New Search Search History

Holdings Information

Action Navigation

Action Box More Info Navigation

    Action Box

    The sounds of Mandarin : learning to speak a national language in China and Taiwan, 1913-1960 / Janet Y. Chen.

    Bibliographic Record Display

    • Title:The sounds of Mandarin : learning to speak a national language in China and Taiwan, 1913-1960 / Janet Y. Chen.
    •    
    • Author/Creator:Chen, Janet Y., 1972- author.
    • Published/Created:New York : Columbia University Press, [2023]

    • Holdings

      Holdings Record Display

       
    • Library of Congress Subjects:Language policy--China--History--20th century.
      Language policy--Taiwan--History--20th century.
      Mandarin dialects--Political aspects--China.
      Mandarin dialects--Political aspects--Taiwan.
    • Description:xii, 412 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
    • Summary:"How did people in China learn to speak a common language? Out of a dizzying array of regional and local vernaculars, many of them mutually unintelligible, how was the idea of a spoken standard forged? How and when did that idea become reality? The Sounds of Mandarin answers these questions by viewing the history of linguistic change from the ground up. Exploring how nation-building in the PRC era became entwined with linguistic standardization, Janet Y. Chen reveals a project of linguistic engineering riven with conflicts, as speech became a site of contestation and quotidian negotiation. By locating experiences of language learning in historical and local contexts, this study explains why nationalism is a necessary but ultimately insufficient lens for understanding China's national language. It also explains why, even today, the project of standard speech remains contested and incomplete in both China and Taiwan"-- Provided by publisher.
    • Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
    • ISBN:9780231209021 hardcover
      0231209029 hardcover
      9780231209038 paperback
      0231209037 paperback
      9780231557757 electronic book
    • Contents:Dueling sounds and contending tones
      In search of Standard Mandarin
      The national language in exile
      Taiwan babel
      The common language of new China.
    Session Timeout
    New Session