Multilingualism in China

by Zhou, Minglang; Fishman, Joshua A.

• ISBN13: 9783110178968
• ISBN10: 3110178966
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Mouton De Gruyter

Summary

Minglang Zhou's highly erudite and well-researched volume on the policies concerning writing reforms for China's minorities since 1949 provides an original and well-reasoned summary of a complex process. It documents how different script reforms meet dramatically different fates according to local preferences, history, cross-border ties, and the vitality of previously-used scripts. In a style accessible to both undergraduate and graduate students, Zhou's book is of interest to language planners, sinologists, applied linguists, writing theorists, and ethnologists.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgements	ix
List of tables	xvi
Abbreviations and names of minorities in China	xx
Map 1 Distribution of minority nationalities and languages in China	xxiii
Map 2 China: Autonomous regions and prefectures	xxiv
Chapter 1 Minorities and minority languages in China	1	(35)
1.1. Historical developments of the Han and non-Han peoples	2	(6)
1.2. Official classification of the non-Han peoples	8	(7)
1.3. Distribution of minority communities	15	(6)
1.4. The classification and distribution of minority languages	21	(1)
1.5. Current status of minority languages	21	(12)
1.6. The organization of this book	33	(3)
Chapter 2 The politics of minority language policy, 1949-2002	36	(63)
2.1. Development of the CCP minorities policy before 1949	37	(3)
2.2. Theoretical foundation of the CCP minorities policy and later changes	40	(2)
2.3. The first pluralistic stage: 1949-1957	42	(18)
2.3.1. Legal protection for minority language use and development	43	(2)
2.3.2. The CCP leadership's affirmative attitudes	45	(2)
2.3.3. Development of policy for minority language use	47	(4)
2.3.4. Development of infrastructure for minority language work	51	(4)
2.3.5. Toward a change of pace in minority language work	55	(5)
2.4. The Chinese monopolistic stage: 1958-1971	60	(17)
2.4.1. The great leap toward national convergence	61	(1)
2.4.2. A unified language policy for both Chinese and minority languages	62	(6)
2.4.3. A short relief from integrationism: 1962-1963	68	(4)
2.4.4. The dominance of Chinese monopolistic language policy: 1964-1977	72	(5)
2.5. The second pluralistic stage: 1978-2002	77	(22)
2.5.1. The return of accommodationism	77	(6)
2.5.2. Legislation of minority language rights	83	(5)
2.5.3. Tactical retreat from the accommodationist policy	88	(5)
2.5.4. New orientation since the early 1990's	93	(6)
Chapter 3 The politics of the status of writing systems: Official, experimental, or unofficial	99	(54)
3.1. Status of writing systems: The first pluralistic stage (1949-1957)	101	(10)
3.1.1. Recognition of five commonly used writing systems as official	101	(4)
3.1.2. Prioritization of the creation and revision of writing systems	105	(6)
3.2. Status of writing systems: The Chinese monopolistic stage (1958-1977)	111	(10)
3.2.1. The losing battle of official and experimental writing systems	112	(4)
3.2.2. The rise of "phonetic spelling" as candidate writing systems for languages with non-Roman systems	116	(5)
3.3. Status of writing systems: The second pluralistic stage (1978 2002)	121	(30)
3.3.1. Official recognition of the status of writing systems and bottom-up efforts	122	(4)
3.3.2. The mushrooming of unofficial writing systems in the 1980's	126	(10)
3.3.3. The lasting influence of Pinyin: Official writing systems vs. pronunciation assistance systems	136	(5)
3.3.4. The politics of a new round of official recognition in the 1990's	141	(7)
3.3.5. Information technology: A new battlefield for status recognition	148	(3)
3.4. Issues in China's minority language policy	151	(2)
Chapter 4 Choices of scripts and theories of writing systems: East vs. West	153	(56)
4.1. Western linguistics and the initial writing reforms for minority languages in the PRC	158	(11)
