"Exploring Chinese compound words in the anonymous 'Breve compendio del vocabulario de compuestos en lengua mandarina' and other Western missionary dictionaries" / Lu Zuo and Otto Zwartjes

Published in Historiographia Linguistica - Volume 51, Issue 1-3, 2024 

Also available through Boston College Libraries

Abstract:

This article analyzes the anonymous and undated dictionary Breve compendio del vocabulario de compuestos en lengua mandarina, a work that was most likely written by a Dominican. The Dominicans not only compiled bilingual dictionaries translating from Spanish to Chinese but also from Chinese to Spanish. The dictionaries attributed to Francisco Díaz contain Chinese characters, with each lemma featuring a single character, arranged alphabetically according to the romanization of these characters. The lemmas often include examples in which these characters appear in combination with others. These polysyllabic examples were referred to at the time as complexos or compuestos. The Breve compendio, as the title indicates, is a dictionary aimed to include exclusively these so-called compuestos. This article is a first attempt to analyze these compuestos. What criteria did the author use to select these compuestos? What were his pedagogical-didactic intentions? Finally, we will compare a selection of lemmas with two versions of Francisco Díaz’s Vocabulario de letra China, and one version of Basilio Brollo’s Dictionarium Sinico-Latinum to gain a better understanding of the diffusion of knowledge in the field of Western bilingual lexicography in China.

Portuguese missionary grammars in Asia, Africa and Brazil, 1550-1800 / Otto Zwartjes.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Portuguese Missionary Grammars in Asia, Africa and Brazil, 1550-1800; Editorial page; Title page; LCC data; Table of contents; Preface & acknowledgements; Chapter 1. Introduction; 1.1 Goal of the study; 1.2 The historiographical neglect of missionary linguistics; 1.3 The contribution of missionary linguistics to the study of the typology of languages; 1.4 Missionary linguists as field-workers: Their attitudes; 1.5 The description of exotic languages and the development of linguistic concepts; 1.6 The goals and structure of this study; 1.6.1 What do we want to know?

1.6.1.1 Phonology and orthography1.6.1.2 Morphosyntax; 1.6.1.3 The lexicon; 1.6.1.4 Extra-grammatical information; 1.6.2 What do we have?; References; Chapter 2. The Indian subcontinent; 2.1 Introduction; 2.1.1 Historical background; 2.1.2 The Indian grammatical tradition; 2.2 Tamil. Henrique Henriques (or, Anrique Anriquez) (1520-1600); 2.2.1 The life and work of Henrique Henriques; 2.2.2 Henriques's Tamil grammar: Authorship and sources; 2.2.3 Henriques's Tamil grammar and the Tamil language; 2.2.3.1 Malabar and Tamil; 2.2.3.2 The structure of Henriques's grammar.

2.2.3.3 Henriques's treatment of Tamil orthography and phonology2.2.3.4 Henriques's treatment of Tamil nominal declension; 2.2.3.5 Henriques's treatment of the Tamil verb; 2.2.3.6 Henriques's explicit comparisons between Tamil and Portuguese; 2.2.3.7 Henriques's treatment of Tamil word order; 2.2.3.8 Henriques's treatment of agreement in Tamil; 2.2.3.9 Henriques's treatment of variation within Tamil; 2.2.3.10 Henriques's meta-language; 2.2.4 The reputation of Henriques's work; 2.2.5 Other Tamil grammars; 2.3 Konkani. Thomas Stephens (Thomaz Estevão 1549-1619).

2.3.1 The life of Thomas Stephens2.3.2 Other early grammars of Konkani and neighbouring languages; 2.3.3 The Konkani language; 2.3.4 Stephens's Konkani grammar; 2.3.4.1 Stephens's treatment of phonology and orthography; 2.3.4.2 Stephens's treatment of Konkani nominal morphology; 2.3.4.3 Stephens's treatment of Konkani verbal morphology; 2.3.4.4 Stephens's treatment of Konkani syntax. Word order and agreement; 2.3.4.5 Stephens's treatment of ergativity; 2.3.4.6 Stephens's metalanguage; 2.4 Bengali. Manoel da Assumpçam (fl. 1743); 2.4.1 Manoel da Assumpçam and his grammar.

2.4.2 The Bengali language2.4.3 The grammar; 2.4.3.1 Assumpçam's treatment of orthography and phonology; 2.4.3.2 Assumpçam's treatment of nominal declension; 2.4.3.3 Assumpçam's treatment of verbal morphology; 2.4.3.4 Assumpçam's treatment of syntax; 2.4.3.5 Assumpçam's treatment of word order and agreement; 2.5 Marathi (Anonymous 1778a); 2.5.1 The Marathi language; 2.5.2 The 1778 Marathi grammar; 2.5.2.1 The grammar's treatment of Marathi phonology and orthography; 2.5.2.2 The grammar's treatment of Marathi nominal morphology; 2.5.2.3 The grammar's treatment of Marathi verbal morphology.

Local access dig.pdf. [Zwartjes-Portuguese missionary grammars.pdf]

"The history of Chinese linguistics in East and West" / Otto Zwartjes

Published in Historiographia Linguistica - Volume 51, Issue 1-3, 2024 

Also available through Boston College Libraries

Introduction: 

This issue presents recent developments and new insights in research concerning relatively well-known sources from the history of Chinese (applied) linguistics and Chinese lexicography, such as Kangxi zidian, 康熙字典 [‘Kangxi Dictionary’] Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680), James Summers (1828–1891) and Wilhelm Lobscheid (1822–1893). Of particular significance are contributions that introduce newly discovered sources or focus on materials that, — while referenced in existing surveys and catalogues —, have surprisingly received little scholarly attention to date