Sounds of Mandarin - Learning to Speak a National Language in China and Taiwan, 19131960

This book traces the surprising social history of Chinäs spoken standard, from its creation as the national language of the early Republic in 1913 to its journey into postwar Taiwan to its reconfiguration as the common language of the People¿s Republic after 1949.

List of contents

Acknowledgments
Notes on Language and Transliteration
Introduction
1. Dueling Sounds and Contending Tones
2. In Search of Standard Mandarin
3. The National Language in Exile
4. Taiwan Babel
5. The Common Language of New China
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the author

Janet Y. Chen is professor of history and East Asian studies at Princeton University. She is the author of Guilty of Indigence: The Urban Poor in China, 1900–1953 (2012).

Summary

This book traces the surprising social history of China’s spoken standard, from its creation as the national language of the early Republic in 1913 to its journey into postwar Taiwan to its reconfiguration as the common language of the People’s Republic after 1949.

Product details

• Authors: Janet Y. Chen, Chen Janet Y.
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.07.2023
• EAN: 9780231209038
• ISBN: 978-0-231-20903-8
• No. of pages: 424
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; China, Mandarin, History, Taiwan, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics, 20th Century, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Asia / China, Sociolinguistics, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Social and cultural history, Asian History