Sino-TIBETAN LANGUAGES
(Sino-Tibetan languages) is one of the largest language families in the world. Includes St. 100, according to other sources, several hundred languages, from tribal to national. Total number of speakers St. 1100 million people (1989, assessment). Apparently, some K.-t. I. are not yet known to science, others are known only from random short lists of words. According to tradition. classification accepted by most researchers in the beginning. 20th century, K.-t. I. divided into 2 main. groups: eastern (Thai-Chinese), which included Chinese and Thai languages, and western (Tibeto-Burman languages). Towards the east The group was sometimes also classified as Miao-Yao and Korean languages. The main feature that distinguished the groups was the word order: in the east. In languages, the object is placed after the verb; in Western languages, it is placed before it. It is currently known that the Thai and Miao-Yao languages are not included in Sino-Tibetan. family. In modern language knowledge K.-t. I. usually divided into 2 branches, different in the degree of their internal. dismemberment and their place in linguistics. world map - Chinese and Tibeto-Burmese. The first is formed by a whale. language with his mioghonsl. dialects and groups of dialects. It is spoken by St. 1050 million people, including approx. 700 million - in northern dialects. groups. Basic its area of distribution is the People's Republic of China south of the Gobi and east of Tibet, and there are many. whale. There is a population in other regions of the country and beyond its borders. Knt. branches include the Dungan language; decomposition The Dungan language is part of the North. China groups dialects. It is possible that the Bai language, or Minjia, in the People's Republic of China (Yunnai Province, over 1 million speakers) also belongs to this branch, but this has not been proven; this language is usually considered Tibeto-Burman or excluded from Sino-Tibetan altogether. families. The rest of the K.-t. D., numbering approx. 60 million speakers are part of the Ti-Beto-Burm group. branch. Peoples speaking these languages inhabit most of Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, and vast regions of the southwest. China and north-east. India. The most important Tibeto-Burma. languages or groups of closely related languages: Burmese (up to 30 million speakers) in Myanmar and (over 5.5 million) in Sichuan and Yunnan (PRC); Tibetan (over 5 million) in Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan (PRC), Kashmir (northern India), Nepal, Bhutan; Karen languages (over 3 million) in Myanmar near the border with Thailand; Hani (1.25 million) in Yunnan; Manipuri, or Meithey (St. 1 ml.); Bodo, or Kachari (750 thousand), and Garo (up to 700 thousand) in India; Jingpo, or Kachin (approx. 600 thousand), in Myanmar and Yunnan; fox (up to 600 thousand) in Yunnan; Tamang (about 550 thousand), Newar (over 450 thousand) and Gurung (about 450 thousand) in Nepal. To Tibeto-Burma. branch includes the endangered language of the Tujia people (up to 3 million people) in Hunai (PRC), but by now most of the Tujia have switched to Chinese. language K.-t. i.—syllabic, isolating with a greater or lesser tendency to agglutination. Basic phonetic The unit is the syllable, and the boundaries of syllables, as a rule, are also the boundaries of morphemes or words. The sounds within a syllable are arranged in a strictly defined manner. order (usually a noisy consonant, sonant, intermediate vowel, main vowel, consonant; all elements except the axis vowel may be absent). Combinations of consonants are not found in all languages and are possible only at the beginning of a syllable. The number of consonants occurring at the end of a syllable is significantly less than the number of possible initial consonants (usually no more than 6-8); In some languages, only open syllables are allowed or there is only one final nasal consonant. In plural languages have tone. In languages whose history is well known, one can observe a gradual simplification of consonantism and a complication of the system of vowels and tones. A morpheme usually corresponds to a syllable; the root is usually immutable. However, in mi. languages these principles are violated. Yes, in Burma. language alternation of consonants in the root is possible: p"au" "to make a hole", pau" "to be perforated, to have a hole"; in classical Tibetan there were non-syllabic prefixes and suffixes that expressed, in particular, the grammatical categories of the verb: b-kru- s “washed”, khru-d “my”; in Jingpo mi the roots consist of two syllables, the first having a reduced vowel and can be dropped in combinations: ma “kui3 “elephant”, io kui3-pop3 “herd of elephants”. The root can in principle be used as a root word, for example. whale. sha "horse", lai "come here", Burm. myin3 "horse", pei3 "give"; however, some nominal roots (significant in some languages) need special words to become a word. affix. Such is the whale. suffix -g (syllable with a reduced vowel) in the word fang-z “house”, Tibet. -ra in lag-pa "hand", prefix a1- in fox a"sho5 "horse". Unity, the purpose of such affixes is to form a complete word from the root; in other cases they form names from verbs. The predominant method of word formation is the addition of roots. Isolating a word often presents a difficult problem: it is difficult to distinguish a compound word from a phrase, an affix from a function word. Classes of words (parts of speech) are distinguished by the ability of words to be used as part of certain syntactic constructions and by compatibility with function morphemes. For example. , in Chinese, comparing the combinations zhong hu5r “to plant flowers” and hong huar “red flower”, we can distinguish three classes of words - noun, verb, adjective, differing in the place they can occupy in combinations of this type: verb may be followed by a noun as an object or other. dependent clause, an adjective can be a modifier of a noun. In Burm. language among the service morphemes, nominal particles are distinguished (for example, tou* - an indicator of the plural, i1 - an indicator of possessiveness) and verbal particles (for example, me* - an indicator of the future tense, pyi" - an indicator of the perfect); words combined with particles of the first group are names, and words of the second group are verbs. Adjectives in K.-t. I. according to grammar signs are closer to verbs than to names; sometimes they are included as part of the verb category as "verbs of quality". Conversion is widespread, i.e., the formation of a word belonging to another part of speech often occurs without the help of word-formers. morphemes, only by changing usage. The simplest relationships between words in a sentence—the object of a verb, the definition of a noun, etc.—are expressed by word order; e.g. whale the sentence bai mi chl cao "the white horse eats grass" consists only of root words, the relationships between which are determined by their location. Dr. grammatical meanings are expressed by service morphemes. The latter are usually easily separated from the word to which they belong, i.e. they form not a word, but a phrase; Wed whale. chl cao de sha “horse eating grass” (the definition indicator de is attached to the phrase chT cao “eating grass”); Burm. pan3 akhla1 tou* “beautiful flowers” (the plural indicator is attached to the combination pan3 akhla1, lit. — beautiful flowers). Often, under the same conditions, a auxiliary element can either be used or omitted, almost without changing the meaning of the whole; for example, in classic In Tibetan, sing-gi lo-ma and sing-lo (-gi is a possessive particle, -ma is a noun suffix) are equally translated as “leaves of a tree.” Postpositive function morphemes are much more common than prepositive ones. Writings K.-t. I. are divided into three main ones. type: ideographic, phonetic. writing iid. origin and writing, created relatively recently on the basis of Lat. nli rus. alphabets. Type 1 includes the whale. hieroglyphics (see Chinese script; the first monuments date back to the 13th or 14th centuries BC), the Tangut script, which is externally similar to it, introduced in the 11th century. and forgotten after the death of the Tangut state, the letter Pasi, the signs of which resemble stilps. drawings, and writing that is simpler in form and (rather syllabic than ideographic). The second type is represented primarily by Tibet. and Burmese alphabets (the first has existed since the 7th century, the second - since the 11th century). Less common is the non-warp letter (known from 12 p. ), Rong, or Lepcha (from the end of the 17th century), and Maipurp. Slightly modified Burm. Alphaint is used to write several. Karen. dialects. Iid. The writing of the dead language Pyu in modern times also had origins. Myanmar (texts from the 6th to 12th centuries have been preserved). A common feature of alphabets of this type is that the vowels do not have special vowels. notation - a consonant letter without a vowel sign is read with a vowel (1899-1928). 8 30's gt. 20th century similar work was carried out at the University of California (USA), but remained unpublished. It is based on the generalizing studies of R. Shafer (1966-74) and P. K. Benedict (19/2). 9 Griefson G. L. (ed.), Linguistic survey of India, v. 1. pt 2. Calcutta. 1U28; v. 3. pt 1-3, Calcutta. 1903-09; S h a f e r R., Bibliography of Sino-Tibetan languages, v. 1 - 2. Wiesbaden, 1957-63; his, Introduction to Sino-Tibetan, pt 1 - 5. Wiesbaden, 1966-74; Benedict P. K.. Sino-Tibetan: a conspectus, Camb., 1972. S. E. Yakhontov.
Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of words and what CHINESE-TIBETAN LANGUAGES are in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- Sino-TIBETAN LANGUAGES
languages, Sinitic languages, a family of languages in China, Burma, the Himalayas and North-East India, subdivided, according to the classification of the American scientist R. Shafer, ... - Sino-TIBETAN LANGUAGES
see Sino-Tibetan... - Sino-TIBETAN LANGUAGES
see Sino-Tibetan... - Sino-TIBETAN LANGUAGES in the Dictionary of Linguistic Terms:
(Sino-Tibetan family of languages). They form groups that include the languages Chinese, Dungan, Vietnamese, Siamese (Thai), Tibetan, Burmese and ... - LANGUAGES
WORKING - see OFFICIAL AND WORKING LANGUAGES... - LANGUAGES in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
OFFICIAL - see OFFICIAL AND WORKING LANGUAGES... - LANGUAGES
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES, formal languages for describing data (information) and the algorithm (program) for their processing on a computer. The basis of Ya.p. make up algorithmic languages... - LANGUAGES in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD, languages of the peoples inhabiting (and previously inhabiting) the globe. The total number is from 2.5 to 5 thousand (to establish the exact figure... - LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
the world, the languages of the peoples inhabiting (and previously inhabiting) the globe. The total number of Yam - from 2500 to 5000 (exact number... - SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Sino-Tibetan) family of languages spoken in China, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India. There is no generally accepted genetic classification. There are 2 branches: ... - SINO-TIBETAN MOUNTAINS in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Sichuan Alps) in China. OK. 750 km. Height up to 7590 m (Mount Gungashan). They border the Tibetan Plateau on the east and serve as the western... - SINO-TIBETAN MOUNTAINS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
mountains, Sichuan Alps, Huangduannan, mountains in China. They represent a ledge of the Tibetan Plateau on the border with the plains and lowlands of Eastern China. ... - ROMAN LANGUAGES in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
languages (from Latin romanus - Roman), a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European family (see Indo-European languages) and descending from Latin ... - CHINESE-FRENCH WAR 1884-85 in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
war of 1884-85, the war of France against China with the aim of capturing the entire territory of Vietnam, which was nominally a vassal of the Qing dynasty, ... - SINO-TIBETAN in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES, see Sino-Tibetan languages... - SINO-TIBETAN in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SINO-TIBETAN MOUNTAINS (Sichuan Alps), in China. OK. 750 km. High up to 7590 m (Gongashan city). Bordered from the east by the Tibetan Plateau, ... - CHINESE-TIBETAN in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
Sino-Tibetan languages (Sino-Tibetan languages), a family of languages spoken in China, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and North-East. India. Generally accepted genetic no classification. ... - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.
- LANGUAGES OF THE PEOPLES OF THE USSR
- languages spoken by peoples living on the territory of the USSR. In the USSR there are approx. 130 languages of the country's indigenous peoples living... - LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary.
- FINNO-UGRIAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a family of languages that is part of a larger genetic group of languages called the Uralic languages. Before it was proven genetic. kinship... - URAL LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a large genetic union of languages, including 2 families - Fiyo-Ugric (see Finno-Ugric languages) and Samoyed (see Samoyed languages; some scientists consider ... - SUDANIC LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a classification term used in African studies in the 1st half. 20th century and determined the languages common in the area of geographic Sudan - ... - SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
-cm. Sino-Tibetan... - ROMAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a group of languages of the Indo-European family (see Indo-European languages), connected by a common origin from the Latin language, general patterns of development and, therefore, elements of structural... - PALEOASIAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a conditionally defined linguistic community that unites genetically unrelated Chukchi-Kamchatka languages, Eskimo-Aleut languages, Yenisei languages, Yukaghir-Chuvan languages and ... - OCEANIC LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- part of the eastern “subbranch” of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages (considered by some scientists as a subfamily of the Austronesian languages). Distributed in the regions of Oceania located east of ... - CUSHITE LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
—a branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). Distributed to the north-east. and V. Africa. Total number of speakers approx. 25.7 million people ... - ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
— sign systems created for use in areas where the use of natural language is less effective or impossible. And I. vary... - IRANIAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
—a group of languages belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch (see Indo-Iranian languages) of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-European languages). Distributed in Iran, Afghanistan, some... - INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- one of the largest families of languages in Eurasia, which over the past five centuries has also spread to the North. and Yuzh. America, Australia and... - AFRASIAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Afroasiatic languages; obsolete - Semitic-Hamitic, or Hamitic-Semitic, languages) - a macrofamily of languages widespread in the north. parts of Africa from the Atlantic. coast and Canary... - AUSTROASIATIC LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Australian languages) - a family of languages spoken by part of the population (approx. 84 million people) South-East. and Yuzh. Asia, as well as... - AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- one of the largest families of languages. Distributed in the Malayan arch. (Indonesia, Philippines), Malacca Peninsula, in the south. districts of Indochina, in ... - TURKIC LANGUAGES in the Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- a family of languages spoken by numerous peoples and nationalities of the USSR, Turkey, part of the population of Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia ... - SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
(Sino-Tibetan), a family of languages spoken in China, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India. There is no generally accepted genetic classification. There are 2... - GULAG ARCHIPELAGO in Wiki Quotation Book.
- ABOTENI in the Directory of Characters and Cult Objects of Greek Mythology:
in the mythology of the peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group, the Adi (Dafla, Miri, Sulungs, Apatanis and other peoples of the Himalayan region in northeast India) is the first person... - PESHCHUROV DMITRY ALEXEEVICH
Peschurov (Dmitry Alekseevich) - Orientalist. Born in 1833, completed a course at St. Petersburg University; At first he was a mathematics teacher and... - KAFAROV PALLADIUM in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia:
Kafarov (Pallady) - archimandrite, in the world Peter Ivanovich, one of our most outstanding sinologists (1817 - 1878), son of a priest, studied ... - TIBETAN LITERATURE in the Literary Encyclopedia:
arose and developed in medieval, feudal conditions. Literary literature in Tibet has not yet had time to separate itself as a special area of ideology...
Sino-Tibetan languages.
One of the largest language families in the world. The total number of languages has not been established. Presumably - 200-300, but only 50-60 of them have been studied. The total number of speakers is over 1100 million people. (1989, assessment). Apparently, some Sino-Tibetan languages are not yet known to science, others are known only from random short lists of words. According to the traditional classification, accepted by most researchers at the beginning of the 20th century, the Sino-Tibetan languages were divided into 2 main groups: eastern (Tai-Chinese), which included Chinese And Thai languages, and western ( Tibeto-Burman languages). The Miao-Yao languages and Karen languages were sometimes also included in the eastern group. The main feature that distinguished the groups was the word order: in Eastern languages the object is placed after the verb, in Western languages - before it. It is currently known that the Thai and Miao Yao languages are not part of the Sino-Tibetan family.
In modern linguistics, Sino-Tibetan languages are usually divided into 2 branches, different in the degree of their internal division and in their place on the linguistic map of the world - Chinese and Tibeto-Burman. The first is formed by the Chinese language with its numerous dialects and groups of dialects. It is spoken by over 1050 million people, including about 700 million in the dialects of the northern group. Its main area of distribution is the PRC south of the Gobi and east of Tibet, but there are large Chinese populations in other areas of the country and beyond. The Chinese branch includes Dungan language; The spoken Dungan language is part of the northern group of Chinese dialects. It is possible that the Bai language, or Minjia, in the PRC (Yunnan province, over 1 million speakers) also belongs to this branch, but this has not been proven; this language is usually considered Tibeto-Burman or excluded from the Sino-Tibetan family altogether.
