Lost tongues of the Red River : Annamese Middle Chinese and the origins of the Vietnamese language / John D Phan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Phan, John D., 1980- author.

Series:

Harvard East Asian monographs ; 476.

Harvard East Asian monograph series ; 476

Language:

Chinese

English

French

Vietnamese

Subjects (All):

Vietnamese language--History.

Vietnamese language.

Chinese language--Middle Chinese, 1200-1919--History.

Chinese language.

Chinese language--Influence on Vietnamese.

Vietnamese language--Dialects--History.

Mường (Vietnamese people)--Languages--History.

Mường (Vietnamese people).

Extinct languages--Red River Region (China and Vietnam)--History.

Extinct languages.

Languages in contact--Red River Region (China and Vietnam)--History.

Languages in contact.

Linguistic change--Red River Region (China and Vietnam).

Linguistic change.

Red River Region (China and Vietnam)--Languages--History.

Red River Region (China and Vietnam).

Physical Description:

xxvi, 585 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Harvard University Asia Center, 2025.

Language Note:

English; excerpts in French; words and phrases in Chinese and Vietnamese.

Summary:

"Among the world's languages, Vietnamese provides unique insight into the cosmopolitan dynamism of premodern Asia. Modern notions of language history are often constrained by nationalist narratives, focused on bolstering a particular nation's social, cultural, or political identities. A closer look at the Vietnamese language reveals a rich record of interaction and transformation that does not fit easily within modern nation-state lines or boundaries. By employing philological, textual, and comparative linguistic methodologies, John D. Phan uncovers the history of a Sinitic language rooted in the Red River Plain of northern Vietnam, which he calls "Annamese Middle Chinese." The life and death of this language stimulated dramatic transformations in the speech of the region, ultimately giving rise to a new and alloyed language over the early centuries of the second millennium-Vietnamese. Drawing connections between linguistic, demographic, intellectual, and cultural realities over time, Phan traces the story of the linguistic emergence of Vietnamese within the broader context of a cosmopolitan East and Southeast Asia. Lost Tongues of the Red River ultimately demonstrates how language forms a surprisingly intimate record of human interaction-one with unique potential to enrich and expand our understanding of the distant past."-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674297555

0674297555

OCLC:

1453504339