4.1.1. The first linguistic guidelines for grammatogeny in minority languages	161	(4)
4.1.2. Two kinds of reforms for "imperfect" writing systems	165	(4)
4.2. Modeling after the Soviet Union	169	(27)
4.2.1. The Soviet model of writing system development for minority languages	171	(6)
4.2.2. Alliance of writing systems across Sino-Soviet borders	177	(10)
4.2.3. Alliance of writing systems within language groups: An application of the Soviet model	187	(9)
4.3. Roman, IPA, and Cyrillic scripts: Conflicts and compromises	196	(13)
4.3.1. Hybrid alphabet of Roman, IPA, and Cyrillic scripts	198	(5)
4.3.2. Triumph of the Roman alphabet	203	(6)
Chapter 5 The politics of vernacular writing systems	209	(71)
5.1. The Soviet model and proliferation of vernacular writing systems	211	(18)
5.1.1. The Hani writing systems: Vernacular and vernacular	214	(5)
5.1.2. The Miao writing systems: Vernacular and vernacular	219	(10)
5.2. Vernacular writing systems: Consolidation and withdrawal	229	(9)
5.2.1. The consolidation of Hani systems: Standard vs. vernacular	231	(2)
5.2.2. The Pinyin-oriented revision and withdrawal of the Miao systems	233	(5)
5.3. Vernacular writing systems: Consolidation and proliferation	238	(36)
5.3.1. Unification of the Mongolian writing systems: An administrative approach	238	(7)
5.3.2. The attempt at unifying Yi writing: A supra dialect approach	245	(6)
5.3.3. The Zhuang writing systems: Standard vs. vernacular	251	(7)
5.3.4. The Yao writing systems: International vs. local	258	(4)
5.3.5. The Hani writing systems: Standard vs. supplementary	262	(4)
5.3.6. The Va writing systems: Standard and supplementary	266	(5)
5.3.7. The Bai writing system: One system and two orthographies	271	(3)
5.4. Relationship between standard and vernacular writing systems	274	(6)
Chapter 6 The politics of traditional and reformed writing systems	280	(67)
6.1. Between changing policies and written traditions: The Smiform script vs. the Roman alphabet	281	(9)
6.2. Between domestic and international politics: Reform of the Mongolian writing system	290	(9)
6.3. Between socialism and Islam: Reforms of the Uygur and Kazak writing systems	299	(11)
6.4. Between the state and Christian traditions: Reforms of missionary writing systems	310	(20)
6.4.1. The survival of a missionary writing system for Lisu	312	(4)
6.4.2. Three-way competition among Miao writing systems	316	(7)
6.4.3. The role of codification in writing reform: The cases of Lahu and Jingpo	323	(7)
6.5. Between the state and Buddhist traditions: Reforms of writing systems in Dai communities	330	(13)
6.5.1. The failure of the writing reform in Xishuangbanna	330	(5)
6.5.2. The success story of writing reforms in Dehong	335	(8)
6.6. Factors in the successes and failures of writing reforms	343	(4)
Chapter 7 Modernization: The politics and sociolinguistics of Chinese loanwords and minority language orthography	347	(42)
7.1. The early years of lexical modernization (1949-1955)	349	(6)
7.2. Central planning of lexical modernization before Pinyin	355	(6)
7.3. Lexical development for minority languages under the shadow of Pinyin	361	(6)
7.4. Pinyin as the model for modernization of orthography in minority languages	367	(6)
7.5. Diglossia of Chinese loanwords	373	(5)
7.6. The question of diversity in orthography and loanwords	378	(6)
7.7. Development of terminology regulations and bureaucracy	384	(5)
Chapter 8 Conclusion	389	(13)
8.1. The question of the interpretation of language legislation and the implementation of language policy	390	(2)
8.2. The question of equality for all (minority) languages	392	(3)
8.3. The question of the ideal script	395	(3)
8.4. The question of the model or models of writing system development	398	(2)
8.5. Concluding remarks	400	(2)
Notes	402	(5)
References	407	(40)
Subject index	447	(7)
Index of (officially recognized) minority nationalities and minority languages in China	454	(3)
Index of names of influencial persons	457