You're all invited to these two absolutely exciting lectures on Zoom this month!
Two Lectures by Shi Jinbo on minority languages and Tangut 20+27 November 1pm CET online
Dear Everyone,
I have the honor to invite you to two absolutely exceptional lectures on the rich linguistic landscape of China that is so much more than “just” Chinese!
The speaker, professor Shi Jinbo史金波 (*1940), is one of the most famous scholars of Chinese minority languages, Tangut, and the Sino-Tibetan language family. He is a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and its Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (中国社会科学院民族学与人类学研究所). It is a great honor to welcome him (online) at the Institute, as he is not only an accomplished scholar, but also bore witness to the pathbreaking acts of language research, linguistic surveys, philology and archeological discoveries of the 20th century in China.
Professor Shi will give two talks in Chinese:
20 Nov. 2021 13:00 CET 中国少数民族语言和汉藏语研究
Research into the minority languages of China and Sino-Tibetan
(Details see below)
27 Nov. 2021 13:00 CET 西夏研究概况
The state of Tangut research
(Details see below)
Both talks will be accompanied by an English introduction by professor Imre Galambos, University of Cambridge. Therefore: Don’t be afraid if you’re not yet confident with your level of Chinese or if you are new to the field of linguistics or minority languages. You are cordially welcome and we will do our best to help everybody translate their question during the Q&A.
The Zoom-Link for both talks is:
https://zoom.us/j/94714804868?pwd=UTA4YXZIakI1ZFZEbGl4VWwwVk1XQT09 Meeting-ID: 947 1480 4868
Password: hqswj2
1.
20 Nov. 2021 13:00 中国少数民族语言和汉藏语研究
Research into the minority languages of China and Sino-Tibetan
In his first lecture “Research of the Chinese languages and the Sino-Tibetan language family”, Prof. Shi Jinbo will begin with an introduction into the Sino-Tibetan language family, including an overview of the different languages in China, their characteristics, and the basic trends of language change and language death of some of them. The second part of his lecture will present the scripts in which these Sino-Tibetan languages are or were written, and the documents in which they were preserved. Apart from Chinese, Tibetan and Tangut, the talk will also cover the languages and scripts of the Yi 彝 and the Dai 傣. Prof. Shi will conclude his first talk by explaining the purpose of studying the Chinese minority languages. They play an integral part for a deeper understanding of the Sino-Tibetan language family. They offer the possibility of diachronic comparison and can help decipher dead languages. Yi and Qiang 羌, for example, are crucial reference points for the research of Tangut verbs. Ancient Tangut documents give us the opportunity to learn about the Tangut society of the past, as Prof. Shi will explain at the example of his “Buying, selling and marrying in Tangut” (《西夏语的买、卖和嫁、娶》).
Chinese Outline:
第一讲 中国少数民族语言和汉藏语研究
一、中国汉藏语言的基本情况
汉藏语系语言的种类
汉藏语系语言的特点
语言的演变和一些语言的消失
二、记录汉藏语言的文字、文献
汉语、汉文
藏语、藏文
西夏语、西夏文
彝语、彝文
傣语、傣文
三、研究少数民族语言的意义
可以深刻认识汉藏语言体系
可以进行历史语言比较，完善汉藏语言体系
可以解读死的语言，如西夏语语法上的难点
西夏语的存在动词（与彝语比较）
西夏语的动词前缀（与羌语比较）
西夏语动词的人称呼应（与羌语比较）
可以通过古文字文献深刻理解古代社会
举例介绍论文《西夏语的买、卖和嫁、娶》
2.
27 Nov. 2021 13:00 西夏研究概况
The state of Tangut research
Tangutology, the research of the language, script and culture of the Tanguts and their Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227), has progressed from a niche discipline to a research hot spot. In his second lecture “The state of Tangut research”, Prof. Shi Jinbo will give a chronological overview of Tangutology and his own contributions to it. He will set out with early Chinese and European beginnings of Tangutology, climaxing in the ground-breaking discovery of Tangut Documents in Khara-Khoto (黑水城). The second and third parts of his lecture will cover Tangut research in China since the 1950s and the 1990s, respectively. Prof.