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In modern Chinese there are 9 groups of dialects. Dialects of 6 of these groups are common in the coastal and central regions (listed in order of number of speakers): U dialects[adverb Wu] – in the area of cities Shanghai And Ningbo; South Min dialects [adverb Yu, Yue?] – in the area of cities Xiamen (And mine), Shantou (Swatow) and on Taiwan; Northern Minsk dialects [adverb Min Nan, Min?] – in the city area Fuzhou[provinces Fujian?]; Cantonese (Guangdong) dialect [dialects Guangzhou, adverb Jinyu, Gan?] – in the central and eastern part of the province Guangdong, including in the city of Guangzhou (Canton); dialects Xiang[adverb Xiang] – in the province Hunan; dialects Hakka[adverb Hakka] - in the area of the city of Meixian, in the northeast of Guangdong Province and in the south of Jianxi Province. These 6 groups of dialects are distributed over approximately 1/4 of China's territory and are spoken by 1/3 of the country's Chinese-speaking population. These groups differ from each other, as well as from the northern dialects spoken in the rest of the country, to about the same extent as Dutch differs from English or Italian from French. |
In addition, there are 3 subgroups of northern dialects (called in the Western tradition Mandarin), spoken particularly in cities Nanking, Beijing And Chongqing:
northern, including Beijing dialect;
southern
And central.
These subgroups differ in much the same way as English in England, the United States and Australia, and are often mutually intelligible. Therefore, these dialects are collectively called the language Mandarin.
Common Standard Chinese, or National Language Mandarin, is based on the dialect of Beijing (otherwise Beijing, as, at the insistence of the Chinese, the name of the capital of China began to be reproduced in the West).
The remaining Sino-Tibetan languages, numbering about 60 million speakers, are included in the Tibeto-Burman branch. Peoples speaking these languages inhabit most of Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, large areas of southwestern China and northeastern India. The most important Tibeto-Burman languages or groups of closely related languages: Burmese (up to 30 million speakers) in Myanmar and (over 5.5 million) in Sichuan and Yunnan (PRC); Tibetan (over 5 million) in Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan (PRC), Kashmir (northern India), Nepal, Bhutan; Karen languages (over 3 million) in Myanmar near the border with Thailand: Hani (1.25 million) in Yunnan; Manipuri, or Meithei (over 1 million); Bodo, or Kachari (750 thousand), and Garo (up to 700 thousand) in India; Jingpo, or Kachin (about 600 thousand), in Myanmar and Yunnan; fox (up to 600 thousand) in Yunnan; Tamang (about 550 thousand), Newar (over 450 thousand) and Gurung (about 450 thousand) in Nepal. The Tibeto-Burman branch includes the endangered language of the Tujia people (up to 3 million people) in Hunan (PRC), but by now most of the Tujia have switched to Chinese.
Sino-Tibetan languages are syllabic, isolating languages with a greater or lesser tendency to agglutination. The main phonetic unit is the syllable; the boundaries of syllables, as a rule, are also the boundaries of morphemes or words. The sounds within a syllable are arranged in a strictly defined order. Consonant combinations are not found in all languages and are possible only at the beginning of a syllable[as in Tibetan]. The number of consonants occurring at the end of a syllable is significantly less than the number of possible initial consonants (usually no more than 6-8); some languages only allow open syllables or have only one final nasal consonant. Many languages have tone. In languages whose history is well known, one can observe a gradual simplification of consonantism and a complication of the system of vowels and tones.
In Chinese (Mandarin) there are 4 basic tones, one neutral and an unlimited number of combinations.
A morpheme usually corresponds to a syllable; the root is usually immutable. However, many languages violate these principles. Thus, in the Burmese language it is possible to alternate consonants in the root: phay" "to make a hole", pau" "to be perforated, to have a hole"; in classical Tibetan there were non-syllabic prefixes and suffixes that expressed, in particular, the grammatical categories of the verb: b-kru-s “washed”, khru-d “my”; in Jingpo, many roots consist of two syllables, with the first having a reduced vowel and in combinations can be dropped: ma 1 kui 3 “elephant”, but kui 3 nong 3 “herd of elephants”.
Classes of words (parts of speech) are distinguished by the ability of words to be used as part of certain syntactic constructions and by compatibility with service morphemes. In Chinese, comparing the combinations zhong huar “to plant flowers” and hong huar “red flower”, we can distinguish three classes of words - noun, verb, adjective, differing in the place they can occupy in combinations of this type: a verb can have after itself a noun as an object or other dependent member, an adjective can be a modifier of a noun. In the Burmese language, among the service morphemes, nominal particles are distinguished (for example, tou - an indicator of the plural, and - an indicator of possessiveness) and verbal particles (for example, me - an indicator of the future tense, pyi - an indicator of the perfect); words combined with particles of the first group are names, those of the second group are verbs.
Adjectives are grammatically closer to verbs than to names; sometimes they are included in the verb category as "verbs of quality".
The simplest relationships between words in a sentence are expressed by word order. For example, the Chinese proposal bai ma chi cao"the white horse eats grass" consists only of root words, the relationships between which are determined by their location.
Other grammatical meanings are expressed by service morphemes. The latter are usually easily separated from the word to which they refer, i.e. formulate not a word, but a phrase. Eg. chi cao de ma"horse eating grass" [literally, eat (chi) grass (cao) -such (de) horse (ma)] (de is attached to the phrase chi cao "eat grass" [similar to the postposition -no in Japanese, expressing genitive case or accessory]). Often, under the same conditions, a auxiliary element can either be used or omitted, almost without changing the meaning of the whole. For example, in classical Tibetan sing gi lo-ma And sing-lo (-gi- possessive particle, - ma- noun suffix) “leaves” of the tree are translated in the same way [the first construction is Japanese in type, the second is purely isolating]. Postpositive service morphemes are much more common than prepositive ones.
The predominant method of word formation is the addition of roots. Isolating a word often presents a difficult problem: it is difficult to distinguish a compound word from a phrase, an affix from a function word. The addition of roots within a compound word occurs according to certain structural models. Those. what happens is something like the formation of a phrase that describes a thing or event that has not yet been named, which is a derivative word. In total, there are five types of connections in words formed by root formation.
Conversion is widespread, i.e. the formation of a word belonging to another part of speech often occurs without the help of derivational morphemes, only by changing its use.
However, some nominal roots (a significant number in some languages) require a special affix to become a word. This is the Chinese suffix -z (a syllable with a reduced vowel) in the word fang-z "house", the Tibetan -ra in lag-pa "hand", the prefix a1- in fox a1mo5 "horse". The only purpose of such affixes is to form a complete word from the root; in other cases they form names from verbs.
Chinese writing - hieroglyphics - dates back to the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty (16-11 centuries BC) with carved stylized images of objects - symbols that replaced words and were used for predictions.
Despite changes in writing materials, Chinese characters have remained virtually the same as they were in ancient times. To read a newspaper you need to know at least 3,000 hieroglyphs, and an educated person knows more than 5,000 hieroglyphs.
Rules for writing hieroglyphs: The horizontal line is written first, followed by the vertical line; first the folding one is written to the left, then the folding one is written to the right; The hieroglyph is written from top to bottom and from left to right; first of all, the outer part of the hieroglyph is written, then what is inside; in such hieroglyphs as, say, “state”, “day, sun”, the elements inside are first written, and finally it is “sealed” from below; First, you should write the element of the hieroglyph that is in the middle, and lastly - the elements on the left and right, respectively.
Suits
In the process of ethnogenesis, about 56 ethnic groups were formed on the territory of the Middle Kingdom. And accordingly, each of them has its own special style of clothing with noticeable distinctive features that are the result of the influence of culture, traditions and the geographical location of the area where the inhabitants live. Taken together, the individual elements of the individual styles of ethnic groups form one completely complete image of a traditional Chinese costume.
Chinese national costumes are traditionally rich in an indescribable variety of materials, colors and cuts used. Their characteristic elements are completely asymmetrical fasteners, unusual trim with braid and piping, kimonos, massive and wide belts called obi, and quite colorful embroidery.
For a long time, the Chinese have preferred various sweaters, robes, pants and hats. The choice of clothes was not at all accidental. After all, a peculiar decoration could become evidence of the social status in society of the person wearing them.
