Origin of Chinese spoken languages - 6th evidence

From: SJ (donot_at_send.spam.net)
Date: 10/25/04 

Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 07:15:36 +0000 (UTC)

I happened to find a book that supports my theory. I cite this book and a
related review as my 6-th evidence supporting my theory that Chinese
spoken languages came from the isolating Hanja script:

The Roots of Old Chinese (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of
Linguistic Science, Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory)
by Laurent Sagart

Hardcover: 255 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 9.00 x 0.75 x 6.50
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co; (August 1, 1999)
ISBN: 1556199619

Unfortunately, I can not afford to purchase this book ($122.00). I just
quote a part of a well written review from amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556199619/qid=
1098687194/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4303960-6755949

"This trailblazing book presents a truly radical hypothesis. It argues
that Old (loosely: Early and Mid-Zhou) Chinese had a rich affixal
morphology, typologically comparable to many SE Asian languages today, but
radically divergent from its medieval successor(s) and modern dialect
descendants. It is radical in the sense that it once and for all destroys
the myth of Old Chinese (OC) as an isolating, static, purely monosyllabic
language, recorded in a writing system divorced from the spoken variety
underlying it. Reintegrating a full-fledged theory of morphology into the
reconstruction of the OC lexicon and its phonology, Sagart convincingly
subverts almost all basic assumptions about the nature of 'the' Chinese
language, which have periodically havocked rational interpretations of
Chinese culture, history and philosophy, ever since the days of the
_lettres ?ifiantes_. Assumptions, one hastens to add, which are still
guilelessly cherished by the majority of sinologists and general linguists
alike."

Thanks for the anonymous reviewer.

You can read the remaining part at amazon.com.

In my humble opinion, the author of this book could have got a better
inspiration if he could have considered my main point: Chinese spoken
languages were originated from the isolating written language called Hanja
script. It's so pity that I am not any kind of linguist to publish in
linguistics journals (I should be satisfied with this kind of news group
where only terrapin's eggs are dominant).

Yes. It is indeed radical, but the degree of radicality is proportional to
our deep-rooted stereotype and preoccupation which usually is based on
political propaganda.

SJ.

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