"Linguistic contributions of Protestant missionaries in south China : an overview of Cantonese religious and pedagogical publications (1828–1939)" / Kataoka Shin and Lee Yin Ping.

Religions 15 (2024).

This article belongs to the Special Issue Expressions of Chinese Christianity in Texts and Contexts: In Memory of Our Mentor Professor R. G. Tiedemann (1941–2019).

Local access dig.pdf [Kataoka and Lee-Linguistic Contributions of Protestant Missionaries in South China.pdf]

Abstract:

Robert Morrison 馬禮遜, the first Protestant missionary to China, came to Guangdong as an employee of the East India Company and with the support of the London Missionary Society in 1807. Amongst his path-breaking translation work, he published the first Chinese Bible (Shen Tian Shengshu 神天聖書) in 1823. As many foreigners in Guangdong could not speak Cantonese, Morrison compiled a three-volume Cantonese learning aid, A Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect (1828), using specifically Cantonese Chinese characters and his Cantonese romanization system. In consequence, missionaries translated Christian literature and the Bible into Cantonese, for they realized that proficiency in Cantonese was essential for proselytization among ordinary people. Over the past twenty years, we have collected and identified around 260 Cantonese works written and translated by Western Protestant missionaries, and these Cantonese writings can be categorized as follows: 1. dictionaries; 2. textbooks; 3. Christian literature; 4. Bibles; and 5. miscellanea. In the study of the Western Protestant missions, their linguistic contribution is relatively under-represented. Through analyzing the phonological, lexical, and grammatical features of early Cantonese expressions in these selected missionary works, we strive to highlight the missionaries’ contributions to the diachronic study of the Cantonese language in modern southern 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]