Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese: A Companion to Grammata Serica Recensa

Axel Schuessler

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2009

Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese

A Companion to Grammata Serica Recensa

Axel Schuessler

Volume 20 in the series ABC Chinese Dictionary Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824863623

Overview
Contents

About this book

Although long out of date, Bernard Karlgren’s (1957) remains the most convenient work for looking up Middle Chinese (ca. A.D. 600) and Old Chinese (before 200 B.C.) reconstructions of all graphs that occur in literature from the beginning of writing (ca. 1250 B.C.) down to the third century B.C. In the present volume, Axel Schuessler provides a more current reconstruction of Old Chinese, limiting it, as far as possible, to those post-Karlgrenian phonological features of Old Chinese that enjoy some consensus among today’s investigators. At the same time, the updating of the material disregards more speculative theories and proposals. Schuessler refers to these minimal forms as "Minimal Old Chinese" (OCM). He bases OCM on Baxter’s 1992 reconstructions but with some changes, mostly notational. In keeping with its minimal aspect, the OCM forms are kept as simple as possible and transcribed in an equally simple notation. Some issues in Old Chinese phonology still await clarification; hence interpolations and proposals of limited currency appear in this update.

Karlgren’s Middle Chinese reconstructions, as emended by Li Fang-kuei, are widely cited as points of reference for historical forms of Chinese as well as dialects. This emended Middle Chinese is also supplied by Schuessler. Another important addition to Karlgren’s work is an intermediate layer midway between the Old and Middle Chinese periods known as "Later Han Chinese" (ca. second century A.D.) The additional layer makes this volume a useful resource for those working on Han sources, especially poetry.

This book is intended as a "companion" to the original Grammata Serica Recensa and therefore does not repeat other information provided there. Matters such as English glosses and references to the earliest occurrence of a graph can be looked up in Grammata Serica Recensa itself or in other relevant dictionaries. The great accomplishment of this companion volume is to update an essential reference and thereby fulfill the need for an accessible and user-friendly source for citing the various historically reconstructed stages of Chinese.

Author / Editor information

Schuessler Axel :

Axel Schuessler is emeritus professor at Wartburg College, Iowa.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
GSC ENTRIES Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
TRANSCRIPTIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xix
SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xxi
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. APPROACHES TO THE HISTORY OF CHINESE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. MIDDLE CHINESE AND THE QIÈYÙN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
3. OLD CHINESE: PHONETIC SERIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
4. OLD CHINESE THROUGH INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
5. OLD CHINESE THROUGH THE XIESHENG SYSTEM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
6. MINIMAL OLD CHINESE: PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
7. LATER HAN CHINESE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
8. HAN PERIOD SOURCES ON PHONOLOGY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
9. INTERPRETATIONS OF IRREGULAR PHONETIC COMPOUNDS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
10. CONCLUSION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
REFERENCES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
GSR NUMBER = GSC NUMBER Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	369
PINYIN INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	375

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 448

eBook

Published: December 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780824863623