In China, great attention was paid to the colors of costumes. Yellow colors were considered imperial. And naturally, no one else, except those around the head of state, had the right to wear clothes of that color. Red suits were preferred by fairly wealthy people. Oddly enough, white belonged to the mourning colors, for this reason it could only be used for sewing underwear. Other colors and shades were allowed for use by all segments of the population.
Summarizing all of the above, we can say that Chinese national costumes are significantly different in their unique sophistication and charm, which clearly indicates the genuine ability of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire to be original and unique in everything.
National holidays.
Chinese New Year celebrated on January 1st. This holiday is shrouded in legend: in Ancient China there was a monster that ravaged villages every year. One day a beggar wanderer proved to people that the monster was afraid of the color red, the flames of fire and loud laughter. Since then, Chinese New Year has been celebrated noisily and cheerfully. The Chinese set off firecrackers, dress themselves in red, and decorate their homes with bright red posters and lanterns.
Spring Festival celebrated at the end of winter and is traditionally a family event. On this holiday the whole family gets together. Even relatives living in different parts of the country come to their father’s house, which creates a maximum load on the transport infrastructure during the month before the holiday. Since this holiday lasts three days, you can have time to admire the dances of lions and dragons, stilt performances and many other public events.
Lantern Festival, widespread already in the 2nd century BC. e., is distinguished by an abundance of pre-made colorful lanterns and lanterns hung along the city streets. Perhaps, in terms of scale, riot of colors and entertainment programs, only the Rio Carnival can compare with this festival! The traditional food of this day is Yuanxiao, a mixture of rice and sweets. A traditional pastime is solving riddles written on lanterns, as well as fireworks. The holiday is rooted in the tradition of Buddhist monks to meditate with lanterns lit in honor of Buddha.
Kite Festival held in April and dedicated to one of the original Chinese discoveries. China's traditional art of kite making reveals itself in all its whimsy, ingenuity and majesty on this holiday. After all, where else can you see hundreds of colorful figures floating almost freely in the sky? Throughout the year, the Chinese find time to celebrate a huge number of events. A string of ancient holidays is aimed at strengthening family ties and family relationships.
Consider the origin of languages: at one time the number of languages was small. These were the so-called “proto-languages”. Over time, proto-languages began to spread across the Earth, each of them becoming the ancestor of its own language family. A language family is the largest unit of classification of a language (peoples and ethnic groups) based on their linguistic relationship.
Further, the ancestors of language families split into linguistic groups of languages. Languages that are descended from the same language family (that is, descended from a single “protolanguage”) are called a “language group.” Languages of the same language group retain many common roots, have similar grammatical structure, phonetic and lexical similarities. There are now more than 7,000 languages from more than 100 language families of languages.
Linguists have identified more than one hundred major language families of languages. It is assumed that language families are not related to each other, although there is a hypothesis about the common origin of all languages from a single language. The main language families are listed below.
| Family of languages | Number languages |
Total carriers language |
% from the population Earth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-European | > 400 languages | 2 500 000 000 | 45,72 |
| Sino-Tibetan | ~300 languages | 1 200 000 000 | 21,95 |
| Altai | 60 | 380 000 000 | 6,95 |
| Austronesian | > 1000 languages | 300 000 000 | 5,48 |
| Austroasiatic | 150 | 261 000 000 | 4,77 |
| Afroasiatic | 253 000 000 | 4,63 | |
| Dravidian | 85 | 200 000 000 | 3,66 |
| Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyus) | 4 | 141 000 000 | 2,58 |
| Korean | 78 000 000 | 1,42 | |
| Tai-kadai | 63 000 000 | 1,15 | |
| Ural | 24 000 000 | 0,44 | |
| Others | 28 100 000 | 0,5 |
As can be seen from the list, ~45% of the world's population speaks languages of the Indo-European family of languages.
Language groups of languages.
Further, the ancestors of language families split into linguistic groups of languages. Languages that are descended from the same language family (that is, descended from a single “protolanguage”) are called a “language group.” Languages of the same language group have many similarities in word roots, grammatical structure and phonetics. There is also a smaller division of groups into subgroups.
The Indo-European family of languages is the most widespread language family in the world. The number of speakers of languages of the Indo-European family exceeds 2.5 billion people who live on all inhabited continents of the Earth. The languages of the Indo-European family arose as a result of the consistent collapse of the Indo-European proto-language, which began about 6 thousand years ago. Thus, all languages of the Indo-European family descend from a single Proto-Indo-European language.
The Indo-European family includes 16 groups, including 3 dead groups. Each group of languages can be divided into subgroups and languages. The table below does not indicate smaller divisions into subgroups, and there are also no dead languages and groups.
| Indo-European family of languages | |
|---|---|
| Language groups | Incoming languages |
| Armenian | Armenian language (Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian) |
| Baltic | Latvian, Lithuanian |
| German | Frisian languages (West Frisian, East Frisian, North Frisian languages), English language, Scots (English-Scots), Dutch, Low German, German, Hebrew language (Yiddish), Icelandic language, Faroese language, Danish language, Norwegian language (Landsmål, Bokmål, Nynorsk), Swedish language (Swedish dialect in Finland, Skåne dialect), Gutnian |
| Greek | Modern Greek, Tsakonian, Italo-Romanian |
| Dardskaya | Glangali, Kalasha, Kashmiri, Kho, Kohistani, Pashai, Phalura, Torvali, Sheena, Shumashti |
| Illyrian | Albanian |
| Indo-Aryan | Sinhala, Maldivian, Hindi, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Oriya language, Bihari languages, Punjabi, Lahnda, Gujuri, Dogri |
| Iranian | Ossetian language, Yaghnobi language, Saka languages, Pashto language Pamir languages, Balochi language, Talysh language, Bakhtiyar language, Kurdish language, Caspian dialects, Central Iranian dialects, Zazaki (Zaza language, Dimli), Gorani (Gurani), Persian language (Farsi) ), Hazara language, Tajik language, Tati language |
| Celtic | Irish (Irish Gaelic), Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic), Manx, Welsh, Breton, Cornish |
| Nuristan | Kati (kamkata-viri), Ashkun (ashkunu), Vaigali (kalasha-ala), Tregami (gambiri), Prasun (wasi-vari) |
| Romanskaya | Aromunian, Istro-Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, Romanian, Moldavian, French, Norman, Catalan, Provençal, Piedmontese, Ligurian (modern), Lombard, Emilian-Romagnol, Venetian, Istro-Roman, Italian, Corsican, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Sardinian, Aragonese, Spanish, Asturleonese, Galician, Portuguese, Miranda, Ladino, Romansh, Friulian, Ladin |
| Slavic | Bulgarian language, Macedonian language, Church Slavonic language, Slovenian language, Serbo-Croatian language (Shtokavian), Serbian language (Ekavian and Iekavian), Montenegrin language (Iekavian), Bosnian language, Croatian language (Iekavian), Kajkavian dialect, Molizo-Croatian, Gradishchan-Croatian, Kashubian, Polish, Silesian, Lusatian subgroup (Upper Lusatian and Lower Lusatian, Slovak, Czech, Russian language, Ukrainian language, Polesie microlanguage, Rusyn language, Yugoslav-Rusyn language, Belarusian language |
The classification of languages explains the reason for the difficulty of learning foreign languages. It is easier for a speaker of a Slavic language, which belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family of languages, to learn a language of the Slavic group than a language of another group of the Indo-European family, such as the Romance languages (French) or the Germanic group of languages (English). It is even more difficult to learn a language from another language family, for example Chinese, which is not part of the Indo-European family, but belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.
When choosing a foreign language to study, they are guided by the practical, and more often the economic, side of the matter. To get a well-paid job, people choose first of all such popular languages as English or German.
VoxBook audio course will help you learn English
Additional materials on language families.
Below are the main language families and the languages included in them. The Indo-European language family is discussed above.
Sino-Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan) language family.
Sino-Tibetan is one of the largest language families in the world. Includes more than 350 languages spoken by more than 1200 million people. Sino-Tibetan languages are divided into 2 groups, Chinese and Tibeto-Burman.
● The Chinese group is formed by Chinese and its numerous dialects, the number of native speakers is more than 1050 million people. Distributed in China and beyond. And Min languages with more than 70 million native speakers.
● The Tibeto-Burman group includes about 350 languages, with a number of speakers of about 60 million people. Distributed in Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, southwestern China and northeastern India. Main languages: Burmese (up to 30 million speakers), Tibetan (more than 5 million), Karen languages (more than 3 million), Manipuri (more than 1 million) and others.
The Altai (hypothetical) language family includes the Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu language groups. sometimes include the Korean and Japanese-Ryukyuan language groups.
● Turkic language group - widespread in Asia and Eastern Europe. The number of speakers is more than 167.4 million people. They are divided into the following subgroups:
・ Bulgar subgroup: Chuvash (dead - Bulgar, Khazar).
・ Oguz subgroup: Turkmen, Gagauz, Turkish, Azerbaijani (dead - Oguz, Pecheneg).
・ Kypchak subgroup: Tatar, Bashkir, Karaite, Kumyk, Nogai, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Altai, Karakalpak, Karachay-Balkar, Crimean Tatar. (dead - Polovtsian, Pecheneg, Golden Horde).
・ Karluk subgroup: Uzbek, Uyghur.
・ Eastern Hunnic subgroup: Yakut, Tuvan, Khakass, Shor, Karagas. (dead - Orkhon, ancient Uyghur.)
● The Mongolian language group includes several closely related languages of Mongolia, China, Russia and Afghanistan. Includes modern Mongolian (5.7 million people), Khalkha-Mongolian (Khalkha), Buryat, Khamnigan, Kalmyk, Oirat, Shira-Yugur, Mongolian, Baoan-Dongxiang cluster, Mogul language - Afghanistan, Dagur (Dakhur) languages.
● Tungus-Manchu language group is related languages in Siberia (including the Far East), Mongolia and northern China. The number of carriers is 40 - 120 thousand people. Includes two subgroups:
・ Tungus subgroup: Evenki, Evenki (Lamut), Negidal, Nanai, Udean, Ulch, Oroch, Udege.
・ Manchu subgroup: Manchu.
Languages of the Austronesian language family are distributed in Taiwan, Indonesia, Java-Sumatra, Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia, East Timor, Oceania, Kalimantan and Madagascar. This is one of the largest families (the number of languages is over 1000, the number of speakers is over 300 million people). Divided into the following groups:
● Western Austronesian languages
● languages of eastern Indonesia
● Oceanian languages
Afroasiatic (or Semitic-Hamitic) language family.
● Semitic group
・Northern subgroup: Aisorian.
・ Southern group: Arabic; Amharic, etc.
・ dead: Aramaic, Akkadian, Phoenician, Canaanite, Hebrew (Hebrew).
・ Hebrew (the official language of Israel has been revived).
● Cushitic group: Galla, Somalia, Beja.
● Berber group: Tuareg, Kabyle, etc.
● Chadian group: Hausa, Gwandarai, etc.
● Egyptian group (dead): Ancient Egyptian, Coptic.
Includes the languages of the pre-Indo-European population of the Hindustan Peninsula:
● Dravidian group: Tamil, Malalayam, Kannara.
● Andhra Group: Telugu.
● Central Indian group: Gondi.
● Brahui language (Pakistan).
The Japanese-Ryukyu (Japanese) family of languages are common in the Japanese archipelago and the Ryukyu Islands. Japanese is an isolated language that is sometimes classified in the hypothetical Altaic family. The family includes:
・Japanese language and dialects.
The Korean language family is represented by one single language - Korean. Korean is an isolated language that is sometimes classified in the hypothetical Altaic family. The family includes:
・Japanese language and dialects.
・Ryukyuan languages (Amami-Okinawa, Sakishima and Yonagun language).
Tai-Kadai (Thai-Kadai, Dong-Tai, Paratai) family of languages, distributed on the Indochina Peninsula and in adjacent areas of Southern China.
●Li languages (Hlai (Li) and Jiamao) Thai languages
・northern subgroup: northern dialects of the Zhuang language, Bui, Sek.
・central subgroup: Tai (Tho), Nung, southern dialects of the Zhuang language.
・Southwestern subgroup: Thai (Siamese), Laotian, Shan, Khamti, Ahom language, languages of black and white Tai, Yuan, Ly, Kheung.
●Dun-Shui languages: dun, shui, mak, then.
●Be
●Kadai languages: Lakua, Lati, Gelao languages (northern and southern).
●Li languages (Hlai (Li) and Jiamao)
The Uralic language family includes two groups - Finno-Ugric and Samoyed.
●Finno-Ugric group:
・Baltic-Finnish subgroup: Finnish, Izhorian, Karelian, Vepsian languages, Estonian, Votic, Livonian languages.
・Volga subgroup: Mordovian language, Mari language.
・Perm subgroup: Udmurt, Komi-Zyryan, Komi-Permyak and Komi-Yazva languages.
・Ugric subgroup: Khanty and Mansi, as well as Hungarian languages.
・Sami subgroup: languages spoken by the Sami.
●The Samoyedic languages are traditionally divided into 2 subgroups:
・northern subgroup: Nenets, Nganasan, Enets languages.
・southern subgroup: Selkup language.
General characteristics of the family
The Sino-Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan) language family is one of the largest language families in the world. Includes over 100, according to other sources, several hundred languages, from tribal to national.
The total number of speakers is at least 1.2 billion people. It ranks second after the Indo-European language family. Apparently, some Sino-Tibetan languages are not yet known to science, others are known only from random short lists of words. According to the traditional classification, accepted by most researchers at the beginning of the 20th century, the Sino-Tibetan languages were divided into 2 main groups: eastern (Tai-Chinese), which included Chinese and Thai languages, and western (Tibeto-Burman languages).
The Miao-Yao languages and Karen languages were sometimes also included in the eastern group. The main feature that distinguished the groups was the word order: in Eastern languages the object is placed after the verb, in Western languages - before it. It is currently known that the Thai and Miao Yao languages are not part of the Sino-Tibetan family.
In modern linguistics, Sino-Tibetan languages are usually divided into 2 branches, different in the degree of their internal division and in their place on the linguistic map of the world - Chinese and Tibeto-Burman. The first is formed by the Chinese language with its numerous dialects and groups of dialects. It is spoken by over 1050 million people, including about 700 million in the dialects of the northern group. The Dungan language belongs to the Chinese branch; The spoken Dungan language is part of the northern group of Chinese dialects. It is possible that the Bai or Minjia language also belongs to this branch, but this has not been proven; this language is usually considered Tibeto-Burman or excluded from the Sino-Tibetan family altogether. The remaining Sino-Tibetan languages, numbering about 60 million speakers, are included in the Tibeto-Burman branch.
Sino-Tibetan languages are syllabic, isolating languages with a greater or lesser tendency to agglutination. The basic phonetic unit is the syllable, and the boundaries of syllables, as a rule, are also the boundaries of morphemes or words. The sounds within a syllable are arranged in a strictly defined order (usually a noisy consonant, sonant, intermediate vowel, main vowel, consonant; all elements except the main vowel may be absent). Combinations of consonants are not found in all languages and are possible only at the beginning of a syllable. The number of consonants occurring at the end of a syllable is significantly less than the number of possible initial consonants (usually no more than 6-8); some languages only allow open syllables or have only one final nasal consonant.
The scripts of the Sino-Tibetan languages are divided into three main types: ideographic, phonetic scripts of Indian origin and scripts created relatively recently based on the Latin or Russian alphabets. The first type includes Chinese hieroglyphs (XIII-IV centuries BC) and the Tungut script, which is externally similar to it, introduced in the 11th century. and forgotten after the death of the Tungut state, the Naxi letter, the signs of which resemble stylized drawings, and a letter that is simpler in form (more syllabic than ideographic). The second type is represented primarily by the Tibetan and Burmese alphabets (the first has existed since the 7th century, the second since the 11th century). Less common are the Newari script (known since the 12th century), Rong, or Lepcha (from the late 17th century), and Manipuri. A slightly modified Burmese alphabet is used to write several Karen dialects. The writing of the dead Pyu language in modern Myanmar was also of Indian origin (texts from the 6th-12th centuries have been preserved). A common feature of alphabets of this type is that the vowel “a” does not have a special designation - a consonant letter without a vowel sign is read with the vowel “a”; the signs of the remaining vowels can occupy any place in relation to the consonant letter - above it, below it, etc.; in consonant combinations, the second letter is signed under the first and is usually simplified. Latin-based scripts have been developed for a number of languages in China and Myanmar, including the Dungan language (within the USSR), which uses a script based on the Russian alphabet (with the addition of a few letters).
