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Classical Languages of India and China

Classical Languages of India and China. Implications of phonetic vs. pictographic languages in cultural evolution. Sanskrit: The Phonetic Root of Indic Languages. Sanskrit ( Devanagari ). the 50 aksaras (indestructibles) Phonetic logic: 14 vowels are first, followed by 36 consonants.

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Classical Languages of India and China

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  1. Classical Languages of India and China Implications of phonetic vs. pictographic languages in cultural evolution

  2. Sanskrit:The Phonetic Root of Indic Languages

  3. Sanskrit (Devanagari) • the 50 aksaras (indestructibles) • Phonetic logic: 14 vowels are first, followed by 36 consonants

  4. India: An Oral/Aural Culture • primacy of the spoken word • the living word over the dead letter • emphasis on the sound over the meaning • being in the presence of God(s) and teachers (darsan)

  5. The Hindu Tradition: Spatial Dimensions

  6. Chinese:A Diverse Spoken Language Chinese dialects • Cantonese and other regional dialects (8 / 26 / 8,000 ?) • "Mandarin" Chinese:  the "common" dialect 普通話 (putong hua)

  7. A Common Written Language Written Chinese Xiang 漢字 Hakka 漢字 漢字 漢字 Cantonese Minbei Wu 漢字 漢字 Gan 漢字 Mandarin Minnan 漢字 漢字

  8. Mythical Origins of Written Chinese Cang Jie 倉頡 (minister to the Yellow Emperor) “observing the footprints of birds and beasts” ... 文 culture writing civility discovering “culture” in “cosmos” Sculpted bronze figure, Library of Congress , 1939

  9. The Pictographic Basis of Chinese Characters Oracle bones from about 1400 BCE

  10. Pictographs Ideographs Lexigraphs: Meaning-meaning Combinations Phonetic Lexigraphs: Sound-meaning Combinations Typology of Chinese Characters

  11. 1. Pictographs 日ri sun/day 月yue moon/month 田tian field 口kou mouth 水shui water 人ren person

  12. 2. Ideographs 上shang up/above 下xia down/below 中zhong middle/center 一yi one 二er two 三san three 凹ao concave 凸 tu convex

  13. 3. Lexigraphs: Meaning-meaning Combinations 日 (sun) + 月 (moon) is 明 (bright) 女 (woman) + 子 (child) is 好 (good) 乃 (breast) + 子 (child) is 孕 (pregnant) 手 (hand) over 目 (eye) is 看 (look) 手 (hand) with 手 (hand) is 拜 (worship) 人 (person) in the 山 (mountain) is 仙 (immortal) Three 木 (trees) is a 森 (forest) Three 蟲 (insects) in a 血 (bowl) makes 蠱 (poison) When you die, thousands of bugs stream from your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth! -- especially used by wives and other (bureaucratic) subordinates

  14. 4. Phonetic Lexigraphs: Sound-meaning Combinations 水 (water) + 羊 (yang) is 洋 (ocean) 火 (fire) + 登 (deng) is 燈 (lamp) 金 (metal) + 同 (tong) is 銅 (copper) 雨 (rain) + 允 (yun) is 雲 (cloud)

  15. Kangxi Zidian 康熙字典 Character Dictionary of the Kangxi Reign Period (1716) 49,030 characters Literacy: 2,000 University degree: 5,000

  16. Chinese Romanization Systems of romanization: (representation of a word or language with the Roman [i.e. Latin] alphabet)

  17. Advantages of a Pictographic System? • in the face of dialectical diversity • in the face of geographical extent • in the face of temporal/historical scope

  18. India Sound 3 dimensionality Presence Seeing and hearing devanagari(gods as origin of sound) cultural disunity of a phonetic language system China Image 2 dimensionality History Textuality characters (gods as origin of script) cultural unity of a pictographic language system Aural-Spatial vs. Visual-Temporal Orientations

  19. Note: What you need to know for the first exam General Concepts and Ideas (partial list) • de 德 (power, virtue in Confucian sense) • Tian-ming 天命 (the Mandate of Heaven) • three obediences (women’s roles) • xin 信 (reliability, trustworthiness) Chinese Characters for Recognition (partial list) • 禮 (li: rites, propriety)        • 仁 (ren: co-humanity, benevolence) • 孝 (xiao: filial piety) • 恕 (shu: reciprocity) • 道 (dao: the “Way”)                   

  20. General Concepts and Ideas (partial list) • de 德 (power, virtue in Confucian sense) • Tian-ming 天命 (the Mandate of Heaven) • three obediences (women’s roles) • xin 信 (reliability, trustworthiness) Chinese Characters for Recognition (partial list) 禮 li (rites, propriety)        仁 ren (co-humanity, kindness, benevolence) 孝 xiao (filial piety) 恕 shu (reciprocity) 天 Tian (Heaven)     

  21. General Concepts and Ideas (partial list) • de 德 (power, virtue in Confucian sense) • Tian-ming 天命 (the Mandate of Heaven) • three obediences (women’s roles) • xin 信 (reliability, trustworthiness) Chinese Characters for Recognition (partial list) • 禮 li (rites, propriety)      • 仁 ren (co-humanity, kindness, benevolence) • 孝 xiao (filial piety) • 恕 shu (reciprocity) • 道 Tian (Heaven) 

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