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Grammar West to East

The Investigation of Linguistic Meaning in European and Chinese Traditions

Authors:

  • Addresses two major traditions of language analysis: European & Chinese
  • Provides a sense of the broader social and cultural place of language analysis
  • Gives equal weight to traditional and modern frameworks and their relationship
  • Allows readers to develop a critical understanding of grammatical concepts
  • Enables readers to place theories in intellectual traditions rather than “schools”

Part of the book series: The M.A.K. Halliday Library Functional Linguistics Series (TMAKHLFLS)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xx
  2. Language, Writing and Metaphors for Language

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 41-58
  3. Snapshot A: Dialectic; Analogy Versus Anomaly

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 59-72
  4. Snapshot B ~ Syntax; Pattern and the Way

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 93-103
  5. The Discovery of Language History

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 105-125
  6. From Philology to Linguistics

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 139-161
  7. Interlude: Establishing a Modern Paradigm

    • Edward McDonald
    Pages 163-174
  8. Back Matter

    Pages 257-275

About this book

This book compares the historical development of ideas about language in two major traditions of linguistic scholarship from either end of Eurasia – the Graeco-Roman and the Sinitic – as well as their interaction in the modern era. It locates the emergence of language analysis in the development of writing systems, and examines the cultural and political functions fulfilled by traditional language scholarship. Moving into the modern period and focusing specifically on the study of “grammar” in the sense of morph syntax/ lexico grammar, it traces the transformation of “traditional” Latin grammar from the viewpoint of its adaptation to Chinese, and discusses the development of key concepts used to characterize and analyze grammatical patterns.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sydney, Australia

    Edward McDonald

About the author

Edward McDonald gained his BA(Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1988, his MA from Peking University in 1992, and his PhD from Macquarie University in 1999, with theses on the clause and verbal group grammar of modern Chinese. He has taught linguistics, Chinese language, translation, semiotics, and music at universities in Australia, China, Singapore, and New Zealand. His recent research interests include the application of systemic functional theory to a range of languages including modern Chinese and Scottish Gaelic (Meaningful Arrangement: exploring the syntactic description of texts, Equinox 2008); Chinese language teaching and the hybrid concept of "sinophone" (Learning Chinese, Turning Chinese: challenges to becoming sinophone in a globalised world, Routledge 2011).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Grammar West to East

  • Book Subtitle: The Investigation of Linguistic Meaning in European and Chinese Traditions

  • Authors: Edward McDonald

  • Series Title: The M.A.K. Halliday Library Functional Linguistics Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7597-2

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-13-7595-8Published: 06 December 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-13-8171-3Due: 14 January 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-13-7597-2Published: 24 November 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2198-9869

  • Series E-ISSN: 2198-9877

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XX, 275

  • Number of Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Historical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Syntax, Grammar

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access