Distribution areas
The Chinese language with its numerous dialects and dialect groups belongs to the Chinese group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The main area of its distribution is the PRC south of the Gobi and east of Tibet, but there are large Chinese populations in other areas of the country and beyond (People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, USA, Russia, India).
Peoples speaking the remaining languages of the Sino-Tibetan family inhabit most of Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, large areas of southwestern China and northeastern India. The most important Tibeto-Burman languages or groups of closely related languages: Burmese (up to 30 million speakers) in Myanmar and (over 5.5 million) in Sichuan and Yunnan (PRC); Tibetan (over 5 million) in Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan (PRC), Kashmir (northern India), Nepal, Bhutan; Karen languages (over 3 million) in Myanmar near the border with Thailand: Hani (1.25 million) in Yunnan; Manipuri, or Meithei (over 1 million); Bodo, or Kachari (750 thousand), and Garo (up to 700 thousand) in India; Jingpo, or Kachin (about 600 thousand), in Myanmar and Yunnan; fox (up to 600 thousand) in Yunnan; Tamang (about 550 thousand), Newar (over 450 thousand) and Gurung (about 450 thousand) in Nepal. The Tibeto-Burman branch includes the endangered language of the Tujia people (up to 3 million people) in Hunan (PRC), but by now most of the Tujia have switched to Chinese.
Similarity of cultures among native speakers and their customs
If we are talking about the culture and traditions of peoples speaking languages of the Sino-Tibetan language family, then we are talking about peoples such as the Chinese, the Hui people (Dungans), Tibetans, Burmese, Kanauri, Karens, Newars. ... All these peoples are close not only linguistically, but also culturally.
Most of these peoples are united by Buddhism, with the exception of the Dungans (Hui people), they are Sunni Muslims.
- Buddhism has a great influence on the life of the Burmese people. Every child must spend at least a week in the monastery, and some remain there for their entire lives. The monks shave their heads and wear yellow-orange capes. They do not have to work, but live only on alms.
- Among the Newars, there is an obvious predominance of Buddhist heritage and shrines in the historically Newar cities of Patan (with its four stupas of Ashoka) and Bhaktapur, while Kathmandu presents a mixed picture. It is believed that at first the Newars were Buddhists, but due to Indian influence and conquest, syncretic traditions arose among them.
- The most common religious teachings among the Chinese are Buddhism (Mahayana) and Taoism. A growing minority are Christians. Confucianism and Chinese folk beliefs are also common historically.
You can also note the similarities in architectural style - the construction of houses, religious buildings (pagodas, temples to spirits). The traditional costume of the Han Chinese - Hanfu - is similar to the traditional clothing of the Tibetans, Burmese and Dungans - an open jacket, fastened on the right side, and wide trousers. Women's clothing is decorated with embroidery. Shoes made of fabric. These peoples are mainly sedentary farmers, or semi-sedentary farmers-pastoralists. Tibetans, Dungans, and Chinese traditionally eat with chopsticks.
Similar holidays among these peoples are mainly associated with Buddhism: Tabaun, Kashoun, Wazou, Kathainbwe.
Development trends of native speaker peoples
Of all the peoples of the Sino-Tibetan group, the Chinese (PRC) and the Burmese (Myanmar) have their own state. The remaining peoples live compactly in different countries: Dungans - in Kazakhstan, Tibetans - in the PRC region of the Tibetan Plateau and in the far north of India, Newars - in Nepal, Karens - Myanmar.
Sino-Tibetan peoples are not necessarily related by genetic kinship; sometimes an ethnic group adopts a foreign language, but historical and territorial ties between such peoples are mandatory.
Sino-Tibetan peoples live mainly in China, where they make up the majority of the population. The name itself reflects their location: China (Sino - here - from the Latin name for China) and Tibet. The Sino-Tibetan peoples include the majority of the population of Myanmar and Bhutan. Significant groups also inhabit Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, India, etc.
Bibliography
- Iliuf Kh.Sh., Ph.D. article "Dungans"
- R. F. Its. Introduction to ethnography, Leningrad - 1974.
Kozlov P.K. “Tibet and the Dalai Lama” Moscow - 2004
Ogneva E. D. Tibetans “Calendar customs and rituals of the peoples of East Asia. Annual cycle" Moscow, Nauka, 1989.
V. A. Tishkov “Peoples and religions of the world”, Moscow - 1998.
Tucci, Giuseppe. "Religions of Tibet". St. Petersburg - 2005.
- Languages and dialects of the world, prospectus and dictionary, Moscow - 1982
- Kady, J "History of Modern Burma" - 1958
Description of work
The Sino-Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan) language family is one of the largest language families in the world. Includes over 100, according to other sources, several hundred languages, from tribal to national. The total number of speakers is at least 1.2 billion people. It ranks second after the Indo-European language family. Apparently, some Sino-Tibetan languages are not yet known to science, others are known only from random short lists of words. According to the traditional classification, accepted by most researchers at the beginning of the 20th century, the Sino-Tibetan languages were divided into 2 main groups: eastern (Tai-Chinese), which included Chinese and Thai languages, and western (Tibeto-Burman languages).
The languages of East Asia are members of several of the world's largest language families. In first place in terms of the number of speakers is the Sino-Tibetan family of languages that developed in this territory. The Altai family has representatives of all branches here, and the sphere of its formation, although partially, was within East Asia.
Geographically, the distribution of languages in East Asia can be represented as follows: Sino-Tibetan languages almost completely occupy the entire central and southern parts of this territory. Only in two places on the outskirts are foreign components interspersed among them: Mon-Khmer in Yunnan and Malay-Polynesian in Taiwan. The languages of the Altai family surround the entire region under consideration along its northern edge. This belt is closed in the extreme west by the languages of the mountain Tajiks, belonging to the Indo-European family, and in the extreme east by the Ainu language. 1
Sino-Tibetan language family
The divergence in the vocabulary and grammatical structure between the individual branches and languages of the Sino-Tibetan family is much greater than in the other language families mentioned here; words, meaning the degree of kinship, parts of the body, as well as natural phenomena, are often completely different even in the languages of the same branch. On the other hand, the numerals are very close, almost identical in languages even of different branches. Reconstruction of any proto-language for the Sino-Tibetan family is comparatively unlikely. Their similar features can rather be explained by the partial preservation of an area that once existed here with primitive linguistic continuity. Repeated migrations have disrupted this continuity, but traces of it remain in the nature of the differences between languages.
The common features for the entire Sino-Tibetan family are as follows: with very rare exceptions, each primary unit of speech - a root coinciding with a single-root word - represents one syllable. Moreover, any such syllable, taken separately, already gives us, if not in a modern living language, then at least in its ancient meaning, a completely complete word - a part or particle of speech. This gives some linguists a reason to characterize modern Sino-Tibetan languages as monosyllabic, that is, monosyllabic. However, in fact, most concrete words of any living language of this family are polysyllabic, representing a combination of several root syllables. Cornesyls - parts of speech, when combined, give complex words: for example, in the New Chinese language, the root words ho j/c "fire' and che 1$. cart', when combined, give a new word 'hoche train'.
Such two-part words are usually called binomials. Words composed of three or more root syllables can be considered as secondary binomials. Thus, the word “type” in Chinese is expressed by the binomial dazi from the root words “beat” and “tzu” sign 7. The concept “typewriter” consists of three syllables: dazi ji, but this is also essentially a binary of two meanings: dazi “type” and ji “mechanism”.
If in Russian and other Indo-European languages there are relatively few such compound words, then in Sino-Tibetan they make up the majority of the entire vocabulary; Corneslogs are particles of speech and words that have lost their independent semantic meaning, joining other words, at the beginning or end they turn into prefixes or suffixes, which serve for word formation and inflection.
