Meeting Time and Location:
Spring 2011 -- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5th period (2:50-4:10), Scott Hall, Room 204
Course Instructor:
Richard VanNess Simmons
Course Design and Objectives:Office: Scott Hall 327 ** Office Hours: W 11:15-12:15 Office Phone: (732) 932-5597 / 932-7605 Email: rsimmon@rci.rutgers.edu Web: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~rsimmon/
This course will survey the major Chinese dialects, their modern forms, their geographical distribution, and their history, from their earliest discernible origins to the present. Emphasis will be on issues of description of the modern dialects, and how comparative description is used to uncover clues to dialect relationship and historical development. Special attention will also be paid to questions of how social history, geography, and population movement affect dialect history.
Spoken Chinese has been characterized by great diversity for most of China's history. This course will use the diversity of the modern Chinese dialects as a lens through which to view and understand the diversity of the Chinese languages in earlier times. In addition to modern description and methodology, the course will introduce the fundamentals of traditional Chinese descriptive methods as reflected in early texts, including the Shuowen jiezi, rhyme books, and rhyme tables. Students will learn how the diverse historical forms of Chinese that underlie these texts are, or are not, reflected in the present day Chinese languages.
Textbooks:
Class Format and Student Evaluation:
The class will be conducted in a lecture and discussion format,
supplemented
by audio recordings illustrating dialects and their
sounds
and features. Students will have weekly assigned readings in both
primary
and secondary sources. You will also be given various assignments
and
exercises to help you understand the methods and skills used in
investigating
and describing dialects. To consolodate and synthesize the skills
gained in the class, certain dialects dialects will be selected for in
depth description and study. The specific dialect(s) selected may
vary from year to year.
Extra Credit:
Students interested in earning extra credit in this class have a couple
of standing options:
1) You may visit any current exhibit about China or things Chinese
(such as Chinese art or archaeology) at a museum or elsewhere in the
greater New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia area and write a one page
report about what you observed and learned at the exhibit and how it
might relate to the topic of this course. The report must be
written entirely by you in your own words and handed to me printed out
and include the original admission ticket or admission receipt showing
the date of the visit.
2) You may attend any talk, lecture, or presentation about China or
things Chinese (such as Chinese history, literature, or current events)
at Rutgers or elsewhere and write a one page report about what you
heard and learned at the talk and how it might relate to the topic of
this course. The report must be written entirely by you in your
own words and handed to me printed out and include proof of attendance
showing the date of the visit (such as a flyer or announcement signed
by the speaker or organizer with a written statement giving your name
and stating that you attended).
Extra Credit work must be handed in
within 2 weeks after the visit or event it is based on and at the
latest by the date of the final exam.
Grading:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of quizzes (for example, on the basics of linguistic description, Chinese history, and geography), a midterm, a final report, a final exam, and class discussions. Final grades will be based on attendance and attentiveness in class, written assignments and the group presentation/report, quiz results, the midterm, and the final. Your final grade will be calculated approximately as follows:
Course Agenda:
Quizzes and Exams--There will also be occassional unscheduled
quizzes and/or tests: