One of the signifi cant differences between early modern and modern Chinese language is the emergence of westernization in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. The westernized linguistic expressions were rarely seen in early modern Chinese language, while in modern Chinese language they were more prevalent. The emergence of westernization in Chinese language was largely credited to the western missionaries. The earliest signs of westernization were observed in some Chinese books written by missionaries. In addition, numerous church publications, especially the Mandarin versions of The Bible, appeared at that time, featuring westernized vernacular texts which contributed to the vernacularization movement in late Qing Danasty and during the May Fourth Movement, and greatly shaped Modern Chinese. The missionaries were the earliest scholars who realized the inevitability of vernacularization movement in China, and they played an active role to promote that movement, a historical fact acknowledged by many modern Chinese writers such as Shen Congwen and Zhou Zuoren.
袁 进. 西方传教士对现代汉语形成的影响[J]. 语言战略研究, 2016, 1(4): 52-59.
Yuan Jin. The Impact of Western Missionaries on the Development of Modern Chinese. , 2016, 1(4): 52-59.