This book is about the contemporary Chinese language as it is spoken and written in China today. Like the country itself, the Chinese language has changed dramatically over the past decades, altough the writing system itself is more than three thousand years old.
The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage has been written for people who are thinking of learning Chinese, or who have started learning it already. It is also for anyone who is simply curious about the language, about Chinese culture, or interested in languages generally. It does not attempt to teach Chinese – there are many textbooks available which meet that aim. Rather, it provides the type of information a typical language text will not tell you – information on how the language developed, how it is used today, regional variations, and the extraordinary richness of China's long literary tradition. It does not pretend that there is anything easy about learning Chinese – the fascination of Chinese… (tovább)
This book is about the contemporary Chinese language as it is spoken and written in China today. Like the country itself, the Chinese language has changed dramatically over the past decades, altough the writing system itself is more than three thousand years old.
The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage has been written for people who are thinking of learning Chinese, or who have started learning it already. It is also for anyone who is simply curious about the language, about Chinese culture, or interested in languages generally. It does not attempt to teach Chinese – there are many textbooks available which meet that aim. Rather, it provides the type of information a typical language text will not tell you – information on how the language developed, how it is used today, regional variations, and the extraordinary richness of China's long literary tradition. It does not pretend that there is anything easy about learning Chinese – the fascination of Chinese lies in its complexity.
Dr. Daniel Kane began his studies of Chinese at the University of Melbourne in 1967. He served as a diplomat for several years in the Australian Embassy in Beijing, and is now Professor of Chinese at Macquarie University, Sydney. He has broad interests in the field of Chinese Studies, including linguistics, intellectual history and current affairs.