Potentially, syllables in Sino-Tibetan languages fall into three elements: an initial consonant consisting of one or more consonants, a vowel (simple or diphthong, triphthong) and a final consonant. A vowel is the carrier of a certain tone and is called a tonal. Tonal is an obligatory element in a word; So, in Chinese, the root syllable man' f! canopy’ contains an initial simple consonant (initial) m, a simple vowel a (tonal) and a final nъ. The root syllables ma YL sacrifice’, an’ VTs twilight’ and a ppf are also possible interjections. It should be noted that the initials are usually all the consonants found in a given language, and in many languages their combinations. Initials - combinations of consonants - were present, for example, in the ancient Tibetan language. However, Sino-Tibetan languages tend to simplify the composition of initials and to condense combinations of consonants into simple consonants.
Syllable finals can be closed consonants, but not all of them. For example, in modern literary Chinese, only two finals are preserved - n and n. The Yue (Cantonese) dialect retains the finals p, g, k - remnants of the ancient Chinese wider set of finals. The reduction of finals, inherent in the Chinese-Tibetan family as a whole, in a number of cases resulted in their complete disappearance and the transformation of all syllables into open ones.
Since only consonants and their combinations are used in initials, the total number of theoretically possible syllables (and therefore root words) in each language is quite limited. However, this number increases several times due to the presence of tones that are meaningful in nature. Thus, the word ma “sacrifice” mentioned above, like all the words associated with it, is pronounced with a falling tone (the fourth in the Chinese language). The same sound combination ma, pronounced under the first (even) tone, means Sh
"mother", under the second (ascending) - "hemp", under the third (descending-ascending) - "horse". The primary formation of tones is historically in direct connection with the truncation of finals in Chinese-Tibetan languages; sometimes it is also associated with changes in vowel composition.
The number of tones varies in different languages and dialects from two to nine or even more, but the general historical trend rather leads to a simplification of the tonal composition.
The grammar of the Sino-Tibetan languages is analytical at its core. As a rule, person, time, subject-object relations are expressed descriptively and through context. Almost all languages of this family are characterized by an abundance of particle classifiers, which are used to combine numerals and pronouns with nouns and indicate the gender of the latter. For example, in Chinese “two tables” - liang zhang zhuo, where liang two’, zhuo “table”, zhang is a classifier of all flat objects. Many Sino-Tibetan languages are characterized by a tendency to reduce the number of such categories and to use a limited number of universal classifiers.
The Chinese language became known to European linguists earlier than other Sino-Tibetan languages. The monosyllabic nature of the roots, the lack of inflection, and the apparent grammatical amorphism of the Chinese language gave rise to linguists - supporters of the stage theory - to see in it an example of a lower stage in the development of language, a state characteristic of the language almost immediately after its origin and preserved to this day. The historical study of Sino-Tibetan languages refutes this opinion.
The monosyllabic state of the classical Chinese language Wenyan Yie is primary, but is the result of a simplification of the ancient Chinese language, which had elements of agglutination and inflection.
Between classical and modern Chinese there are still centuries of development towards repeated complexity and the emergence of new elements of agglutination.
The unity of the proto-Chinese tribal languages, one of which was the language of the Shang-Yin tribes known to us from the inscriptions on oracle bones (XVI-XI centuries BC), is confirmed by the ease of spread of Yin writing after the 11th century. Due to the hieroglyphic nature of the latter, the phonetic composition of these languages or dialects is difficult to reconstruct. It is possible to reconstruct with sufficient accuracy only the general sound system of the ancient Chinese language.
The development of the Chinese language has continued throughout the centuries-old history of the Chinese people. Two sides of this process are the development and gradual change of language in connection with ethnic history and the gradual formation and then absorption of local dialects.
There are significant differences in the phonetics and semantics of the vocabulary of the Chinese language of different historical periods. For example, the word go, which currently means state, has gone through an interesting path of changing meaning depending on the socio-economic conditions of its existence. It meant, successively, a fence, a fenced place, a city, a possession, a kingdom, a state. The word jia “family” sounds like this in modern literary language; the same word in the south sounds like ka, something like how it sounded in ancient Chinese.
The ancient Chinese language developed until the 3rd century. BC e., the literary language of this time was Guven, coinciding with the spoken language or close to it; and from the 3rd century. n. e. Ancient Chinese gradually becomes a dead language and the formation of Middle Chinese begins on the basis of Guwen. At this time, ancient Chinese turns into an archaic written Wenyan, different from the spoken one. Then follows a new period - from the 9th century. According to the “May 4, 1919” movement, when Wenyan existed, but the language of the “Yuan drama”, which was already close to the colloquial language, was formed, based on northern dialects. As a result of the struggle for a universally understood Baihua language, Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect, is gradually becoming stronger throughout the country.
The Chinese language includes a number of dialects. Currently, it is customary to distinguish eight main dialects: 1) Beijing, which is spoken by more than half of all Chinese, 2) Jiangnan (i.e., a dialect common in Jiangsu province south of the Yangtze and in Zhejiang province), 3) Guangdong, 4) Hunan , 5) Kejia dialect (or Hakka), 6) Minnan (i.e. Southern Fujian), 7) Jiangxi 8) Minbei (i.e. Northern Fujian).
The names of the dialects reflect only the main areas of their distribution. Thus, the provinces of Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan are also included in the area of distribution of the Beijing dialect.
Differences in the dialects of modern Chinese are mainly along phonetic lines; there are lexical differences; the differences in grammatical structure are small. In general, the dialects are uniform, although the most widely divergent large dialects of the Chinese language are mutually incomprehensible.
The geographical distribution of dialects and the periodization of language development are in good agreement with the ethnic history of the Chinese. The development of the languages of clans and tribes was undoubtedly associated with its first stage; within the ethnic territory of the Chinese, these languages were linked by a chain of linguistic continuity.
The main modern dialects are obviously relics of local tribal languages that existed in ancient times in different regions of China. In addition, foreign language, non-Chinese substrates, for example Zhuang Tung in the south, could also play some role in the formation of modern dialects. The peoples of the south-eastern coastal strip, who defended their independence for a long time, partially perceived the language of the victors, first as a second language, then as the only one. Yet the features of the local languages of the south have been preserved to this day in the local dialects (or, as they are called, Koine g/, Min and Yue).
A significant influx of immigrants from the central Chinese regions consolidated the process of language adaptation. Already a thousand years later, the population of the coastal strip considered themselves part of the Chinese people.
The process was different in the north- and south-western regions of the country. The assimilation of local languages of non-Chinese peoples was either unopposed or did not occur. The differences between the Chinese dialects of these regions are so small that it would be more accurate to talk about dialects (Tuhua).
The modern colloquial and literary Chinese language (the normative language of the Chinese nation) - Putonghua, which literally means “common language”, is the largest language in the world in terms of the number of speakers.
The Chinese language is polytonal. In Beijing pronunciation, which is accepted as standard for Putuihua, there are four tones.
Putonghua is characterized by the use of a large number of classifiers, modifiers, modal particles, showing changes in number, type, form, etc. To a large extent, these final auxiliary particles have become suffixes (for example, the plural indicator of animate nouns myn, as in the word
tongzhimyn "comrades'). Modal particles can express a question, emotion, shade in expression.
There is no inflection of names in Chinese. The plural suffix for names denoting persons, myнъ, is used only when the plurality is not clear from the context. Only the verb has somewhat developed inflection, but even here there is no tense or person, but there are forms of aspect and modality. The syntax is structured according to the subject-predicate-object pattern. The definition precedes the defined. Prepositional constructions and postpositions have been preserved from the ancient Chinese language. Thus, in modern language there is a very characteristic construction, which in literal translation reads:
or I take a pencil and write’ (in a literary translation, it’s better to write with a pencil’).
The Tibeto-Burman languages have a different syntax from other languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, where there is a rigid subject-object-predicate pattern.
Only in cases where there is a subject indicator and an object indicator, as for example in the Naxi language, the order of their relative positions can be changed.
