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2018 Vol. 3, No. 2
Published: 2018-03-10

 
1 My Reflections on the History of Chinese Linguistic Thought
Lu Guoyao
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 1-1 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
6 Language Classification: Nation-State Building and Globalization
Zhou Minglang
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180201

In linguistics, language classifi cation is the main subject of comparative linguistics as well as that of sociolinguistics or the sociology of language. Comparative linguistics deals with language classifi cation within the internal context of language evolution, while sociolinguistics examines it from the external context of language development. From the perspective of sociolinguistics,this paper examines three worldviews, large language ideology, small language ideology, and equal language ideology,within the framework of language ideology and order, evaluates the respective impact of large and small language ideologies on language classifi cation and nation-state building in Europe, and explores the relationship between equal language ideology and language recognition during the current cycle of globalization. It stresses that language classification is a linguistic issue as well as a social and humanitarian issue. A proper treatment of language classifi cation and recognition in LPLP is essential to a harmonious
national development.

2018 Vol. 3 (2): 6-15 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  [PDF (0 KB)  ( 0 )
16 Language as a Tool of Communication and Identification
Xu Daming
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180202
The disputes on the methods and results of language identification are traced to different definitions of language. The understanding that language is no more than a tool of communication leads to the “over-identification” of languages relying on the method of mutual intelligibility. The method of linguistic and socio-cultural analysis has proven to be successful in China but received criticisms internationally for “being politically motivated”. The theory of speech community contributes to the resolution of the controversy by its defi ning of a language as a tool of communication and identification of a speech community. Under such theoretical perspective, social and cultural gaps make differences in speech communication and language identities, which constitute the boundaries of speech community. The theory renders the co-identification of language and nationality obsolete and thus dissolves the arguments based on such co-identifi cation.
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 16-26 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
27 Identification of Chinese Ethnic Languages: Differences and Causes
Huang Xing
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180203

The Chinese ethnic language is a complicated system with a large number of languages and distinctive differences among dialects. The statistical results of the Chinese languages are quite different in Chinese and international academic circles.This paper, based on the case study, intends to make a comprehensive description of the different criteria on language classification, identification and dialect division used by Chinese scholars and international organizations, so as to make an objective analysis and evaluation on these standards. The paper fi nds that there are some similarities in terms of language classifi cation criteria, that is, the international organizations adopt “language group identity” and “lexical similarity” to distinguish different languages while Chinese scholars use “ethnicity” and “cognate words”. However, in terms of practical application, the standard of language intelligibility and language recognition is not operable, which makes the Chinese language number released by Ethnologue subject to criticism.

2018 Vol. 3 (2): 27-37 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
38 On the History of Chinese Dialect Partition & Its Methods
Li Lan
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180204

The paper discusses the issues of Chinese dialect partition from seven aspects. Section One presents some common terminologies regarding Chinese dialect partition and its debate. Section Two then identifies the complexity and challenges of Chinese in dialect partition. Section Three summarizes the work of Chinese dialect partition between 1912 and 1949 during the period of the Republican China, whereas Section Four presents the partition work in 1950s and Section Five the partition work in the 1987 version of Chinese Language Atlas. In Section Six, a comparison of six means of dialect partition in Hunan province is made. It indicates that the six methods have encompassed all the methods being used today and that the results are quite similar though the sources of data collection are different. It is thus concluded that the different methods all bear a large degree of validity. In the last section, the author further presents the views regarding the use of mathematical statistics, of uniform standard of partition, and of Swadesh 207 method of classification for Chinese dialect partition.

2018 Vol. 3 (2): 38-49 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
50 How to Distinguish Languages and Dialects: A Quantitative Approach
Ran Qibin and S?ren Wichmann
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180205
To determine whether a linguistic variety is a language or a dialect is a complex issue involving many aspects of both linguistic and sociolinguistic factors. In this study, we aim to provide a more objective basis for the distinction between languages and dialects. Quantitative approaches are used to explore the boundary between languages and dialects in terms of the degree of difference of language per se. For this purpose, the doculects in ASJP database are taken as the object and normalized Levenshtein distances are computed between language variants. Based on the findings obtained from computation, we propose that the value of LDN=0.48 can be used as the cut-off value to distinguish languages and dialects. In addition to what are described in this study, Ethnologue’s overdifferentiation and underdifferentiation between languages and dialects are discussed in this paper.
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 50-58 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
59 Mixed Languages in China and Language Mixing Mechanism
Xu Dan
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180206
The article analyzes Daohua, Wutun and Tangwang languages, considered as “mixed languages” in China. We have established a preliminary quantitative criterion for identifying “mixed languages”. We propose that syntactic borrowing is a more reliable parameter than lexical borrowing for determining whether a language is mixed. If the syntactic borrowing in a language makes up 45%, the two languages (borrower and lender) begin to mix. If the lexical borrowing reaches the same level, the language may not necessarily be mixed. The language mixing mechanism comes from the external factors of languages.
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 59-79 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
80 Diverse Views on Language Identifi cation
Dai Qingxia, Huang Changzhu, Zhang Zhenxing, Zhou Qingsheng Wang Guosheng, Yeshe Vodsal Atsok and Si Fuzhen
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 80-88 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
89 The Role of Language as Human Capital on Economic Growth
Wang Hailan
DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20180207
Human capital is an important economic attribute of languages. Generally speaking, a language has an impact on economy when it is combined with human activities. The capitalization of human power is an important way for the transformation from language skills into language economy. At the same time, this transformation is the main leverage for economic function of language. This paper analyzes the connotation and characteristics of language as a kind of human capital, and endeavors to clarify the relationship between language as human capital, language ability and language capital. The paper also discusses two mechanisms of how language as human capital effects economic development. On the one side, language as human capital has an immediate impact on the economic growth through “internal effect” (individual investment) and “external effect” (society). On the other side, it leads to technical advance that infl uences economic growth indirectly. The paper argues that, to study language capability from the perspective of human capital, and to establish the correlation of language education, language capability and the national economic development are conducive to understand the economic attribute of language, as well as to provide theoretical ground for the authorities to develop language education.
2018 Vol. 3 (2): 89-96 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
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