Usually the definition precedes the defined (in Tibetan it can also come after the defined). Additions are introduced by postpositions. The verb has tense, participial and participial forms. It is interesting to note that all these features are also present in the Altai family, the probable zone of formation of which is geographically adjacent to the zone of formation of the Tibeto-Burman languages - for the former it is mainly the Altai-Sayan Plateau and the steppes of Mongolia, for the latter - the provinces of the PRC - Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai. It is possible that the Altaic languages influenced the westward-spreading branches of the Sino-Tibetan languages, the initial center of which most likely was the Great Chinese Plain and the Loess Plateau to the west of it.
In a number of respects, the languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch appear to be more archaic than other Sino-Tibetan languages. So, for example, in them, especially in Jiazhong and a number of dialects of Tibetan, traces of the former polysyllabicity, clusters of consonants in initials and finals, a smaller number of tones and a smaller proportion of their meaningful role are preserved; in some languages - Tibetan and Jingpo - classifiers are rarely used. In a number of languages of the Izu group, on the contrary, they are close to merging with the numeral. The position of classifiers in the syntactic structure also differs from that accepted in the Chinese language. Instead of the Chinese scheme of numeral (or demonstrative pronoun)-classifier-noun, the construction noun-numeral-classifier is used in the Tibeto-Burman languages.
Many Tibeto-Burman languages are characterized by the presence of suffixes.
The Tibeto-Burman branch of languages within East Asia falls into three groups: Tibetan, Izu and Jingpo. 2
In the Tibetan group one can distinguish the languages Tibetan, Jiazhong, Qiang, Xifan, Dulong, well; however, the last two languages occupy a special position, and they can be divided into a separate subgroup, calling it the eastern, and the remaining Tibetan languages - the western subgroup. The languages of the eastern subgroup are close to another group of the Tibeto-Burman branch, namely the Itzu group, which includes the Itzu, Lisu, Nasi, Lahu, Hani, Achan, and Bai languages. The Jingpo language alone forms a special group, which, however, sometimes gets closer and even merges with Burmese, and on the other hand, was influenced by the languages of the Itzu group.
Many of the listed languages fall into dialects, sometimes very numerous and so very different from one another that the scale of these differences is close to the differences between individual languages. This especially applies to the Tibetan, Izu, Hani, and Jingpo languages.
The Zhuang Tung languages constitute the third branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which in Western European linguistics is usually called Thai. It is divided into three groups - Zhuang-Tai, Dong Shui and Li group. The first includes the Zhuang languages, which are extremely close to it, especially to its northern dialects, the Bui language and the Tai language. The Dong Shui language includes the Dong, Mulao, Maonan, and Shui languages. The Li language with its dialects is the only representative of the third group. It should be noted that, with the exception of the peculiar Li language, dialect differences in the languages of the Zhuang Tung branch are not very great and, as a rule, mutual understanding is possible even between speakers of different languages within the same group.
Usually, speakers of neighboring dialects and languages understand each other better. There is a greater difference between the languages of peoples separated by large distances. The nature of the relationship between the Zhuang-Tung languages apparently makes it possible to talk about their origin from a single language.
In modern Chinese linguistics, * this branch has been given the name Zhuang Tung branch, after the names of the most important languages included here, widespread in China. The vocabulary of the Thai, or Zhuang Tung, languages is partially similar to Chinese. This especially applies to numerals, which are generally similar in Chinese, Tibeto-Burman, and Zhuang Tung languages. The sentence is constructed according to the “subject-predicate-object” scheme. The method of definition is sharply different from that adopted in the Tibeto-Burmese and Chinese languages, namely, the definition always follows the defined. So, in the Bui language, a young man’ sounds r’i sa: i literally a young man’; “old man’-r” and 1ai literally old man’. Classifier words are close to becoming prefix articles and are included in the dictionary form of nouns. In the same language buoys tu - animal classifier; tu- ma horse', tu- pa "fish'; zwak - bird classifier: zwak- la: in "sparrow', zwak- kau miau “horned owl.” In numeral constructions, the “noun-numeral-classifier” scheme is common, but with demonstrative pronouns and the numeral “one” the “noun-classifier-pronoun” construction is used.
The fourth branch - the Miao-Yao languages differ in their vocabulary from both the Chinese language and the Zhuang-Tung languages more than these branches of languages differ from each other, although there are undoubtedly some common features between the vocabulary of the Miao-Yao and Chinese languages or Zhuang Tung. However, in the field of grammar, the Miao-Yao languages occupy rather an intermediate position between the Chinese and Zhuangdong languages. There are several tones in the Miao-Yao languages - from five to eight. The structure of the phrase “subject-predicate-object” coincides with the Zhuang Tung model. As for the relative position of the definition and the defined, the most common scheme is “defined-definition”. So, in the Miao language “short clothes” sounds like<аэ1е "одежда короткая’. Однако некоторые наиболее употребительные прилагательные ставятся перед определяемым словом, например, mien d^ u ^big gate’, uh sa “good song”, as well as pronominal definitions, which brings the Miao-Yao syntax closer to Chinese.
Nouns in dictionary form usually appear together with their classifiers, although in a phrase the latter may be omitted; So in the Miao-Yao language the classifier of kinship terms is a: a-ra ‘father’,<a- mi mother’, a-r’eu grandfather’.
The composition of numerals in the Miao-Yao languages is very different from the Chinese, Zhuang Tung and Tibeto-Burman set of numerals, but the developed system of counting words brings them closer to Chinese. As for the demonstrative-pronominal construction, the order “classifier-noun-pronoun” is adopted in the Miao language, and “pronoun-classifier-noun” in the Yao language.
In the Miao-Yao branch, one can distinguish the Miao group (the Miao language with its dialects)^ the Yao group (Yao and She languages); The Gelao language, which stands somewhat apart, can be classified into the third group. The dialects of the Yao and especially Miao languages are so different from each other that mutual understanding between speakers of different dialects is often impossible.
It seems that these dialects go back to tribal languages and are now only in the process of consolidation into national languages. At the same time, individual groups calling themselves Miao, for example on the island. Hainan speak dialects very close to Yao, and even a number of distinctly Miao dialects, such as Mabu Miao, have some Yao-like features. It can be assumed that the differentiation of the Miao-Yao dialects into two groups can be approximately dated to the turn of our era.
However, it is hardly possible to talk about a single proto-language of Miao-Yao. Rather, there was a single area of existence of dialects that were in a state of primitive linguistic continuity. Perhaps some ancient stage of it is recorded in Chinese sources as San-Miao. One must think that the Gelao language emerged from it earlier than others. At the same time, one should remember about the possibility of the presence in the San-Miao of the ancestors of the Zhuangtung peoples, later called Yue (Lo-Yue, Nan-Yue, etc.). It is natural to assume that the languages of the ancient Miao and Yue strongly influenced each other, which was manifested in the specific, somewhat intermediate character of the Gelao and Li languages.
While the closeness of Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages was generally not seriously disputed, the classification of the Thai (Zhuang Tung) languages and the Miao-Yao languages was controversial. Thus, in Benedict's work, the Thai languages are separated from the Sino-Tibetan family and are considered as belonging to one large community along with the Malayo-Polynesian languages. A relic of their common proto-language was the Kadai group constructed by Benedict, which included the Li language and the Gelao language, which, indeed, of all the Miao-Yao languages, is closest to the Zhuangdong languages.
Davis's work, which greatly influenced the views of European linguists on this issue, included the Miao-Yao languages in the Mon-Khmer family of languages. There are other points of view, but in general the battle of opinions was conducted mainly on the issue of the relationship of the Zhuang-Tung and Miao-Yao languages with the Sino-Tibetan languages, as well as with the Mon-Khmer and Malay-Polynesian languages. Indeed, in the syntax of the Zhuang-Tung and partly Miao-Yao languages, and in their vocabulary, one can notice shifts towards convergence with the languages of the Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian families, which are the closest neighbors.
The Vietnamese language is not considered separately here, since it is spoken mainly outside the study area and is spoken by only a small number of Vietnamese living in the border areas of China. However, the formation of the Vietnamese language is obviously closely connected, just like the formation of the Zhuang-tung languages, with the Luo-Yue dialects that existed in Southern China, in Guangxi and adjacent areas. The vocabulary fund brings the Vietnamese language closer to the Mon-Khmer family, but its structural characteristics make it equally similar to most languages of the Sino-Tibetan family.